Apo-Ronars, Apo-Sironars and distant landscape work

[Jarin Blaschke]

Hi everybody:

I've had my 8x10 camera for a little while, and I'm starting to consider my next lens. I have a grand landscape project percolating for next year. Currently, I only have one lens, an Apo-Sironar S 300mm. I'm looking to build a lens family around that. I'll certainly get the Sironar-S 240mm, but first, I may get a 480mm.

I could get the Sironar-N 480mm, but then also found all the old marketing claims around the sharpness of the Apo-Ronars. Then I looked at the weight and size specs and considered my camera backpack. The coverage is much smaller, but for a long lens compressing distant scenes, that seems less important. However, I know the Ronar is a "process" lens, and so I wonder:

Instead of up-close process range, how should I expect the Apo-Ronar to perform at infinity, when compared to a Sironar-S or Sironar N? I'm going for very high detail and micro-contrast, shooting slow to medium speed black and white film and putting it through pyro. Prints would be up to 5x enlargements (40x50") under close scrutiny. Yes, I know a longer focal length + wind and haze degrades an image much more than the lens, but lets be optimistic and hope I find ideal conditions now and then.

Thanks!
-Jarin

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I've used a 300mm APO Ronar for a few years now on my 4x5. I got lucky and found cells that went straight into a shutter. Fantastic lens, Process lenses like the APO Ronar and APO Artar work very well at infinity. I used to have a 600 APO Artar in a Copal 3 back when I shot a little 8x10 and it didn't lack sharpness. I have a friend that only uses Artars and blows up his images in the range you want. He is a very particular person, so if he thought he could get better, he would buy it. I think it might be easier to find an APO Artar in a shutter. There is no practical difference between the two. Both are single coated Dialytes. APO Nikkors might be another option. If you have trouble finding one in a shutter, Grimes can put one in a shutter for you.

Another lens you may want to consider if you are carrying it is a Fujinon-C 450. Fits in a Copal 1.

Off the top of my head, but I hope that helps.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Re weight, if you decide to buy Apo Ronars -- I agree with post #2 above, they, Apo-Artars and dialyte type Apo-Nikkors are much better than good enough -- be careful which one(s) you buy. Some are mounted in aluminum, others in brass. The ones in brass can be quite heavy. The 600/9 Klimsch Apo-Ronar I used to have weighed 3.3 kg.

 

[karl]

Don't forget the NIkkor M 450/9. An excellent lens for 8x10.

 

[Jarin Blaschke]

Thanks. Are not the Ronars optimized for much closer distances than infinity though?

J

 

[karl]

They are, but they perform quite well as landscape lenses.

 

[Marco Gilardetti]

As said previuosly, the Apo-Ronar is famous for being razor-sharp and very contrasty for landscapes. I remember reading comments of photographers "blaming" it for being even "too much, fatiguetingly sharp". It is also very compact and light (I mean for a lens of that focal lenght, of course). The only drawback is that its maximum aperture is very narrow. However, I own a 360mm f:9 (for 4x5'') and I've found that this is rarely a problem on the field, because its typical use is for landscape or architecture details under daylight.

 

[dodphotography]

240 Sironar S doesn't give you much room for movement.

You're better off with a 210 / 240 / 270 Computar.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I prefer the Fuji 450 C. It's small, very light in a no.1 shutter, and has a huge image circle. But not as good at macro. For 360 I use a Fuji A - superb close-up to infinity, also with a huge image circle in no.1 shutter, but rare.