I am considering purchasing a Caltar II - E 150mm lens for my toyo 45ax 4x5 field camera. My question concerns the image cirle for this lens which is 180mm. Will this lens be limiting in terms of movements with my camera? Or should I perhaps look at spending some extra $ for a lens with larger coverage? I will primarily be using the lens for landscapes. Responses would be greatly appreciated.

-- larry chambers (larry.chambers@arup.com), May 12, 1999

Answers

I gave it a day to see if someone more knowledgable than me would bite, but...

My only lens is a 150 with a claimed 214mm image circle @ f/22. I'd like more coverage for everything sometimes, with the exception of simple landscapes and macro. Most of the shots I take would require a good deal more skill than I possess if I only had 180mm of coverage @ f/22.

I (personally) wouldn't buy it. It might be fine for you if you are a minimal user of movements. It wouldn't be enough for me. I think multi-coated Caltars are marked "MC," by the way.

If I was to buy it, I wouldn't pay very much for it. I was offered a clean, well-used 90mm f/6.8 Caltar II MC for $300 USD in a nice Copal, sans board and CF -- and I passed it up because of the aperture, the unknown image circle (there is no Rodenstock-branded version I know of with that aperture), and the fact that $300 means a lot to me. A 90mm is a lot more desirable than a 150mm, and the store that lens was in isn't cheap on anything.

I got as many old filmholders as I wanted, a graphmatic, a cable release, a box of TMY, a mint (if heavy) 20" monorail (with geared rise, fall, and focus), and my lens for $550. I feel like I should have tried to do better, but I didn't. Good luck, Larry!

-- John O'Connell (oconnell@siam.org), May 13, 1999.