Agonizing on Apertures -- photos done wide open

[Frank Petronio]

Rather than hijacking another thread even worse than I already did (which was all Oren's fault really...), let's share our photos done wide open - or at the least done with more than seven aperture blades forming the iris.

Circular apertures in other words. None of that cheap hexagonal junk. Copals and Compurs need not apply.

Here are a few of my latest: Graflexing and Graflexology. You might find a few others if you poke around.

Just to set the mood:

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[Oren Grad]

< wallowing in hijacker's guilt >

Wish I could pitch in, but I still don't have a scanner for photos nor a convenient place set up to park files for web viewing. I do hope, at long last, to rectify both delinquencies shortly. In the meantime, your Graflex* stuff is really cool.

Just curious, what lens did you use for the log?

[Frank Petronio]

I started with the auto Ektar that most of the RBs come with but then Jim Galli - who owns all the lenses - sold me a sweet Heliar. The Ektar is fine - sharp - more like a Tessar-Xenar I used to have. The Heliar is more of a soft focus yet sharp, with even nicer bokeh and a half stop faster.

[Oren Grad]

Thanks... that distant background is a mite frizzy, so I wondered. It will be interesting to see how the 6 3/8" Kodak Anastigmat on mine does.

I'm on the lookout myself now for a nice Heliar to play with, having had my curiosity piqued by the likes of Messrs Galli and Goldfarb. Not sure yet whether it will be for the Graflex, though - it may be hard to find a Heliar of suitable focal length that also matches the thread of the Anastigmat, and I don't know how much of a production it is to replace the lens mount on the 3.25x4.25 B. Doesn't matter - I'm game to try a Heliar on 5x7 or 6.5x8.5 instead if that's what turns up first at a good price.

[Frank Petronio]

I can't quite hit infinity with the 6 inch 180mm Heliar. The 190mm Ektar is a better all arounder.

I think I saw where some wild man mounted an Aero Ektar on an RB Super D. I liked the bokeh from the Aero I had and I bet the f/2.5 would be beautiful to focus with - but what a beastly project! I should have downloaded the photos.

I started to use cheap reading glasses to focus the RB with -- whether it is my failing eyesight or of universial benefit, they paid for themselves in the first session by helping me hit focus.

To think I used to use Gaussian Blur all the time... I cringe now when I think back...

[Patrik Roseen]

Frank, do these pics qualify in this thread.
They are both shot wide open, but I have used tilt and swing to adjust plane of focus.
I really like my Symmar-S 180mm f5.6 since it gives such a short DOF when used wide open.

Still life

Boat among flowers

[Ole Tjugen]

Here's another one, shot wide open. In this case the aperture would have been round at any setting, it was a Xenar 300mm f:4.5 in Compound #5 shutter: 23 iris blades...

It's interesting to note the different "bokeh" on the left and right sides - in front of and behind the plane of focus.

BTW, I used 5x7" FP4+ in a Technika, and printed on POP:

[Walt Calahan]

Beautiful image Ole!

[Steve J Murray]

If not wide open, then almost. 10 inch Caltar on 4x5.

[Jim Galli]

work shoes

Done with an ancient "Ajax" (direct competitors to Acme which was always bugs bunny's fave) petaval lens of about 9 1/2" focus. 8X10 Century with paper negative. Wide open of course!