Hey, That was really helpful, I've been shooting 35 mm for decades, and now that I'm retired I've decided to learn large format. Your videos are very nicely presented. with lots of personal observation to both pros and cons. Thanks for doing these.

So much good information at all once! I'll probably have to watch this twice to make sure I retain it all. Somehow, after hours of reading on the internet, I've learned just as much if not more in 15min of your video. I look forward to future Fridays!

The more i look the more i learn! Thank You so much!

Great video - I need to rewatch and learn. It is hard to wrap my brain around - ha! Thank you!!

Great infos… thank you!

Matt thanks for another great video. I took your large format class over the summer. Currently I have the 210 and 90 mm lenses. I’ve used the camera with the 6x12 film back mostly.

great intro to lf lenses mat; but another major consideration you didn't mention is the Lens board and shutter size/type, to fit on the camera, also the filter thread on the front element; I got a Fujinon SWD 65 f5.6 and was lucky, it has a 67mm thread, so with adaptors, a Kase K-9 100mm filter system can fit!, other sizes, you need a custom filter solution, like the rod based one you showed on the Sinar P2 video, which adapt to the camera, not the lens, like the compendium shade brackets, OR use inner screw on filters, which attach directly to the rear of the front glass element, or the front of the rear element.

Wow, Talk about useful information in the confusing world of LF lens! I can't tell you how many times I've been suckered by my ignorance that it would cover my image circle I wanted only to find out it didn't, Luckily I could always reduce to a smaller film back. If I may suggest, you should make like a "bible of LF cameras" and have tables with this sort of information in a book, pdf, or website. My wallet knows it could have used it a few years back LOL. I appreciate the high-quality videos and information to provide as you are really one of the only ones on the site that covers a lot of large-format content. You are so criminality underrated and deserve success!

Great show, Matt. Great delivery and production value. Looking forward to more. Did I see a picture of you on the Brooklyn Film Camera web site. Looks like you in one of the pics.

Very helpful. Many thanks.

LFFridays, thank you for taking the time to go over lens basics. I would like your opinion. I shoot with 4x5 Sinar Norma and am considering a normal to short lens for close table top work in which I would use a significant amount of movements. I am considering a 121mm Symmar, 150mm convertible Symmar, or possibly an older 135mm wide field Ektar. I wonder if shorter lenses would give me too much distortion and have enough coverage for drastic movements. Do you have any thoughts on these or other lenses that would have enough coverage for this type of work? Thank you for your time and effort.

Excellent summation of lenses. I’m a 4x5 guy with SA XL 72, Nikkor SW 90, 150, 210 and 300 lenses. Nice thing is the ability to carry all the lenses for choice in the field. I do use a bag bellows with the 72 to get great rise/fall for PC. Thanks for sharing. Stuart

I am just getting into Large Format photography (4x5). Your video is very clear, straightforward and easy to follow. I do have one question. I have an opportunity to buy a used Schneider Symmar-S 210mm f/5.6 MC lens. My question. Is that stated 210 mm focal length for a 4x5 or an 8x10 camera? When I am seeking a lens for a large format camera, how do I calculate the stated focal length for the 4x5 camera?

Love the new series Mat!

Great video thank you for all the concise information. I took a break from shooting large format but you have me thinking I should give it another go. I have several lenses but my favorite is the Schneider Xenotar 150mm f/2.8 which is really hard to shoot wide open with but when I nail the focus it's amazing. Do you have any videos discussing very shallow depth of field photography? I could use some tips for getting focus wide open for portraits. Thanks again for the video.

My favorite lens on my 4x5 cameras has become my 135mm. That always seems to have the field of view that matches my sense of what is right. It has become on 4 x 5 what my 35mm is on 35mm cameras. This is usually very individual.

