G-Clarons & Good Apertures for Medium distances
OK, so we all know G Clarons are great close up and fine at infinity as long as they are stopped well down to F22 or beyond...
.... but what about at medium distances, such as 6-20 feet? Can one stop down less and still get very sharp results? I'm in the process of getting various bits of kit out to Kabul for a project which will be shot in this 'medium' distance range and if I can get great performance out of a G claron at F11-F16 then I will plan on bringing out my G clarons. If not, I will search out a bargain 210 f5.6/250 f 6.3 plasmat.
I'm asking as it will be to months before I can get my hands on my G clarons, but if they are not going to work well at well under F22, then I would rather start looking for something more suitable now.
I am ashamed to admit my G-Clarons have only been used at infinity ;)
Re: G-Clarons & Good Apertures for Medium distances
My 240mm G Claron likes f/32. I've told it many times that if it would only consent to f/64, we'd be in the "in" club but it obstinately insists it is a f/32 lens and wants absolutely nothing to do with f/64.
I've argued
that none of my Ektars go to f/64 but the smart mouth G Claron tells me it wants none of my guff and to talk to the Dagor and Artar if I want f/64.;)
Re: G-Clarons & Good Apertures for Medium distances
So John, if you mention F11 or F16 at medium distances your 240 G Claron wants none of it?
Re: G-Clarons & Good Apertures for Medium distances
It depends on how much coverage you want.
The G-Clarons I've had were fine centrally wide open. Their coverage grows, i.e., image quality at the edges of the field improves, on stopping down. So it really depends on which focal length(s) you want to use and what format you're shooting.
The G-Clarons I've had were fine at all distances. Near, middle, far. They're good and useful lenses.
All this is true of faster plasmats too, at least from around 1:10 to infinity. And of dagors of all speeds.
Re: G-Clarons & Good Apertures for Medium distances
I'll be shooting 5x7 and have available 210, 240 and 305 G clarons.
Re: G-Clarons & Good Apertures for Medium distances
My 305 G-Claron seems to be sharpest from f/16 on. That's fine with me because I almost never use a view camera lens at less than f/22. Just the way I am.
Peter Gomena
Re: G-Clarons & Good Apertures for Medium distances
Quote:
Originally Posted by
turtle
I'll be shooting 5x7 and have available 210, 240 and 305 G clarons.
f/16 on 5x7 shouldn't be a stretch for any of them, f/11 might be for the 210.
Why don't you try them out and see whether they'll do? You have them and you know the level of quality you want to attain.
Re: G-Clarons & Good Apertures for Medium distances
Depends on your focal length and coverage relative to format. For example, I generally need to stop down my 250G using 8X10 film with movements simply to get the corners sharp. The same film on 4X5 works just as good as any plastmat I have ever used at typical apertures, regardless of subject distance. I rarely shoot wider than f/22, but f/16 would be just fine, maybe f/11. The bigger problem than the optics is the fact that film in the holder itself is not perfectlyflat, so a bit more depth of field helps in this respect too.
I just wouldn't worry about it unless you're trying to shoot the thing wide open.
Re: G-Clarons & Good Apertures for Medium distances
OK, interesting. Looks like the G-Clarons will be fine, or good enough.
Re: G-Clarons & Good Apertures for Medium distances
I wouldn't call G-Clarons just "good enough". They're better than the general-purpose plasmats I've used. In fact, when I asked Schneider why they discontinued making dagors, they told me it was because the G-Claron line was superior on every count, even
though it was never widely marketed as a general-purpose lens (this conversation obviously excluded the fact that the Kern dagor has a different look than the G, which is
very desirable in its own right). Of course, I'm referring to late G-Clarons in shutter, not
to WA or repro versions, or older formulas. People who use these lenses understand their
real worth.