Thanks Noah. Much appreciated.
Thanks Noah. Much appreciated.
My experience with the Fuji 360 is that it is noticeably soft if you shoot with a large aperture. By f16 or f22 it gets very nice. I tend to shoot portraits close to wide open, and I found that my Schneider Apo-Symmar 360 was much sharper than the Fuji at large apertures. Depending on the look you're going for, one or the other may be preferable.
Thanks Luis. Why is it the least used length? And are you shooting portraits? Thanks
Frankly, for 8x10 I think a 12" is the most useful focal length. I typically bring the 12" Dagor instead of the 14". A 14" plasmat is a BEAST, but you'll figure that out. I have two 12" Dagors as well as a 12" Artar. You might also consider a 14-16.5" Artar. Nice small size considering and if you don't stop down much it won't be razor sharp, or stop down to f22 to 45 if you want more sharpness & DF. Whatever you get, make sure it's in a recent shutter (ie Copal) or certainly nothing older than an Ilex shutter, and if an Ilex plan on having it serviced. L
I shoot portraits on 8x10. You can use a 12" in some circumstances, but not as a usual lens, in my opinion. It's OK if the subject is small in the frame, and in one plane, but not close, or when something is sticking out towards the camera. Some people would include noses relative to ears as "something sticking out", others think that kind of distortion is OK. I don't. My usual lens is a 36cm Heliar on 8x10, or 30cm tessar-type on 5x7. If you're curious, I think nearly every shot in my LF Flickr page, which is mostly portraits, is labeled as to format and focal length
I don't care for plasmats, in general, but if you're replicating Avedon, that's probably what you need to have, if for no other reason than to feel like you're doing it right. Likewise for the focal length; use what he used.
Thanks, but I'd rather just watch:
Large format: http://flickr.com/michaeldarnton
Mostly 35mm: http://flickr.com/mdarnton
You want digital, color, etc?: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stradofear
I agree with Michael. If you are going after that Avedon look, use a plasmat. Heliars and tessars are wonderful portrait lenses with their own look, and I would not associate that with Avedon. But I have to admit that I shoot neither stopped down, and if you are shooting outdoors in the west you will have a lot of light so could stop down considerably, and maybe then a tessar looks like a plasmat? Hell, I don't know...
Stop them down enough, and they all look like pinholes. :-)
Tim's probably right: stop them down to f22, and who could tell the difference?
Thanks, but I'd rather just watch:
Large format: http://flickr.com/michaeldarnton
Mostly 35mm: http://flickr.com/mdarnton
You want digital, color, etc?: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stradofear
Jim, IMHO, nailed it.
There is no silver bullet. Whole Avedon's series are more about light and awesome printer than about lens. Grab something, stop it to f22 and shoot. As long as it is relatively sharp - you will be fine.
Symmar-S in 360 is frantastic sharp plasmat that will absolutely work.
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