4x5 LFers, what lens focal length do you favor for stil life photography?

Chuck_P · Feb 4, 2012

Just taking a survey from those LFers who engage in still lifes, what focal length works best for you. I have a 210 f5.6 Rodenstock Sironar N and a 120 f8 Nikkor SW, any images would be cool. Thanks

Chuck

Rick A · Feb 4, 2012

It all depends on my mood, and the image I'm trying to portray. It also depends on the size of the subject. I favor a 105mm, 127mm, 10", and a lens thats only marked "5x7". I have several other lenses, but those are my favorites.

David A. Goldfarb · Feb 4, 2012

For 4x5", 210mm.

fotch · Feb 4, 2012

4x5 = 203mm Optar

Dan Henderson · Feb 4, 2012

Not only for still life, but for almost everything I reach first for my trusty 210. I have a 150 when I need to go wider, a 305 when I need to reach out and touch something, and a 90 for extreme situations. But my first instinct is always the 210, which I find very interesting since my overwhelming favorite medium format lens was a 150, for all intents and purposes the corollary lens in MF. My unscientific hypothesis is that everyone "sees" most naturally at a certain perspective.

wiltw · Feb 5, 2012

I like 210mm myself, as it provides a reasonable working distance (5') which does not interfere as much with lighting the subject or set, yet lets me frame a 24" x 31" area. You'd need to be about 3.5' if you tried to do the same shot with 150mm.

Chuck_P · Feb 5, 2012

thanks all for your thoughts

ronlamarsh · Feb 9, 2012

240mm G-Claron

keithwms · Feb 9, 2012

Depends on the desired field of view and magnification... anything from 90 to 360.

Perry Way · Feb 9, 2012

Nikkor W 210 f5.6. I love that lens!

tomalophicon · Feb 9, 2012

Check out Christpher Broadbent's page. I believe he use 120mm-135mm on 4x5.
He is the greatest still-life photographer in history, in my opinion.
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bdial · Feb 9, 2012

210 would be my choice.

johnielvis · Feb 9, 2012

yeesh.....now that's a question GUARANTEED to get you every possible answer....

what you want to do is figure out what magnification you're working with and what distance you want to be when working at that magnification...that will determine the focal length.

for example--if you need like 5' to get enought distance to put in lights...and you need say 1/4 lifesized, then you want (1+1/(1/4))f = 5' or f=1' = 12" = 305mm. but this will require a bellows draw of (1+1/4)*1' = 1.25' = 15" = 381mm. If you have the bellows draw then go for the 12" lens, if you don't, then you have to do some compromising such as have to work at 4' distance or something like that.

just use the formulas (1 + 1/M)*f = working distance and (1 + M)*f = bellows draw.

note--you MAY want to us a shorter lens for more depth of field or a longer lens for less depth of field also--there are a million ways to pick'em.

just figure out what's important to you looks wise or setupwise, etc....and see what that gets you.

keithwms · Feb 10, 2012

johnielvis said:
yeesh.....now that's a question GUARANTEED to get you every possible answer....

hehe yeah, which is why I listed the full range of focal lengths in my possession

benveniste · Feb 10, 2012

135mm and 180mm f/5.6 Nikkor-W. If I ever find the right subject, I'll give the 120mm Nikkor-AM a try.

keithwms · Feb 10, 2012

The 120 AMED is very nice but sometimes it's hard to bring light in with such a short focal length. That said, sometimes I even use the 120 with a diopter.

mark · Feb 10, 2012

For me it all depends on what I am looking for in the final image. I generally use a 210, but the 180, 150, and 300 have been used.

JohnArs · Feb 10, 2012

1. 210mm
2. 240mm
3.120mm Macro

4x5 LFers, what lens focal length do you favor for stil life photography?

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