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Author Topic: 250+mm large format telephoto lens for digital?  (Read 2185 times)

torger

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250+mm large format telephoto lens for digital?
« on: December 24, 2013, 09:55:15 am »

My longest lens fo my Linhof Techno and 48x36mm Aptus 75 is a Schneider Digitar 180mm. There's a slightly longer 210mm which also fits, but that's the longest there is in the digital range, as far as I know at least.

I like to shoot landscapes with telephoto (when shooting with the DSLR my 70-200 lens is often used), and sometimes those 180mm is not enough so I need to crop a lot. I've attached an example photo from a couple of days ago, to shoot that without cropping I would have needed 320mm.

It would be nice with something up there around 250-300mm. I'm wondering if there is such a thing as a 4x5 telephoto lens that might fit and perform okay on digital? It needs to be telephoto as bellows extension on the Techno is only 250mm max.
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Sheldon N

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Re: 250+mm large format telephoto lens for digital?
« Reply #1 on: December 24, 2013, 10:46:25 am »

There are a couple large format telephoto lenses out there that might work, the Nikon 270mm f/6.3 and the Schneider 250mm f/5.6 APO Tele Xenar. Not sure how sharp they are for digital.

Another option might be using a "top hat" style lens board and a traditional 300mm f/9 lens in Copal 1 shutter from Fuji/Nikon/Rodenstock. The little APO Ronar can be quite sharp, especially the newer blue rim version.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Extension-Lens-Boards-Copal-1-3-for-LINHOF-WISTA-/120724106638
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Sheldon Nalos
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torger

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Re: 250+mm large format telephoto lens for digital?
« Reply #2 on: December 24, 2013, 01:34:17 pm »

Thank you for the tip, I had not seen these "reverse" recessed boards before.

Found some data on Nikkor-T lenses, the 270 would work on a standard board, the 360 with this top hat board. The 270mm would probably be the most useful reach for me.

So if anyone has tried the Nikkor-T 270mm on digital I'd love to hear about it.
« Last Edit: December 24, 2013, 01:58:00 pm by torger »
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henrikfoto

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Re: 250+mm large format telephoto lens for digital?
« Reply #3 on: December 24, 2013, 08:02:00 pm »

Maybe you could use the Apo Sironar s 240mm, 300mm or 360?
I have used them with digital and they are very sharp. A lot better than the Nikon-lenses
for digital use.

Henrik
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torger

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Re: 250+mm large format telephoto lens for digital?
« Reply #4 on: December 25, 2013, 08:48:05 am »

Maybe you could use the Apo Sironar s 240mm, 300mm or 360?

I'd guess performance is really nice, but those are copal 3 lenses which probably weighs a lot, and the 300 and 360 will require top hat boards due to their long flange distances. I think the weight will be a problem, the Techno is weaker at the large extensions so one need to be careful already with the 180mm to not introduce vibration. The 240mm could work though, but is a bit close to the digital 210. The sironar s lenses are still quite expensive too.

Concerning focal length the Nikkor-T 270 seems just perfect and flange distance is short enough, and only copal 1 and filter 67mm (the sironar 240 has 86mm filter thread, the 360 has 112mm (wow!)), prices are low(ish) but performance will not be as good I guess. Compared to cropping down to 12 megapixels as I have to do know it will hopefully deliver more resolution though.

Another thing I need to consider with these long lenses is that I will probably miss back tilt more than with normal lengths. By tilting the camera and raising the back I can simulate it to some extent though, I think that should be enough to stay reasonably in center of the image circle.
« Last Edit: December 25, 2013, 08:53:09 am by torger »
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Sheldon N

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Re: 250+mm large format telephoto lens for digital?
« Reply #5 on: December 25, 2013, 02:36:10 pm »

A couple things to consider. Tilting with a telephoto lens can be difficult, since the nodal point of the lens is not in the center of the lens. This can make it more of a chore to focus correctly.

The Nikon telephoto is generally well regarded, but general consensus is that a non-telephoto would be sharper than a telephoto design lens.

I'd look closely at the Nikkor M 300mm f/9, Fujinon C 300mm f/8.5 or Rodenstock APO Ronar 300mm f/9 lenses (newer blue rim version if you can find it). Those are all going to be much smaller than the Nikkor telephoto, and likely less expensive as well. The also have much more coverage than the 270mm telephoto lens. They are all very sharp lenses, I've used all three of them on 4x5. I had another friend who was a 4x5 shooter who did extensive testing and found a 300mm APO Ronar that was the sharpest 300mm lens he could find.
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Sheldon Nalos
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