WULFF PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN

Large Format Lenses 

I HAVE USED/OWNED OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS

Mfg.

Model

Rating

Used/ owned/ own now/

Used w/ center filter

Coverage

Comments

S

47/5.6 SA

7

o

x

105°

1

S

47/5.6 XL MC

8.5

on

x

120 degrees!


R

58/5.6 G

8

o


100°

1

S

58/5.6 XL MC

8

on

x

110°


S

65/8 SA

6.5

o


100°


S

65/5.6 SA

7

u

x

105°


R

65/4.5 G

7.5

on

x

105°


S

72/5.6 XL MC

9

on

x

115°


Z

75/4.5 B

8

u


90°

3

R

75/4.5 G

8

o

x

106°


R

75/6.8 G

7.5

u

x

102°


S

90/6.8 Ang

5

u


90°

5

S

90/8 SA

7

o


100°


S

90/5.6 SA

7.5

u

x

105°


R

90/4.5 G

7.5

o

x

106°


N

90/4.5 SW

7.5

u

x

105°


N

90/8 SW MC

8

on

x

105 degrees!


F

90/5.6

7

u


105°


R

115/6.8 MC

7.5

u

x

102°


S

120/6.8 Ang

4.5

u

x

90°

5

S

120/8 SA

7.5

u

x

100°


S

121/8 SA

7

on

x

100°


N

120/8 SW MC

7.5

u

x

105 degrees!

6

N

120/5.6 AM MC

8.5

u



7

K

127/4.7

5.5

u


Barely covers 4x5


W

135/4.5

4

o


Barely covers 4x5


R

135/5.6

7.5

u


73°


F

135/5.6 W

7.5

on


80 degrees!


V

150/4.5 AL

7

o


Barely covers 4x5


N

150/5.6 MC

7

u


70°


S

150/5.6 S

7

u


70°


R

150/5.6 N MC

8

u


71°


N

150/8 SW MC

7.5

o


105 degrees!

6

R

150/9 AR

8.5

on



7

R

155/6.8 G MC

7.5

u


100°

6

S

180/5.6 S

6

u


70°


S

210/5.6 S

6.5

o


70°


N

210/5.6 MC

8

u


70°


R

210/5.6 N MC

8.5

on


71°


R

240/9 AR

9

on


48°

4

S

240/5.6 S

6.5

u


70°

6

F

240/9 A

4

u


70°

2

F

250/6.7 W

7.5

o


80 degrees!

6

N

300/9 M MC

5.5

u


70°

2

R

300/9 AR

8

u


48°

4

F

300/9 A

4

u


70°

2

S

300/5.6 SS

7.5

on


70°

6

F

400/8 T

5

o


31°


R

480/9 AR MC

8

on


48°

4, 6

G

19" RDA

7

o


lots

6, 8

Legend

  • The rating system is based on a 1 to 10 rating range. 5 is a professionally useful lens, and 10 is a lens that is better than any film you are likely to use. The things to remember are that these are my own observations with, naturally, my own biases on what is required for good lens performance, and is based on whatever samples I've had to work with. Another point is that due to the unreliable nature of film flatness, lenses with scores of 7 or more are hard to tell apart unless you shoot a fair bit, or do something different. I've used a roll film holder (6x7) at times to get more meaningful results. Also, as has been mentioned elsewhere, a one-number description is only slightly meaningful, but that's all the effort I want to put into this for the time being. I've investigated or used about twice as many lenses as are on this list, but I didn't necessarily get to use them long enough. Note that most older lenses, many of which have at times been raised to legendary status, such as the Protars, are not really competitive with today's glass. They generally would not make it to 5, or even 4, in the above rating system.
  • Manufacturers:
    • S - Schneider
    • R - Rodenstock
    • N - Nikkor
    • F - Fujinon
    • W - Wollensack
    • K - Kodak
    • G - Goerz
  • Lens Models
    • SA - Super Angulon
    • S - Symmar; SS - Super Symmar
    • XL - Super Angulon XL
    • Ang - Angulon
    • G - Grandagon
    • N - Sironar-N
    • B - Biogon; AL - Apo Lanthar
    • AR - Apo Ronar
    • RDA - Red Dot Artar
  • MC indicates multicoating.
  • Usage
    • u - used and tested
    • o - owned previously
    • on - own now.
  • Note: The Fujinon A's and Nikkor M's are all early examples of each model. All Fujinons are non-'S', as far as I can recall.

Comments

  1. Does not cover 4x5.
  2. Good center, strong falloff, overrated coverage - actual coverage hard to determine.
  3. Exceptional evenness of illumination, barely covers 4x5.
  4. Very good performance within stated coverage, sharp falloff of performance beyond.
  5. Needs to be stopped down to f/45 to achieve good performance.
  6. Useful for 8x10
  7. Macro, optimized for 1:1
  8. Barrel mount, used with external shutter (Sinar) 


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