New to LF - lense choice

[Paul Sorensen]

Do you have any experiance with the caltar lenses they seem to be the most inexpensive.

No personal experience, but I can tell you that Caltar II N series lenses are equivalent to the Rodenstock Sironar and Grandagon series lenses and are very good. Caltar II E are less expensive and equivalent to the Rodenstock Geronar series. They are also nice, but simpler in construction than the II N lenses. There are also some very nice Caltar II S lenses that are Schneider lenses and equivalent to the Symmar-S and Super Angular series. I would think that any of these lenses will be great if you find one with enough for your 5X7 and I agree that they seem to be less expensive then their brand name bretheren.

There are also older Caltar lenses which might be nice but information seems sketchier. It appears that some were made by Topcon in Japan and also some of the really old ones were Ilex lenses made in the US.

Good luck!

Paul.

[KEK]

Tim my B&J is a field (didn't know extensions were available)

Thanks everyone It's been a great help

Kevin

[David A. Goldfarb]

Caltar II-S and Caltar II-N lenses are good values, but more expensive than the Symmar convertibles suggested above.

I think the Symmar convertibles are great deals, and good first lenses, since you get two focal lengths. They are a little less sharp at wider apertures than the later non-convertible versions, but you might not see much of a difference past f:22, where you are likely to be shooting anyway in many cases. Contrast will be better, of course, with later multicoated versions. The longer focal length will be a little soft wide open, but stopped down they're not too bad for landscapes, and a little softness doesn't necessarily hurt for portraits at wider apertures. They are also usually in Sychro-Compur shutters, which are very reliable and easy to service (usually the slow speeds will be slow if the shutter hasn't been cleaned in a long time, but it's a quick fix).

[photobum]

I'm another fan of convertibles. I have Wollensak, Schneider and Caltar-Rodenstock. I will address the Caltar-Rodenstock which is a 210/400 that would seem to fit your needs size and cost wise.

The Rodenstock were made to convert by removing the rear element unlike Schneider and Wollensak. That is what gives it 400mm converted instead of the standard 370. Other's have said that they go soft in the corners. At 400mm (370) you are looking at 8x10 coverage. That means you have a long way to go to get to the corners with a 4x5 or 5x7.

You can help them along by using a #8 to a #25 filter. Also check for focus shift after stopping down. This is very important

The 210 is a long normal lens for 4x5 and normal for 5x7. You will need better than 18 inches of bellows to work with 370/400mm lenses.

[Robert Hall]

Might I simply suggest one of each?

[k_jupiter]

Tim my B&J is a field (didn't know extensions were available)

Thanks everyone It's been a great help

Kevin

If you look at the end of the fold up piece, the bedrail towards the back, you should see a couple of holes and a centered screw jack. If you had an extension piece, it would fit in there. Not a problem if you don't, just a restriction on how much lens you can use or how close you can focus.


tim in san jose

[jnanian]

kevin -

if your camera is missing the extensin,
sometimes places like goodwin photo
http://www.goodwinphotoinc.com/index.html

and pacific rim camera
http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/

or equinox photographic
http://www.equinoxphotographic.com/

once in a blue moon, they don't have them listed on their website, but have them ...


john