Hi.

i am buying a Schneider Xenar 135 mm f4.7 with Synchro Compur shutter for my 4x5 wood field camera. I basically do outdoor, landscapes. How good is the lens and what do you feel about it.

thanks Dileep

-- dileep prakash (dil@mantraonline.com), July 31, 1999

Answers

This is a lens designed for press photography. It's coverage is somewhat limited and I think you'll find corner sharpness less than impressive. It's not an awful lens, though. Many I know started out with one including me! I liked it's compact size. It allowed me to keep the lens mounted on my horseman 45FA when folded. If good coverage, sharpness and low distortion is what you're after you might search for a used Nikor-W f5.6 135mm. I picked mine up for around $350 in mint condition! Best of Luck

-- Robert A. Zeichner (razeichner@ameritech.net), July 31, 1999.

I have one that I have used for 8 years, love it. Have used it on 5x7, 4x5, but the format it works best on is my 6x9 rollfilm back for my Graflex 45, very sharp. Pat

-- pat j. krentz (krentz@cci-29palms.com), July 31, 1999.

the 135 is the favorite standard lens for a couple of 4*5 guys i know. like the man said, this lens might be considered a lens designed for press photographers, and as a rule they did not require a lot of swing and tilt, and so it probably isn't going to throw a very large circle of illumination. test it out with your rise and fall and the swing and tilt (with your camera focused at infinity). you may not be able to take full advantage of the movements available on your camera with this lens.

-- david clark (doc@ellensburg.com), August 01, 1999.

As Pat infers, the center is great but the edges so so... use a roll film back and love it, I've made a very sharp 40x50 from a velvia 6x7cm chrome out of this lens. But 11x14s are soft at the edges of a 4x5 sheet shot at infinity focus, which could be a good thing if that's what you like. On the other hand 4x5's shot focused under 6 ft are sharp throughout...t

-- tom meyer (jparady@mindspring.com), August 04, 1999.