super symmar 110 XL for macro work?

[PepMiro]

I have a Sinar F2 camera with a 300 and a 180 mm lens that I use mainly for landscape work.
Now, I want to buy a third lens and I'm interested also in doing some macro work in adition.
I'm thinking in a Super Symmar 110 XL, but I wanted to know your opinion about it, especially if it's adequate for macro or if it's better to adquire 2 lenses, one for landscape and another one especifically for macro.
Thanks for your time,
Josep

 

[Claire Senft]

If you are going to be using the lens stopped bown to 32 or smaller then I doubt that you will be seeing much difference between a regular and a macro lens. The closer a lens is to being symetrical the better it will function in the close up range. If a lens is truly symetrical with a center location for the diaphram then you have a lens that will work best at 1:1. Many of these lenses will also work very nicely indeed at long distances.

I think that you will enjoy having the 110mm Symmar XL. I would see if I could borrow a macro llens and try them side by side for close up work to see if it made sense to buy a macro lens.

 

[roteague]

Nice idea, but unfortunately, I can't tell you about shooting macro with this lens. The 110 XL is a sweet lens, 288mm image circle, and very sharp. You probably will need the center filter for it (about $325). I debated between buying the 110 XL and the 80 XL (which I eventually bought). Still thinking about buying one. This lens performs great when you need a bit of front rise. I may get one myself next year.

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

My 110XL works great as a macro lens

 

[jmdavis]

I think that Michael Smith and Paula Chamlee use these for 8x10. I recall him saying that they could get close to 8x size with this lens. So it definitely works for Macro. Hopefully someone will correct me if I misunderstood.

Mike Davis

 

[Shmoo]

Whether the 110 is what you want for landscapes is pretty dependent upon how you shoot. If you're comfortable with a 35mm lens on a 35mm camera or a 55mm on a med. fmt. camera, the 110 will be fine. I tested the 110 and a 90mm SAXL when I was looking at wide lenses for my F2, and almost bought the 110. It's a beautiful lens!

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Whether the 110 is what you want for landscapes is pretty dependent upon how you shoot. If you're comfortable with a 35mm lens on a 35mm camera or a 55mm on a med. fmt. camera, the 110 will be fine. I tested the 110 and a 90mm SAXL when I was looking at wide lenses for my F2, and almost bought the 110. It's a beautiful lens!

The 110XL is an extreme wide angle lens on the 8x10 format (the format diagonal is ~325.3 mm).

My 110XL does cover 8x10 at infinity (stopped way down).

On the 8x10 format, the 110XL is the rough equivalent of a 14 to 15 mm wide angle on a 35mm camera or a 28 mm lens on a 6x6 camera.