When first making the leap into the world of large format, it’s pretty common to start off with a lens somewhere around 135mm or 150mm. It’s a great and affordable standard focal length to get your toes wet in the format, I still use a 135mm all the time because it’s just so natural. However, almost everyone will find themselves wanting more than one lens at some point. If your tastes take you into the world of portraits or closeup nature, chances are you’ll want something longer. If grand scenic landscapes are your calling then you’ll inevitably desire something wide.
Wide angle lenses let you fit it all in when space is tight. In the bottom of a valley surrounded by towering peaks there’s often no other way to capture a mountain and its reflection in a calm lake. They also open up entirely different types of compositions, with big sweeping midgrounds that lead into distant scenery. Another point to note about these lenses: they are by far the hardest to use properly on large format. Between the dim ground glass, chaotic compositions, and camera compatibility concerns wide angle lenses can seem a little daunting when first making the switch from a standard focal length.
“Desolation Reflections” - Wyoming, 2019. Portra 160, 75mm lens - 2 seconds at f32, 1 stop soft GND filter. The mountains in this valley are incredibly tall, rising several thousand feet straight up. A wide lens is the only way to capture it all.
What counts as wide?
150mm is typically considered “standard” on 4x5, which would make anything shorter a wide angle lens. However, in this article we’re going to focus mostly on focal lengths around 90mm and wider. This is similar to about 28mm in full-frame DSLR speak and is where the unique feel (and challenges) of a true wide starts to come into play. Specifically we’re going to be talking about the two most common, widely available, and reasonably priced wide focal lengths on 4x5: 75mm and 90mm lenses.
75mm is a close equivalent to about 24mm on a full-frame digital camera, which doesn’t seem all that wide when we think about the 14mm and 16mm lenses that people frequently use in digital photography. So is a 75 really wide enough? Keep in mind that the 5:4 aspect ratio of large format is a lot more “roomy” than the narrow 3:2 of digital. In horizontal compositions this creates a lot of extra vertical space that makes the resulting image feel a little wider. It’s also ok to work with some restrictions when shooting, just because they make 14mm lenses doesn’t mean they’re the best tool for the job. Same goes with lenses wider than 75mm on 4x5. Lens manufacturers certainly make them, with focal lengths all the way down to 47mm for a ridiculously wide field of view. These lenses become increasingly difficult to work with for reasons that will become apparent after reading this article.
“Service Road in the Fog” - Colorado, 2014. Provia 100f 4x5, 90mm lens, 2 seconds at f32, 2 stop soft GND filter.
The traditional design of these lenses also have rather low-distortion optics that make wide scenes appear rather natural. It’s one of those things often referred to when people speak of the intangible “large format look.” It would be inaccurate to say these lenses are truly distortion-free, but rather they have a unique feel that resonates differently when standing in front of a big print. Part of it has to do with the fact that the center of a 75mm lens is 75mm from the film plane when focused at infinity, where the crazy retrofocus designs of a DSLR lens mean that the center of a 24mm lens is significantly further than 24mm from the sensor.
75mm or 90mm, which one is right for me?
It’s surprising how large the difference is between these two lenses, both in the angle of view and usability. When it comes to towering peaks or high-rise buildings, the 90mm has nowhere near the ability of the 75 to squeeze everything into the frame. The extra width of the 75mm view can be nice, but comes at the cost of difficult operation and camera compatibility. Let’s look separately at these two focal lengths to weigh the pros and cons.
90mm - the “go easy on me” wide angle lens
First off, 90mm lenses work on just about any 4x5 camera without any tricks. No recessed lens boards, no funny bag bellows, no drop bed. We’ll talk about what each of those terms mean in a bit, unless you just plan on going with a 90mm and won’t have to worry about them! Simply put, 90mm lenses are painless to use and an easy adjustment for someone looking for their first wide lens.
“Wildflower Trail” - Colorado, 2020. Ektar 100 4x5, 90mm lens, 1 second at f32, 1 stop soft GND filter. 90mm can look very natural and inviting, even though it’s a much wider view than our eyes have.
This focal length is wide enough for nearly all landscapes and not so wide that distant mountains get really tiny in the frame. Finding clean compositions is relatively straightforward and the ground glass will appear a little brighter than a 75mm lens. For someone still a little new to large format, I’d recommend starting with a 90 unless you know you’ll mostly be working in cramped places. Remember that a 75mm can always be added to your kit later and that it’s easy to sell a 90mm if it doesn’t work out well.
