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What long lens for 4x5 should I go for? 210/240/250/270/300

loccdor

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I'd consider it if it wasn't so cold outside.
 

_T_

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It’s definitely a matter of opinion and I would personally tend to defer to some extent to the preference of the sitter. But in the end it’s the photographer’s job to choose the perspective.

That’s why I favor a longer lens in the range being discussed (to bring myself back to topic.) A 300mm or even 360mm of non telephoto design (though not every camera can use these lenses) coupled with a set of close-up diopters gives access to a wide range of focal lengths.

And if you decide you want a longer distance even than that you can simply use the lens as though it were convertible and remove either the front or rear element.

My sironar n 300mm f/5.6 yields the following specifications when used in this way:

600mm f/14
300mm f/5.6
231mm f/4.3
188mm f/3.5
136mm f/2.5

You can do this with any lens, although the image quality may be better or worse depending on the design of the lens and the quality of the close-up filters.

OP: Depending on the design of your 135mm lens you might even be happy simply using that as though it were convertible, which would give you something in the range of a ≈270mm ≈f/11 and spend the money you would have spent on a new lens on a bunch of film and processing for that film.