What FL for portraits with WP?

[Richard K.]

For head and shoulders, I figure between 360 and 480 should be OK? What do you use?

[wfwhitaker]

10 3/4" because I've got a nice Cooke Series IIA in that focal length and it seems right to me. A 300mm Heliar would also be good. Obviously I'm not thinking as "long" as you. Choose your lens and make it work to fit your own vision. The only rules are the ones that work for you.

[Jim Galli]

Richard, when the format size approaches the same size as a human head, traditional rules break down. In the days of 8X10 studio photography it was rare for a guy to use anything longer than 18" with 14" being the rule for 8X10 and 10 3/4 like Will suggests or 12" being fine for whole plate. A 14" Heliar would be a fine choice. A 12 3/4" Cooke Portrellic, even better. What size is the lens board on your outfit? How sturdy is the front standard?

[Oren Grad]

I was actually thinking about that just yesterday. I'm likely to grab a 300.

[Richard K.]

What size is the lens board on your outfit? How sturdy is the front standard?

Sinar 5.5" square boards; standard is sturdy - Hiromi tells me it could in fact hold the 10 lb, 42 cm Heliar...

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

Sinar 5.5" square boards; standard is sturdy - Hiromi tells me it could in fact hold the 10 lb, 42 cm Heliar...

A Sinar lensboard would not fit the flange however. You will either have to have the lensboard threaded, have a special flange made for it, or (shudder) trim original flange. Historically, 14" to 16" Petzvals were used with whole plate.

[Ken Lee]

"Richard, when the format size approaches the same size as a human head, traditional rules break down".

That's why we don't see 600mm or 1000mm as the typical length for 8x10 portraits.

I used my 450 Fujinon C (which has very nice blur incidentally), and found it pretty long. In 35mm terms, it would be a 75mm "portrait" length.

I mounted a 360 Heliar on a Sinar board, and used it with a Sinar shutter. It required a spacer ring around 1/4 inch thick, so that the rear of the lens stayed clear of the shutter. I sold the lens, but it worked nicely.

[Diane Maher]

I used my 270 mm Crown Anastigmat and my 355 G-Claron during a workshop. When I first started WP, I tried my Fujinon-SF 250 mm with a friend of mine. I didn't have any problems with any of them. On 8x10, I used a 19" APO Artar (485 mm) as a portrait lens and it worked very well.

[Scott Davis]

I've got a rebadged Wollensak Vesta (marked Seneca Whole Plate Portrait) that I use with Whole Plate which is around a 12" lens.

[Mark Sawyer]

"Richard, when the format size approaches the same size as a human head, traditional rules break down".

That's why we don't see 600mm or 1000mm as the typical length for 8x10 portraits.

I used my 450 Fujinon C (which has very nice blur incidentally), and found it pretty long. In 35mm terms, it would be a 75mm "portrait" length.


I differ on this. Focal length is the distance from the lens to the film, and as you focus closer with a view camera, you run the extension out, so the focal length becomes functionally longer. Your 450mm lens with, say, 600mm of extension is functioning as a 600mm lens. This happens to a much lesser degree with 35mm lenses that focus with moving internal elements.

And a 600mm 8x10 lens would be about a 100mm 35mm lens. Nikon's favored portrait lens was a 105mm.

[Ari]

I've used a 210, 240 and more recently a 127 for portraits on 4x5.
The 210 is my favourite thus far.

[eddie]

i like 16 inches on 8x10 and 12 inches on 5x7......for WP i would be about the same....somewhere between 12-16. i guess i would have to grab my favorite 14 inch voigtlander....:)

[Sal Santamaura]

The old portrait rule of thumb is for small and medium formats, twice the diagonal. For large format, the sum of the sides. So, conventional wisdom says for Richard K.'s Ebony WP, 365mm would be preferred. I find a 355 Kern Dagor to work splendidly on mine.

Now we should wait for Christopher Broadbent to post. He'll say that, unless Richard wants to make portraits that are distant and don't provide an appropriately intimate perspective, he should shoot horizontals with a 210mm lens. :)

[Richard K.]

for WP i would be about the same....somewhere between 12-16. i guess i would have to grab my favorite 14 inch voigtlander....:)

And what IS your favorite Voigtlander? :D :D

[Richard K.]

