Carl.
I am a studio/still-life photog shooting catalog and jewelry, using a old Sinar p, a Leaf Valeo 17wi with Liveview, a Phase One Sliding Back, bag bellows and older, film era lenses. The basic problem is that the digital chip is so much smaller than 4x5, that for all intents and purposes your lenses double (your 150mm acts like a 300mm). Another way of looking at it is that you need twice as much room. If a small table top shot is 6 feet away with a 180mm lens on 4x5 film, it will be around 12 feet away with a digital back and the same 180mm lens - to get the same photo.
I use a 150mm f5.6 Schnieder Apo-Symmar as my main lens about 95% or more of the time. I also have a 135mm f5.6 Nikkor but do not use it as the above 150mm Apo-Symmar is so much better. My longest lens is a 210mm f5.6 Nikkor-W, which is a good lens, but is usually to long in my small studio(NYC). I also have two 90mm wides, a Super-Anguleon which has a slight yellow cast over 20% the image and a 90mm f8 Fujinon-SW which has less of a cast than the Super-Anguleon. I can correct these problems with the callibration tool on the Leaf software, but it is specific to f-stop, swing/tilt, rise/fall and focus as well as multiple pops that you would need to do it for each individual photo. It is simpler to pull out the Hasselblad 503cw with an 80mm lens and do the shot. I did have a 360mm f5.6 for 8x10 but got rid of it - I would have to be acoss the street to use it.
Shorter lenses you say!
I got hold of an older 47mm xl lens and jury rigged it to a RECESSED LENSBOARD. Collapsed the front and rear standards as much as possible and managed to make focus. The back element of the lens was half an inch or so from the chip. The 4x5 was never made to effect tilts, swings, rises and falls under these conditions, sure you can get some and they might be enough or this might throw your lens out of parralel with the digital sensor so easily. It was very hard to see thru the ground glass with the Phase magnifier, maybe 55% of the ground glass in the center only. The lens was closer to the subject - 5 spray bottles- than i would have preferred, making it difficult to work the set. It was not a pleasant experience, but the 47mm lens was quite good, no distortion and sharp.
Choices - if you have a large studio and can work long, you will be in good shape. Older lenses have to be tested case by case. Newer digital lens and schneiders xl series will work better, be sharper, crisper. On a 4x5 I would say that 47mm is the shortest, then thru 60, 65, 72, 80, 100, 120 up to 150mm. You don’t need them all. just a wide 47 or 58 or 60mm - a medium 72 thru 100mm - a long 120 to 150mm. These are newer lenses and can be expensive. Most older film lenses get down to 105mm and 90mm with a few 65mm, maybe. So you don’t have much choice but to spend money if you need a 58mm or 72mm.
Advice - don’t purchase an older lens without being able to test it, in planned use situations. Actually test everything before you buy it, to make sure it will work as you need it.
Good Luck.
Brian
