G-claron portraits?

[C. D. Keth]

[I]Hi Michelle,
One thing I noticed about the 210--the ring kept coming loose from the lens board and I had to disassemble the lens and re-tighten--a pain, especially when you're shooting in some pretty crazy situations. I considered simply gluing the ring onto the lens board. Does this make sense?

A rubberband or rubber o-ring between the retainer ring and the lensboard should fix that problem. Or you could just use a bit of loc-tite on the threads.

[Don Hutton]

So I have two very different conflicting aesthetic preferences for portraiture. I love the older style of very soft-looking portraits. I also love very, very sharp portraits...so sharp it's a little cruel to the sitter.

Does anyone use an appropriate g-claron for the second type of portrait aesthetic? I just bought cells for a 240 g-claron and, while I eagerly wait for it and the shutter to arrive, I'm wondering if it will become a favorite portrait lens for me.

It really depends on what sort of look you are tryng to achieve, what format you are shooting etc. I'd suggest that the f9 maximum aperture of the G Claron won't make things particularly easy, like say a larger f5.6 lens would of the same focal lengh. On 4x5, the perspective would be considered pretty normal - you'd be really trying to accentuate features if you were using it on 8x10 (make a big nose bigger in a hurry etc.). I like that sort of focal lengh a lot for 4x5 portraits which are 1/2 figure to head shots. They are very sharp lenses and probably pretty brutal to anyone over the age of 10, but if that's the look you're after... However, G Clarons do not have a great reputation for producing appealing bokeh, so that may count against them for this use. I'd also suggest you really consider something brighter - focussing is probably the key to getting consistent results and a bright lens certainly helps. I find that for portraiture particularly, you are often putting you head to the GG, and then up and again over and over to keep the subject engaged and your eyes simply don't have the time to get aquainted with a dim image on the GG.

[Frank Petronio]

I hate the thought of trying to focus quicking at f/9. Honestly I like the modern Rodenschneider 150/5.6s -- sharp where focused, smooth boooooookeaaaah, and not too hard to find at a good price. Stop it down if you must, but it is nicer to start with the brightest sun.

[Ralph Barker]

. . . I find that for portraiture particularly, you are often putting you head to the GG, and then up and again over and over to keep the subject engaged and your eyes simply don't have the time to get aquainted with a dim image on the GG.

One could always wear a patch over the GG-focusing eye when out in the light. A segment on the "Myth Busters" TV show proved it works.

The downside, of course, is that it's tough to do portraits when the subject is rolling on the floor laughing.

[John Kasaian]

I've had no trouble with focusing at f/9 in bright daylight ( and I could well be the poster child for advertising a Mister MaGoo cartoon!)