them

150mm is a nice focal length on 6x6-7-8-9, I have a Schneider Tele-Xenar for
my 6x6 SLR, and use a Schneider Symmar-S on the 6x9 cameras that I use for
the rectangular formats, as well as the Apo-Ronar that works for closer
stuff.  It's a good moderate wideangle for 4x5 as well, and I use it on 6x12
and 6x17 as well.  (What with the Pentax 150mm I have for 35mm work, all
round it's a focal length I seem to get a lot of use from, for very
different things!)

For this sort of moderate close up work on medium format I tend to use
almost all incident metering too, whether the light is natural or flash.  I
have a 'mini receptor' - a meter cell on a flexible swan-neck - that I can
plug into my Sekonic and is useful for real close work.  And I usually
spot-meter for anything more distant.  Once one is taking the time and
trouble to use MF, it seems pointless not also to take care about exposure
and contrast too, after all.

Give it a try.  Renting definitely makes sense as it is such a different way
of working that you may find it just doesn't suit you, so rent before you
think about buying.  That will also help you to work out whether you want a
field or a monorail camera, how much you will actually use movements, and so
on.  Now is certainly a cheap time to buy used if you find you do like it.

I don't actually shoot a huge amount of 4x5, but it is nice to make the
ocassional really large print (I have an old 5x7 too, but almost never use
it).  I use roll film backs much more often: up to 6x9 on my 6x9s (a
monorail and a technical camera) and up to 6x12 on my 4x5s (a monorail and a
stand mounted copy camera) - and more recently up to 6x17 on the 4x5 via a
back I recently bought to experiment with.  (Yes, 17cm is bigger than 5" - I
posted a review on RPEL-F a while back that explains what the trick is.)

I do like the movements for MF studio work, and of course they are a
necessity for much architectural work.  DoF is so shallow on 4x5 that they
become necessary for many shots that on smaller formats you wouldn't even
think of movements.

Anyway, RPEL-F is a good place to ask about this stuff.  Note that
'everyone' will tell you that a 4x5 camera is scarcely bigger than a 6x9 so
it isn't worth getting the latter.  As you will gather from the above, I
disagree!  My two monorails are both Arca-Swiss, and the 6x9 is  _much_
smaller and more portable.  The difference is less acute with field cameras,
but even so, I wouldn't suggest getting a 4x5 unless you actually need the
extra film acreage, either to shoot 4x5 sheets or to use a 6x12 back.

Definitely worth the cost of a rental or two to try it out.

Mmmm, Velvia....  ;-)

Peter