[LargeFormat] Advice, please !

[Jim Brick]

At 02:19 AM 11/17/2004, Georges Giralt wrote:

>Also, I tend to favor a Nikon lens, as I will be able to re use the 
>filters I own,


Actually, filters go by sizes, not lenses.

When I bought all of my recent LF lenses (over a ten year period) I decided 
that I wanted them all to be 67mm and to all be in 0 or 1 shutters.

My first lens was a 180/5.6 Symmar-S MC, then a 120/5.6 Super Symmar HM, 
then a 75/4.5 Grandagon, a 270/6.3 T*ED Nikkor, 360/8 T*ED Nikkor, 500/11 
T*ED Nikkor, 720/16 T*ED Nikkor, and then a 55/4.5 APO Grandagon.

All of the above are in #0 or #1 shutters and ALL have a 67mm filter 
thread. The 360/500/720 Nikkors are one shutter and front element with an 
interchangeable rear element for the different focal lengths.

It's nice to carry a single set of filters and have them fit all lenses.

Ten or so years ago I got a master Technika and the lens that came with it 
was a 240/5.6 in a #3 shutter. It really restricted the Technika movements 
so I sold the lens immediately and bought the 180 which was in in a #1 
shutter. And it was 67mm. I had a plethora of 67mm filters so the shutter 
size and filter size are what drove my future acquisitions.

Over the next few years, I kept running into the Technika's limitations. 
Very limited back movements, wide angle lenses required the bed to be 
dropped which then caused the lens to rise and fall when focusing, then 
having to correct this. My 360mm Tele (T*ED) lens was the longest usable 
lens. Everything stretched all the way out would allow the 500 to focus at 
infinity. My 75mm lens was right at the border of being usable as it 
infinity focused right on the break in the focus track. I could not use a 
55mm lens.

So I sold the Technika and bought a Technikardan 45s. After Brooks 
Institute of Photography, I worked as a commercial photographer for many 
many years. I've owned, and used heavily, Graphic View II, Calumet Monorail 
w/revolving back, Deardorf 8x10 plus a 4x5 reducing back, various Sinar 
4x5s, Master Technika, and now the Technikardan. The Technikardan is leaps 
and bounds better as an all around camera (studio and field) than any of my 
previous cameras. It folds up a small as the folded Master Technika and 
easily uses my 720mm Nikkor lens, my 55mm Grandagon, and everything in 
between. It is as happy in the studio as it is out in the field. It packs 
like a field camera and works like a monorail. A very very clever design.

:-)

Jim