lenses Choice

L

Louis

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Feb 11, 2026
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hello everybody
I'm looking for to buy a 120mm or 125mm lens for my Zone VI 4x5 view camera; I am hesitating between:
Symmar-S 120mm f5.6
Fujinon-W 125mm f5.6
Sironar N120 f.6.8
somebody have expérience do give me
Louis
 
In my view there aren't any bad lenses among the big brands. The 120mm's are not a very common bunch. It may depend very much on what you're going to shoot because the 5.6's have significantly less coverage than the f8's, albeit they are lighter and much more compact.
It might also depend on which other lenses you have available to you.

I have the schneider 120mm f8.
 
They are all good - base your choice on what you can get hold of, and in what condition/price that individual lens is. I have a Fuji 125mm 5.6 which for one reason or another I'd forgotten about, but have had it out in the Lakes this last weekend. Very small and sharp lens, just as with all 125mm Plasmat-type lenses you don't have acres of coverage, but plenty for normal use (i.e not architecture needing a lot of rise/fall).
 
Thanks Dave and Marty
I use to rodenstock 210 mm asph
Fuji is on my Price I'll try to find one in U.E Japan customs feed are to expansive
have a good day
L
 
I use a Fuji 120/f8 sometimes on 5x7. It works great. I can't comment on image circle because I haven't needed to use many movements with it so far.
 
It's worth noting all the 120mm lenses @Louis has listed will have very little room for movements on a 5x4 camera.

Marty & Nas are both using 120mm f8 wide angle lenses, they will give plenty of coverage on 5x4. The Fujinon 120mm f8 SW has an IC of 290mm, the 125mm f5.6 W IC 198mm. The 120mm f5.6 Symmar S IC 178mm.

In practice there's quite a gap between a 210mm & a 120mm, have you thought about a 135mm f5.5, my Symmar S has an IC of 195mm, just enough for my landscape work. I do have a couple of 120mm lenses a 1912 f6.3 Dagor, and a more practical f6.8 Angulon.

Ian
 
The Schneider f/5.6 120 mm Super Symmar HM is rated to cover 211 mm at f/22. I have one , it's one of my favorite lenses on 4x5. Unfortunately asking prices on eBay tend to be rather high.

The 120/121 mm f/8 Super Angulon seems to be more plentiful with prices to match. Ansel Adams liked his 121...

David
 
The super angulons 120 not cheap and 121 cheap but old and tricky special shutter and both are big/heavy but great for movements.
We can only guess but with a wooden field camera you might be looking for reasonable weight , as per above the 120mm are in various flavours vintage and modern and size/coverage . Condition of shutter and lens are important .
If you are looking for a lens complimentary to your newer Rodenstock 210 then if you can find a plain 120 Sironar N. - not apo macro then it might not be too expensive
 
HowLarge said:
The super angulons 120 not cheap and 121 cheap but old and tricky special shutter and both are big/heavy but great for movements.
We can only guess but with a wooden field camera you might be looking for reasonable weight , as per above the 120mm are in various flavours vintage and modern and size/coverage . Condition of shutter and lens are important .
If you are looking for a lens complimentary to your newer Rodenstock 210 then if you can find a plain 120 Sironar N. - not apo macro then it might not be too expensive
Click to expand...

Don't be fooled, what might appear to be a special shutter isn't, it's just a regular Rim set Synchro Compur inside the housing. But you are looking at 600gm roughly, I consider my 90mm f5.6 Super Angulon large, and it's only marginally lighter, but then a 210mm f5.6 Symmar S or Sironar N will be very similar in size and weight. (I checked, and own quite a few LF lenses).

There's no point in buying 120/121mm f8 lenses that cover 10x8 unless you are planning moving up formats. For about the same cost you could get a 150mm or 136mm f5.6 lens and also a 90mm f5.6/f6.8.

Ian
 
I have two of the 121’s one with a working shutter and one that has issues they may be std inside but they are old and far from std outside , I don’t think it’s trivial to reshutter them they make little sense on a 4x5 .
 
Back in the day Fred Picker recommended the 120mm Super Angulon for use with his 4x5 Zone VI camera.

I bought a 121mm Super Angulon new in Fall of 1972. By then it came in a standard variety No. 0 Copal. (I replaced this in the 1990's with the 120mm Super Symmar HM.) Used it mostly with my 4x5's, a Deardorff and a Sinar Norma. Personally I like this focal length with this format.

My various bits of Schneider literature show the 121mm Super Angulon in a No. 0 Copal weighed 518 grams, the 120mm Super Angulon in the same shutter weighed 700 grams. (I'm a bit surprised by this difference.) The 210mm Apo-Symmar in a No. 1 Copal weighed 590 grams.

The OP specifically is looking for 120mm lenses and doesn't specify a price. A quick look on eBay shows 120mm Super Angulon asking prices ranging from a bit under $400 to a bit over $500.
 
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