On Sun, 13 Mar 2011 13:06:28 -0700, Cheesehead wrote:

On Mar 13, 3:16Â*pm, Stefan Patric wrote:
On Sun, 13 Mar 2011 10:49:06 -0700, Cheesehead wrote:
If you were to pick a lens from 400 to 500mm, what would you choose?
8x10 coverage with modest movement is adequate. I prefer something in
a shutter & synced.

What are you going to use the lens for? Â*General photography? Â*Table
top/ still life? Â*Portraits? Â*Flat art copy work? Â*Etc. Â*You want a new
one or will used do? Â*How modest the movements? Â*What's your budget?

Stef

Well, I shoot portraits and landscapes. No closeup/macro type movement.
For movements, a little rise or all seems to be all I ever use. Budget
-- let's keep it under $800

Of the "modern" lenses, I can think of two that might work for you:

Fujinon 420mm f8 L-series, #3 Copal shutter, 60 degree coverage, IIRC,
which gave it a decent range of movements. It was a modern computer
design of the classic Tessar (4 elements in 3 groups). AFAIK, no longer
made. So, only available used. Not all that popular because of the 60
degree coverage when it was new 20 to 30 years ago. So, you should be
able to get one for well less than your budget.

Nikon made a 450mm Apo-Tessar (f11??) around the same time, but it was
optimized for a 1:5 reproduction ratio (not infinity like general purpose
lenses). It was best for table top, product and copy work, but was fine
at infinity if stopped down. VERY sharp, probably too sharp for
portraits without a softening filter of some sort.

Stef