Excellent video!! The practice of large format photography allows the photographer to develop a much better understanding of how lenses work. Because (s)he is constantly working with different film sizes (most LF photographers regularly use everything from medium format 6x6cm to very large 8x10”) the large format photographer simply cannot accept some of the convenient, but erroneous maxims that are often promulgated by small-format photographers, for whom the film size generally remains the same. Chief among these is a confusion between lens focal lengths and types of lenses. A 35mm-only photographer is free to think that a 28mm lens is automatically a “wide-angle” lens, and a 150mm lens is a “telephoto”. This is an error. A wide-angle lens is, quite simply a lens with a wide angle of view. A typical standard lens will have an angle of view of 45° - 60°, while a wide-angle will have a view of 100° or better. It is not related to the focal length of the lens, but instead is determined by the DESIGN of the lens. If you know that for your 4x5 camera a 90mm lens is a “wide-angle”, you may be tempted to believe a medium format standard lens, such as an 80mm Planar will make an excellent wide-angle lens, but is will not work. It won’t “cover” the 4 x 5 film format, because its angle of view is insufficient. It is not a wide-angle lens. The inverse is not true - If you have a 160mm extreme wide-angle lens for your 8 x 10” camera, you can perfectly use it as a “normal” lens for 4 x 5”. But here you pay the price that this lens has a maximum aperture of f/8, and should be used at f/32 for sharpness, so it will work - the image circle or angle-of-view is more than large enough, but you suffer other consequences because the design of this lens was completely focused on a wide angle of view, which you are throwing away in this example, when you could have used a 150mm standard lens which is 1/10 the size, weight and cost, as well as 5 stops faster! Other “conventions” that 35mm photographers frequently learn are that a wide-angle lens will give you greater depth of field. This is fallacious. Depth of field is not a characteristic of any lens. Every lens of a given focal length will have exactly the same depth of field. If you are having problems getting the depth of field you need for a shot, you may indeed switch to a shorter focal length lens. You will increase the depth of field, but not because you are using a wide-angle lens. It is because you have made the image smaller, by using a shorter focal length. You have decreased the magnification. If you then move the camera closer, to compensate for the reduced image size, you will get back exactly the same depth of field you had before. If anyone tries to sell you a lens saying it has a particularly great (or small) depth of field, they are either lying to you, or to be more charitable, they do not understand. Depth of field is not a characteristic of ANY lens. The third one 35mm-only photographers will often learn is that different lenses produce different “perspectives”. Wide-angle lenses exaggerate perspective, while telephoto lenses flatten things out. Again, this is fallacious. “Perspective” is not a characteristic of any lens, and cannot be altered by changing lenses. Perspective is altered by changing where you place the camera with regard to the subject. If you change from a standard to a wide-angle lens, you will not alter the perspective. You will simply include more surrounding subject in your view, and reduce the size of your subject in the frame. If however you then move closer, to compensate for the reduced image size, you will indeed alter the perspective to a more exaggerated one, but this is because YOU moved, not because of the lens. By moving closer to your subject, you increased the angle of incidence to each point of your subject, making near objects much larger and distant objects much smaller. Same for “telephoto” - If you remove your standard lens and replace it with a telephoto, you will not in any way alter perspective. You will simply make the image larger, and you may no longer be able to include the entire subject in the frame. If you then move back to be able to include the entire subject, you will indeed flatten (or “compress” as photographers love to say) the perspective, but again this is only because YOU moved, and has nothing to do with the lens. The misuse of the term “telephoto” is well covered in the video. Large-format photographers will typically use lenses of longer focal length to obtain greater image size, or to move the camera back from the subject to obtain flatter perspective. They do this by increasing bellows draw, or making the entire system longer. Smaller cameras do not have this possibility, so “telephoto” lenses were developed which are essentially standard lenses with magnifiers attached to make a larger image, and bring you closer, without requiring long bellows draw which would be impossible on fixed cameras. Some of these actually work extremely well, and produce the effect of a much longer lens, without making the camera system longer. The telephoto lens has bled up from small formats up to large format, but it is far less used in the LF world. Press cameras and other handhelds suffer from some of the same limitations as small-format, rigid cameras, so telephoto lenses exist for the same reasons, but generally speaking “telephoto” lenses are less often needed and little used in large-format.

Thank you very much for the info about lenses and the whole series, Mat! For my Technika I have a two-lens setup: a Schneider Super-Symmar-XL 110 and a Rodenstock Apo-Sironar S 180. They may sound like overkill, however, I like the large image circles of 288 res. 276mm allowed my for lots of movements on 4x5.

I just ordered a 125mm I am looking forward to shooting with it!

My go to lens for 4x5 is the 135mm Rodenstock Sironar N. I had a Grandagon 90mm f6.8 but found it a little wide for my needs. I sold the Gradagon and got a 210 Schneider Symmar S and don't regret it. These two lenses do most of what I need. I've been thinking about a 105-120mm range lens as well but it's not an absolute necessity to have this in my kit I don't think. Issues for me with the wider lenses in large format is the fall off you get at the corners and then debate over center ND filters which are actually not easy to find since they are lens specific usually. I guess that's my biggest reason for shying away from super wide lenses for large format since I shoot transparencies a lot and falloff is most noticeable on this type of film.

Mat, just wanted to say I've really enjoying this series so far. I've been lookiing at wraps and see in the video you are using Tenba. Do you have a size you would recommend for LF lens on boards. I have a 4x5 and just one lens the Fujinon W 135mm right now. I'm just unsure what size of wrap I should be looking for.

Hi Matt, what are the best 10 x 8 lenses for closeup or Macro work, Thanks

Great presentation, wish I'd seen it two years ago when I got started in LF. But great refresher plus useful comparison of the three camera sizes. Mine is a Wista 45DX, I have 90mm, 135mm and 180mm for the main trio, all Nikkor's. You didn't discuss filter thread diameters, but too many different diameters means carrying more fiddly adaptors, more stuff to lose in the field. For my fun lens, I scored a Heliar 210mm f4.5, super thin DOF even for LF. Thanks!

