Best performance 270mm for 8x10

[Jarin Blaschke]

Hi everybody:

So far my 8x10 kit has an apo sironar s 300mm, apo sironar s 360mm and an apo Ronar 480mm. While slowly getting to know my subject matter and process in 8x10, I’ve found that for me, I’d find more use for a 270mm focal length than 300mm: I just need a tad more space in my shortest focal length, and probably not as much as 240mm.

Can anyone point me in the right direction as far as a 270mm lens with a comparable performance and look to my apo sironar s’s? Part of how I’d use the lens is environmental portraits, used at an aperture as wide as f/8, so it needs to perform at open apertures as well.

J

 

[Oren Grad]

Can anyone point me in the right direction as far as a 270mm lens with a comparable performance and look to my apo sironar s’s?

I'm afraid there isn't any.

My favorite lenses are the Apo-Sironar-S series, but my favorite focal length for 8x10 is 270. I own the 270 G-Claron and the 270 Computar, and have also tested a 10 3/4 inch Dagor. None of them draws anything like the Apo-Sironar-S. When I shoot 8x10, in situations where the way the lens draws is especially important to me I go with a 240 Apo-Sironar-S or a 300 Caltar II-N (Apo-Sironar-N); when portability is more important I use the 270 G-Claron and enjoy having the focal length just right.

There's not a lot to choose from in the 270 focal length for 8x10 among modern lenses - AFAIK, just process lenses - G-Claron, Computar, Graphic Kowa, Apo-Gerogon (this last will be difficult or impossible to find in shutter). There are probably a few classic lenses at or near 270mm other than the Dagor. All of these lenses have their virtues, and each has its fans. (Well, OK, I don't know of anyone who regularly uses an Apo-Gerogon.) But none of them behaves like an Apo-Sironar-S.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Oren, I haven't looked for post WW II CZJ Tessars, but there are 260 and 270 mm lenses from Boyer and Berthiot that would suit the OP if he insisted on that focal length.

 

[Oren Grad]

Good point. There are other 260-270 process lenses I forgot in my first reply, too - Konica, Apo-Nikkor. But the OP said he's looking for a lens that behaves like an Apo-Sironar-S. If he's willing to relax that constraint in order to have a 270, then certainly he should explore these alternatives, and among them he might find a "flavor" that he can live with.

 

[Oren Grad]

Also relevant is exactly what the OP means by "environmental portraiture", as far as typical lighting, bellows extensions, any requirement for movements, and how critical it is to have good performance all the way to the corners. The process lenses I'm aware of open only to f/9, f/10 or f/11 so will be somewhat more difficult to focus than an f/5.6 lens under subdued available lighting. Also, these lenses are likely to have iffy coverage for 8x10 at open aperture, even allowing for a bit of bellows extension.

 

[ic-racer]

As a field camera lens in that focal range, the Fujinon 250/6.7 is one of the best, if you can find one.

 

[Alan Gales]

As a field camera lens in that focal range, the Fujinon 250/6.7 is one of the best, if you can find one.

Yeah, and they are cheap too! I paid $300 for mine and thought I got a good deal. Since then I've seen plenty of them sell for $250 and as low as $200. They are sharp but I don't know if they are quite as sharp as an APO Sironar-S. I've never shot one of those myself.



Hey Jarin, Jock Sturges used a Fujinon 250mm f/6.7 lens for his early portraits. Check this out. Warning, nudity!

https://jurginas.livejournal.com/1418460.html

 

[DREW WILEY]

G-Claron 270. It's f/9 and single-coated, but don't let that bother you. It's probably even better corrected than an Apo Sironar S, is in a lighwt no.1 shutter, and has an ample image circle for 8x10 usage. But it's not the kind of lens I'd use for creamy out-of-focus portrait shots at a wide aperture. More for very crisp work stopped down, as Oren already noted. A ten inch
4.5 tessar might be more in order for fast portraiture.