lf-photo.org.uk

Enthusiastic Zeiss man (Contax and Hassy) ready to move up to "big school" of LF.
Nearly pressed the button to buy an Ebony45SVTE Friday ('Robert White') and today ('View Camera Store'). If I get the urge for the 3rd time, I'll press that darn button.
Looking to get rid of those converging verticals in my cityscapes so a Nikkor 90mm SW to start looks fave. Also drooling over Schneider XL 72 and 47 but the 90 will do for first few frames. Do I need a WA bellows and recessed lb for the 47 / 72 with the ebony?
Look forward to exchanging views.
John

Welcome to the "dark side"

Starting off with an Ebony is a good decision - you'll never need/want to "upgrade" so a sound investment!

Lenses are a personal choice but I can recommend the following:

Schneider 80mm XL - lovely lens, plenty of coverage for 5x4, much smaller in size/weight than the 72XL with much
smaller/cheaper filters!
Schneider 72XL - fantastic lens but a bit of a monster! Massive front element, (seem to recall 95mm filter thread??) but bags of
coverage but a hefty lump of glass!
Nikon 90mm f8 - awesome! Much smaller in size and weight than the (slightly) brighter f4.5 version, same coverage (enough for a
sheet of 5x7; 235mm I think) and smaller filters needed too!
Schneider 110mm XL - the dogs dangly bits! Massive coverage - will cover a sheet of 10x8, 67mm filter thread, tiny in size and
super sharp!

Nikon 120mm f8 - another real sleeper; super sharp, tons of coverage, luvverly!!
Schneider Apo Symmar 150mm f5.6/Nikon 150mm f5.6 - both excellent standard lenses;
Schneider Apo Symmar 210mm f5.6 - a real stunner! Will comfortably cover 5x7 so tons of room on 5x4.
Fujinon 250mm f6.3 - will cover 5x7 and really sharp.
Fujinon 300mm f8 T - again very sharp with a Tele design meaning less bellows draw needed.

Re: wide bellows - they help with allowing potential for movements but most importantly allow infinity focus! You will need both a recessed lens panel and wide bellows for the 47XL - another awesome lens but VERY wide and does distort shapes. Not sure about the 72XL - I mounted mine on a flat panel with the Ebony 45SU (wide bellows) but not sure on the 45SV series of Ebony cameras.
BTW - you will find that wide lenses on 5x4 appear much wider than their equivalent focal lengths in 35mm/medium format! They give massive foreground and need care when composing so that the scene does not "get lost" in the frame!

Hey Paul,
I really appreciate your advice - I'll defo take on board. Would like to meet up with others to see how LF's operate.
Do you know whether any workshops / trips are likely to be organised in the coming months?
John