well, thanx to all of you again. it always takes some time till i make up my mind. the geronar is totally out of the question. i went out shooting in munich today and am still pretty happy with my 150 symmar-s, but a 120 or even a 110 will be too close to what i already have, like most of you said. the 115 grandagon is too heavy, too narrow and too expensive for my likings. so after all these questions and discussions i will probably go out and get myself an 90/8 superangulon, or a 90/6.8 grandagon. theyīre also not lightweight. my bellows and my back might take some strain, but at least i have a decent image circle and a lens i can rely on. thanks again. you all were great help. in exchange, as a kind of thankyou, i will speak to the rodenstock mechanics and website office, (i live around the corner from them here in munich) to maybe publish some vintage data like schneider-kreuznach did on its american webpage. itīs such a great tool to quickly plug into schneiders page and find out about a lenses age and its imagecircle. i think rodenstock should do that as well. so long. thomas

-- thomas (dashuber@t-online.de), May 12, 2002

Answers

Your Toyo 45A should easily handle the weight of the 90/8 lenses you are considering; why do you feel they will be too heavy?

-- Jeffrey Scott (jscott@datavoice.net), May 12, 2002.

You might also think about the popular Nikon 90/8. It has a bigger image circle and is also lighter than the other two 90s you speak of.

Nikon 90/8 image circle 235 wt.360g Grandagon 90/6.8 image circle 221 wt.460g Super-Angulon 90/8 image circle 216 wt.390g

-- Ed Candland (ecandland@earthlink.net), May 12, 2002.

jeffrey, thatīs what i was told by another contributor. and i do understand his point, because the lenspanel of the toyo45a is only supported at the bottom and surely not made for too heavy lenses and besides that: the less weight, the better...

thomas

-- thomas (dashuber@t-online.de), May 12, 2002.

Whoever told you that the lens panel is only supported at the bottom was wrong. It is held in by a slot at the bottom and a sliding lever at the top just like most view cameras out there. Rest assured that your Toyo can support a fair amount of weight on the front standard.

-- Jeffrey Scott (jscott@datavoice.net), May 12, 2002.

I use Nikkor 90mm F4.5S, much heavier lens than 90mm F8, with Toyo 45A without any problem.

-- Ken Itoh (KEN@clara.oc-to.net), May 13, 2002.