OK, I highjacked the name of the thread with the many wonderful images but my intention here is something different. The thread name reflects a certain frustration with trying to shoot some longish lenses wide open.
I have been working on project that involves stopping moving water. I am using 5x7 B&W film and making some relatively big enlargements. As such I need to use a fast shutter speed (1/250 is usually the minimum). I have adapted a speed graphic focal plant shutter to use with this progect.
With regards to DOF I am shooting a horizontal plane, and I use back tilt so the DOF needs are minimal.
I have been using some Repro-Clarons (355mm and 420mm) with some some good results but have been a bit frustrated with the maximum of F/9. There are many conditions where I just don't have the available light to do what I want with the shutter speed that I need.
In an attempt to be able to photograph under a wider range of conditions I recently purchased a 360mm F/4.5 Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar. This thing is one big honker of a lens. I tried to using this wide F***ing open but I experienced substantial focus shift. The center of the image was sharp but at about 5" off the center it started to go
soft.
I couldn't get rid of the focus shift until around f/16. When I compared this to my Repro-Clarons I found that they did not exhibit this focus shift and I could actually use them open wider than the gigantic Tessar. I found this ironic.
Can anyone comment on this? Is there such a thing as a 360mm large F/stop lens that can actually be used wide open? Would the Xenar be a better bet or should I expect them all to behave the same?
Any input from the lens gurus would be appreciated.
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