75mm - the “make it wider!” wide angle lens
The 75mm gives you more: more field of view, more stuff in the frame, and more problems. The biggest issue is knowing with certainty if a 75mm lens will work on your camera. Most cameras can be made to fit a 75mm lens, but it’s not always fun. It might be necessary to purchase a recessed lens board, which is a lens board that pushes the lens back towards the film plane by about 15mm. These boards can be expensive, hard to find, difficult to use, or any combination of those annoyances! The Linhof style board - a common field camera size - is a particularly tricky one. Since the board is rather small to begin with, making a recessed center portion means that the lens barely fits in there with almost no room to get your fingers in to work the mechanisms. The amount of space to work with can vary by the exact model of lens and board you’re using. My old Toyo camera took a larger sized board, making the recessed one quite easy to use.
“Crestone Needle Sunrise” - Colorado, 2014. Ektar 100 4x5, 75mm lens - 4 seconds at f32, 3 stop soft GND filter. Tall mountains need a wide lens!
Some field cameras allow you to use a flat lens board with a 75mm lens, with some minor adjustments to the setup. My Chamonix just requires that you slide the rear standard forward by about 15mm. It’s not too painful, but does add a little more time during setup as the camera can’t be folded down this way. Other field cameras may have problems where the bottom of the camera itself might show up in the image when using a 75. These models may employ the use of a drop bed, where the bed of the camera is dropped downward to get out of the way of the lens. See the image below for a visualization of how a 75mm lens is used on my Chamonix, as well as a simulation of a drop bed.
Certain camera models may require bag bellows, which are specialty bellows for use with wide lenses and lots of movements such as front rise. On these models, standard bellows may get in the way of the lens and cause severe vignette. This is a bit of a rare scenario and is more common with lenses even wider than 75mm.
Will your model of camera be able to take a 75mm lens? You’ll have to scour the forums to find out if your camera can be used with a 75, and if so what type of board or methods will need to be used. Please do not email me asking if “x” model of camera can use “y” lens. I don’t have a camera store with shelves full of cameras and lenses to test, yet you’d be surprised how often my inbox is filled with this exact question.
“Twilight over Floe Lake” - British Columbia, 2017. Velvia 50 4x5, 75mm lens - 2 minutes at f22, 1 stop soft GND filter. When backcountry travels take me into deep valleys with high peaks, the 75mm lens always comes with while the 90mm stays behind to save weight.
All these issues aside, it’s a brilliant focal length. The 75mm is my go-to backpacking lens. When standing at the base mountains rising thousands of feet above me it’s possible to work a variety of compositions that fit everything, often even in landscape orientation. If you’ll be doing any architectural or interior photography the extra room will also be appreciated. There’s also a relatively common 65mm focal length if you really want to go a little wider. Expect all the problems with 75 to be amplified just a little bit more, but sometimes it’s necessary depending on the scenery.
Composing with Wide Angles
Wide angle doesn’t have to mean “cram as much into the frame as possible.” Overly chaotic compositions are often the biggest struggle when shooting wide angles, this is true to any format not just 4x5. For me, the main reason to use a wide lens is due to being in a tight space where it’s my only option to make a clean composition. Think about the flow of shapes in the scene, there are times where mountains meet up and form natural “V” shapes that work well as compositional elements. Depending on the location a wide angle lens may emphasize those shapes, or it may just add a bunch of clutter.
“Haiyaha Snow” - Colorado, 2020. Portra 160 4x5, 90mm lens. 4 seconds at f32, 1 stop soft GND filter. The snow-covered stones created leading lines to bring the viewer into the distant fog-shrouded peak.
Embrace the Middle Ground
Compared to the 3:2 ratio of digital, 4x5 is a rather “fat” rectangle. This allows us to stand a little higher when framing horizontal images so that the composition can breathe a little more. Rather than getting right down into the ground, try bringing the camera up a little higher such as chest or eye level. This lets the middle ground become an important part of the scene, like the meandering stream and layers of grass in the image below. These leading elements give the viewer’s eyes a chance to wander into the scene at a comfortable pace, compared to the in-your-face foreground *bam!* background images that we often see.
“Clearing Fog at Loch Vale” - Colorado, 2014. Ektar 100 4x5, 90mm lens - 2 seconds at f32, 2 stop soft GND filter. The mid-ground makes this image work, especially in a big print.
Work the scene to find how a wide angle lens can simplify rather than complicate the image. Wider focal lengths can make further away objects appear smaller and therefore less important to the composition, so that one single element can become the obvious subject. In some ways it can almost create a sense of isolation if used carefully.
“Cracked Earth and Bush” - California, 2017. Velvia 50 4x5, 75mm lens - 8 seconds at f32, 1 stop soft GND filter. A wide angle made the mountains appear smaller to emphasize the bush.
