Does anyone have any recommendations for a "reasonably priced" soft focus lens in shutter that will cover 4x5?
Does anyone have any recommendations for a "reasonably priced" soft focus lens in shutter that will cover 4x5?
I'd look for a small Verito, about 7 1/2 to 9" will cover quite easily, depending on the focal length you like. They are versatile and usually *reasonable, if you look a while.
*For a classic era soft focus lens, these are about the cheapest.
Garrett
flickr galleries
Jim Galli sells one-offs in shutter sometimes for those on a budget.
I'd also suggest Verito (and include Veritar as a coated, shuttered comparable). The Veritos are real good and easy to use. I have used quite a bit the 7.25" and 8.75" Veritos with 4x5 and anything you find close to that will be a good focal length. They are so numerous, you can shop till you find one in a shutter you like.
The Imagons are also pretty affordable. They look better to me when used without the strainer, but I'd get accused to suggesting harmless mis-use to recommend that.
I've got a Fuji soft focus but have not used it much. It's not soft enough for my taste. I think it's more of a smooth triplet than a soft focus exploration tool.
Tradition is that the longer versions of soft/pictorial lenses are more expensive than the shorter. Prices are a result of matching demand and availability. Most soft lenses found their use in Portrait work from around 1900. Earlier than this, Soft lenses were used to reduce the amount of touching-up work needed to create flawless faces! When Pictorialism took off, almost every serious photographer (amateur or professional) was working with the larger formats, from full plate upwards. When the average size of negatives started to decrease, probably due to improved emulsions, the soft/pictorial period was just about over.
So all this means that the range of most "brand name" soft lenses rarely includes a size around 6" which would be appropriate for 4x5".
I think the new and current drive of pictorialism is driven by both landscape and portrait interest and the slightly longer lenses are obviously quite suitable for portrait work with 4x5. But the shorter lenses are in very short supply. Perhaps, not as rare as the lenses available for formats above 10x12 but much less than the "standard" 5x7 to 8x10 range.
So the explanation for the present price structure - where increasing length means increasing prices - must reflect a low demand for short focal length soft lenses is very small ,considering how few of them there are around.
So although you think that the prices are high, they are really very reasonable, considering their rarety and what people have to fork out for the longer versions!
Fitting a shutter to a small lens is not rocket science.
Cheapest "easy" to find is the Fujinon 180mm SF. There are usually several for sale on eBay for around $250-300 in a modern shutter.
Make sure that you research their signature (along with the Imagons) as it CAN differ from the more traditional SF look.
Lachlan.
You miss 100% of the shots you never take. -- Wayne Gretzky
Jim Galli.
One of my favorite lenses is a slightly more than $100 meniscus IN a shutter. (Price may have increased from years ago)...
David Aimone Photography
Critiques always welcome...
Just to underline my comments earlier, note the following:
Dallmeyer 3A sold on ebay recently £1624.
Dallmeyer 3A (new style) sold on ebay a few days ago £2113.
Dallmeyer 1A - perfect for 4x5" - also ebay £286.
From the 1960s to maybe late 1990s, the Polaroid MP-4 was the common workhouse of copy cameras. They almost always came with TOMINON lenses in POLAROID Copal shutters. The shutters came in two flavors: with apertures and without apertures. You can easily obtain one with a TOMINON lens and aperture inside the shutter for around $30. Unscrew the front and rear elements. Opening in front and rear is around 29mm. Now mount a meniscus lens in front or behind shutter. Have done it both ways... maybe someone out there has a preference of a good reason. I prefer to mount the meniscus in front of the shutter. You'll have to recalculate the f/stop scale. Wide open you will have your soft focus lens. Close it way down and you will have a relatively sharp image. I just used hot-glue to attach my meniscus lens to the front of the shutter (not very pretty but for free and works fine).
Other way is to obtain a beaten up Kodak 620 (postcard) folding camera. Kodak 3A Autographic comes to mind, but the 3A may have too good of a compound lens. Again someone out there with a knowledge of folding cameras could quote you a model to look for. Early folding cameras had a meniscus lens with a simple shutter. Simply remove the lens and shutter and mount it on a lens board. Total cost under $20 online or for a dollar or two at a tag sale.
Soft focus? Reasonably priced?
About any lens I have. Of course it is essential that the photographer be able to tweek the softest image possible from a high quality lens. Choosing a shooting position on a wooden bridgw at peak traffic also helps, as does shooting in inclement weather.
As for reasonably priced: About any lens that I have bought in the last twenty years has dropped I value alsmot before it was mounted to my camera.
Drew Bedo
www.quietlightphoto.com
http://www.artsyhome.com/author/drew-bedo
There are only three types of mounting flanges; too big, too small and wrong thread!
This is a 10" Veritar at f/6.... (There are 5 dots between f/6 and f/8. This is at dot 4.) Delta 100.
Hi-res file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/irfnjrbu09...color.tif?dl=0
Here's one at f/6 and one dot:
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
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