please post your petzval shots

[Jon Wilson]

Here is a chrome I took with a small Seroco 4" f2.7 petzval.
http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=7763500

Jon

[walter23]

[goamules]

There is an amazing variety of looks a Petzval can produce. As a reminder, there is a flickr Petzval Lens Photographs group with over 400 shots taken on film, daguerreotype, wet plate, etc.

Garrett

[Ramiro Elena]

[Dr Bellows]

There was recently a 5x7 Wollensak Series A Portrait lens for sale on ebay. This lens was listed by the seller as a Petzval. Is this true? The 1907 & 1913 catalog entries for the lens say nothing about the design, other than 4 elements.

I have a curious sample of an 8x10 Seneca Series A Portrait lens. The thing is painted black, making me think it was used for enlarging work. There is no adjustable diaphragm; though the aperture ring is there, it has no f-stop markings. Just past the ring is a slot, I assume for drop-in aperture masks. The glass is fine, so I need only find a way to bolt it onto my 4x5 to try it out. I may need to weld some rebar to the camera or attach a weather balloon to help support its considerable mass.

[Kirk Gittings]

This thread belongs in our Image Sharing and Discussion forum. It was started before we created that forum.

[Dirk Rösler]

Superb! It doesn't have the usual/expected Petz signature, which might be a good thing. Can you give details on the lens used?

[Ramiro Elena]

Superb! It doesn't have the usual/expected Petz signature, which might be a good thing. Can you give details on the lens used?

Yes, I don't see it either :P
It's a brass lens I recovered from my parents, a Petzval according to the experts here in the forum. It was a little confusing to mount correctly at first but I think I got it right.
I am shocked at the sharpness it yields, kinda hoped it would have more of that classic Petzval effect.

Thanks anyway

@Kirk: Can the thread be moved to the image sharing section?

[Jay Decker]

I am shocked at the sharpness it yields, kinda hoped it would have more of that classic Petzval effect.

Recently, I started shooting Petzval lenses and experienced the same result, surprising sharpness in the photos. However, when I used the same lens with a larger film format, e.g., changing from 5x7 to 8x10 film, I saw more of the Petzval effect around the perimeter of the image. The effect also comes out more in the out of focus background background with alternating light and dark areas, e.g., the little tree in the background of this photo...

[goamules]

Nice one Jay. Yeah, you can tell if there is swirl by putting a bush with a lot of small leaves in front of the lens, at 6, then 10, then 20 feet, and playing with the focus, pretending you are focusing on something closer. If you get swirl, and like that kind of thing, then just add the subject at the right point in front of the bush that doesn't need refocusing (much).