Working with the Dim Ground Glass
There’s no real way around it, wide angle lenses result in a much darker ground glass image than standard or long lenses. A fresnel lens can certainly help, and I recommend that you read my article on “Using a Large Format Camera in the Dark” to get some ideas of how to overcome the challenges. For the most part you’ll just need to adapt and get some experience in under the darkcloth. When you see me post images of my ground glass on Instagram, none of those are ever from wide angle shots. It’s just too hard to get a decent photo of the dim ground glass.
f5.6 vs f6.8 vs f8 lenses - You’ll find that 75mm and 90mm lenses come in a range of maximum apertures, mostly f5.6 and f8, with Rodenstock and Caltar making a lot of f6.8 and even some f4.5 aperture lenses. Essentially we’re looking at about a full stop of light difference between these lenses. How much does that really matter on the ground glass?
Not all that much, from my experience. I have a Caltar 90mm f6.8 lens and Schneider 75mm f5.6. The 90mm with a smaller aperture is easier to use under all circumstances. The focal length, fresnel lens, and ground glass will play a much greater role in how bright the image appears. As the lenses get wider than 90mm it will become increasingly more challenging to see the ground glass image.
When shopping for lenses I’d be more concerned about the weight and size of the lens and my desired use, rather than the maximum aperture. Most of the f5.6 90mm lenses are quite large and heavy, with an image circle that is overkill for nearly all landscape photography. You can save a lot of weight and money by going with a smaller maximum aperture. Luckily when it comes to 75mm lenses the f5.6 aperture is rather standard, with lenses that aren’t too big or expensive either.
“Shenandoah Forest” - Virginia, 2016. Velvia 50, 75mm lens. 12 seconds at f32, warming filter. An ultra-wide lens can make for some interesting forest scenes, but finding compositions can be a bit of a challenge when trying to include so much.
Center Spot ND Filters
Alright, it’s time for the top question I get about wide angle lenses. Do I need to use a center filter with my 75mm lens? The answer is a simple no. None of the images in this article were taken with a center filter (aside from one below on 6x17).
Center Spot Neutral Density filters have a spot of density in the center and gradually fade to clear at the edges. These filters are made to counter the light falloff that large format lenses have. Light falloff is a natural side effect of the short-focus design used in these lenses, resulting in vignette at the image corners. You can see some level of vignette in all the photos in this blog post, but for my personal taste it’s never been too much of a concern. That said, if you decide to shoot lenses even wider than 75mm a center filter will become more important.
“Blue Hour Dunes” - New Mexico, 2015. Provia 100f 6x17, 105mm lens - 20 seconds at f32, warming filter and center spot ND filter. The image at right shows what a center spot ND filter looks like.
If you decide you want to get one of these filters, be prepared to scour the internet for a long time. Filters are generally designed to work with only one lens, meaning they are both extremely expensive (often more than the lens!) and hard to find. The only center filter I have came with my Fuji G617 panoramic camera. With panoramas vignette can look a little more strange, so I’ve always used that filter since I have it. Remember that these filters also slow down your exposure times as they must be compensated for. The filter factor is generally written on the filter.
“Sneffels Morning” - Colorado, 2020. Ektar 100 4x5, 75mm lens - 1 second at f32, no filters. An example of a panorama shot on the 75mm lens and and cropped to half a sheet. No center filter was used here so the vignette really isn’t too bad.
Movements
Most 75mm and 90mm wide lenses designed for 4x5 will have plenty of image circle to allow for movements. If you’re really into architecture you may want to look into the larger Schneider XL or equivalent lenses. For most landscapes there should be no trouble obtaining enough rise/fall or tilt/swing to get the job done.
Since it can be a challenge to see the ground glass, it can also be a little hard to focus. Sometimes people get their eyes out-of-whack and start using a ton of tilt when trying to focus a scene. Unless the camera is right down at ground level, the amount of tilt required should be very minimal for most wide landscapes. If you’re shooting at chest level and trying to get everything in focus from near to far, just a few degrees of tilt should do the trick. If you find yourself in a situation where the lens is tilted like crazy, zero things out and start the whole movement process over again.
“Shrine Ridge Paintbrush” - Colorado, 2019. Portra 160 4x5, 90mm lens - 3 seconds at f22, 2 stop soft GND filter. It doesn’t take a whole lot of tilt to bring everything into focus with a wide lens.
That about sums up wide angle lenses on 4x5 film! To learn much, much more about film in general, check out my ebook: "Film in a Digital Age" and really hone your film technique.