And where exactly IS Voigtland?!?:rolleyes:

[Hugo Zhang]

And what IS your favorite Voigtlander? :D :D


I find my Apo-lanther 30cm f/4.5 lens matches well with my WP camera as an all around lens.

[Ken Lee]

"Focal length is the distance from the lens to the film, and as you focus closer with a view camera, you run the extension out, so the focal length becomes functionally longer. Your 450mm lens with, say, 600mm of extension is functioning as a 600mm lens."

Great observation ! If we use a 300mm lens at 1:1 to make a head shot on 8x10, it requires 600mm of bellows draw. So I guess it, too, has become a "standard portrait length".

Perhaps this is what Jim means, when he suggests that the traditional rules break down. Optical rules don't break down, but we lose track of them, without your excellent point.

[Richard K.]

I find my Apo-lanther 30cm f/4.5 lens matches well with my WP camera as an all around lens.

GRRRR :mad: :rolleyes: :)

That's twice now Hugo!!! I think I'll buy one just to calm you down...can you lend me $14000?

[eddie]

And what IS your favorite Voigtlander?

my favorite is a 14 inch f 3.2....a real 3.2....

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/3/5/7/8/5/0/webimg/356576378_o.jpg

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/3/5/7/8/5/0/webimg/356576362_o.jpg


http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/3/5/7/8/5/0/webimg/356576340_o.jpg

10x10 wet plate on black aluminum.


http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/3/5/7/8/5/0/webimg/356576353_o.jpg

[Jack Dahlgren]

my favorite is a 14 inch f 3.2....a real 3.2....


Did they grow the beards while waiting for the portrait.

[Richard K.]

my favorite is a 14 inch f 3.2....a real 3.2....

Man that's nice Eddie, real nice. You and Hugo are making me regret being poor...

[Sal Santamaura]

Man that's nice Eddie, real nice. You and Hugo are making me regret being poor...Come on Richard, anyone who purchased an Ebony WP brand new (and with at least one Ebony WP film holder) can't claim poverty. I speak from personal experience...

[eddie]

Come on Richard, anyone who purchased an Ebony WP brand new (and with at least one Ebony WP film holder) can't claim poverty. I speak from personal experience...


sal, what about AFTER you buy the ebony? surely you could claim poverty then....i would/could.

[Richard K.]

Come on Richard, anyone who purchased an Ebony WP brand new (and with at least one Ebony WP film holder) can't claim poverty. I speak from personal experience...

AHA, equivocator, perfidious raconteur, dissembler of untruths!:) I'll have you know that I have NO Ebony holders, just Chamonix (OK and 3 stained to match the ebony Ebony custom made Lotus holders) but no Ebony holders! So there! :) :D

[Richard K.]

sal, what about AFTER you buy the ebony? surely you could claim poverty then....i would/could.

Excellent point. Excellent point. Thank you Eddie. I hereby do claim impecuniousness. :D

[Richard K.]

Come on Richard, anyone who purchased an Ebony WP brand new (and with at least one Ebony WP film holder) can't claim poverty. I speak from personal experience...

Seriously? That (to me) was just too special to pass up and I DID HAVE money then. Now two kids are in University...blah blah...blather..whine...

[Sal Santamaura]

AHA, equivocator, perfidious raconteur, dissembler of untruths!:) I'll have you know that I have NO Ebony holders, just Chamonix (OK and 3 stained to match the ebony Ebony custom made Lotus holders) but no Ebony holders! So there! :) :DSorry, I probably confused you with someone else. OK, no Ebony brand WP film holders.

Richard, if the tuitions have put you in dire financial straits, why not offer the Ebony WP for sale? It would be the first and we could all then see what kind of market exists for them. :D

[Richard K.]

Richard, if the tuitions have put you in dire financial straits, why not offer the Ebony WP for sale? It would be the first and we could all then see what kind of market exists for them. :D

It's not just the tuition. Beer seems to be an ongoing expense. As far as the ebony Ebony WP goes, hmmmm....I'll think about it after I'm dead!:rolleyes: :D

It's become my #1 camera for playing with my growing Brassie collection! :)