In article <49g3nf$l6i@news.cc.utah.edu>, Bruce.Wheadon@m.cc.utah.edu says...
>Do 35mm lenses work if fitted to a large format camera? If not, why >not?

Lenses have a limited circle of coverage (which may be greater
for acceptable illumination than for acceptable sharpness). Most
lenses are optimized for the circle of coverage necessary for a
particular format (about 44mm for 35mm), since quality can be
higher in a more limited circle size than in a maximized circle
size (for a given amount of resources spent on the lens design
and manufacture). Since the circle of coverage becomes larger
with closer focus (When the projected cone intersected by the
film plane becomes larger due to moving the lens away from the
film to focus closer, the circle of coverage at the film plane
also becomes larger.), lenses that would normally have
insufficient coverage for a format may cover nicely when used
for macro photography purposes (a 16mm movie lens can work for
35mm and a lens for 35mm can work for 4x5, etc. when the lenses
are focused close enough to enlarge the circle of coverage enough
to cover the larger format.
Hope this helps.