Thank you for the video Matt! I'm currently running a 120 Apo-Symmar L and a 200 Nikkor-M on my Master Technika. Contemplating a 80 SSXL or 300 Nikkor. Although my 2 lenses serve me pretty well.

Intrepid is supposed to be coming out with some bag bellows should be pretty cool.

Thanks Matt as always awesome stuff, would you consider 127mm to be in the wide angle lens category for 4x5 ?

90 and a 210 for me. in years or shooting I’ve never really wanted anything else. I like the simplicity - wide or not wide! I really wish this series of videos had been here when I first got interested in large format. Great!

Thanks Matt! I have a 90/180/300 and they serve me well. I thought my 180 was standard but maybe I’ll go a bit shorter with a 150 if I can find a good one.

These are great, can you make a video about using vintage lenses and how to get shutters to fit them?

Good information on that Telephoto "T" designation, I would have otherwise assumed it just meant coated. :)

Yes but if you use an 8x10 lens on 4x5 you pot a huge amount of light into the camera the camera that bounces around on even the darkest bellows and reduces contrast unless you use an adjustable hood or barn doors

There are lens charts with circle coverage, etc.

I would love to have that Schneider 150 XL. Two of my favorite lenses for 8x10 are my Nikon 450mm and Fujion 600mm that I look to use for portraits. I'm fortunate to have a Wisner with 40" of bellow and they are great for my 8x20 too.

4x5 is a gateway format! I started with it in 1981 (my Dad's old Speed graphic)... it only leads to larger more expensive formats! I jumped to 8x10 in 1983-4 and 11x14 in 2009. I use all three today.

Hi Matt, love the videos and of course the FPP. I’ve been shooting large format in 4x5 and 5x7 for about 7 years now but recently moved into 8x10 shooting. How do you find the G-Claron? I currently use a Rodenstock 240mm Sironar-N on my 8x10 as a wide standard along with my super angulon 120mm f8 and Nikkor-M 450mm f9 but I was looking at something in the 300-360mm range as a more standard focal length. I’ve read mixed things on forums about them as I think I’m right in saying it is a reproduction lens as are the Apo Ronar lenses too? How are they for photographic use at normal focus distances of say infinity to 6 feet or so? Again love what you’re doing!

I bet you know this but another great source of lenses and coverage is the Larger Format Photography Forum. One of the few remains places for LF and ULF to go with questions and discussion

Hi Mat. Thanks for your great LF videos. Questions for you: what are AAO system lenses lenses and when would they be used. I’ve not been able to find info on them but they are included in a 4x5 camera I’ve been watching on EBay. Thanks for any input you can give me.

Is there a wrench of sorts to tighten the lens nut on the CAPO? The nut keeps coming loose on my CAPO boards. And great content...Thanks Matt

Many years I was ignoring the 180mm focal length. Recently I got a camera with one 180mm. So, since I bought the camera I do not use any other. I forgot about the 150mm focal length. I do not like the wide angle, I've tried the 90mm, but it is too wide for me. I imagine that the 110mm will be fine.

Hi Matt, I know you often use your Tachihara (?) 8x10 with a 4x5 reducing back. I have an offer for an Intrepid 8x10 with 4x5 back. I really like the idea of being able to have both formats. Lens must be for 8x10 or can I use 4x5 lenses, when using reducing back. I'd like to know your thoughts. I heard you say already that starting with 8x10 is daunting and I agree, it is a tad scary but... Thanks

I wonder if the crop sensor formula holds going from 35mm up to large format? by my calculations it would seems to hold, I calculated a 360mm lens using the formula myself lol, I guess why it appears to approximately work is due to it being effectively based on the pythagorean rule you brought up.

Mat ~ have you made a video explaining the value of using 4x5 over 8x10? Although I like the idea of using 8x10, I can't seem to justify the added expense for lenses, holders, processing....etc......Cheers....

I didn't know about that T for telephoto. With Zeiss lenses T* means anti-reflection coating.

Do you think a 350mm lens would be a good match for a 6.5 x 8.5 (full plate size) camera? I have an antique brass lens that measures about 350mm and wasn’t sure if it would have enough coverage. Also, would that lens be considered a long standard size for 6.5 x 8.5? Thanks!!!

What lens would you recommend for working with a Phase One Digital back? I have concerns about sensor coverage, resolution/sharpness and color shift. Can I use an analog lens or does it need to be digital?

What size of fabric wrap do you use for 4x5 lens boards?

isn't the Claron-G more of a closer distance process lens? I have heard maybe not th best for long distance focus. So nice and compact in the 4x5 size though (150mm) it would be a great backpacking lens

Can you put different lenses in different shutters?

Mat, I am a bit surprised you don’t advise people to have margin for movements when you mention the image circle. One common mistake is to buy a lens that barely covers and you end up having to buy another one. In addition of the very relevant point about extension, it could have been relevant too to consider the weight of the lens for some cameras not sturdy enough to handle them.

Would a 150 in 4x5 be best for macro work?

How much sir price available