4x5 Lens Selection

Quick Guide To Lens Selection for 4x5 inch Format

For convenience it's recommended that your lens is mounted in the shutter.

All lenses project an image circle and for 4x5 film diagonal is around 165mm. Film holders cover some edges and actual image size ends auto being 153-162mm. An image circle larger than this will enable some movements on view cameras. A larger image circle also has potential to provide better quality on the edges. For Point and Shoot cameras the image circle doesn't necessarily need to be oversized.

Normal lenses

135mm and 150mm are considered normal lenses for 4x5 format. Some 127mm Kodak lenses were also sold with old press cameras.

Almost all shutter mounted lenses in this range made by Schneider, Rodenstock, Fuji, Zeiss, Ilex and others will cover 4x5 properly with some room to move.

Wide angle lenses

65mm - some are designed for 4x5 and some are designed for smaller formats. The datasheet should be consulted to make sure they will work.

Some recommended lenses are: Schneider Super Angulon 65mm in f5.6 and f8, Rodenstock Grandagon (N) 65 f4.5 (also available rebadged with Calumet and Sinar branding).

75mm - most are designed for 4x5 but there are also some that cover smaller formats. Popular 75mm lenses for 4x5: Schneider Super Angulon 75mm F8, Rodenstock Grandagon (N) 75mm f4.5 and f6.8
90mm - most popular wide angle choice for 4x5. Made by many companies in many different models. Any Schneider Angulon or Super Angulon in 90mm will work well. Angulon has much less coverage but still covers 4x5. Super Angulons will have plenty of coverage for 4x5. All Rodenstock Grandagon (N) models will work well in f4.5 and f6.8 aperture (also available rebadged as Calumet and Sinar)

Telephoto lenses

Lenses from 180-270mm fit in this category and there are many excellent choices. Schneider, Rodenstock, Fuji and most other manufacturer’s lenses will work on 4x5. The most common and of a good quality are 210mm lenses from these manufacturers.

There are some 270mm lenses with dedicated telephoto designs with short bellows extensions making it easier to use them. They're of slightly lower quality.

Character and barrel lenses and wet plate and alternative processes usage.

Lately we're seeing a strong revival of alternative historical processes. Platinum, Palladium, Wet plate, Tintype are some of the most popular alternative processes.

Materials used in these cases are slow and fast lenses are required for the shortest possible exposure times.

More details on alternative historical processes: click here