What 8x10 lens do I need for full face portraits like this?

[PaulSchneider]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of getting into 8x10 and my prime interest would be to make razor-sharp full face portraits like martin schoeller.

This is an example of what I'm thinking of:

http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425554...imberlake.html

I see that the perspective is kind of distorted, the faces look a little bit unnatural but with a beautiful dof falloff.

Could anyone with experience tell me with which focal length one could achieve this look? Also, considering the minimal dof at these telephoto ranges in this format, what f-stop would I need to shoot to get a similar dof?

Finally, what are the sharpest modern lenses in this focal length?

Thank you very much for any pointers,

Paul

[jp]

The perspective looks allright, but the lighting is a little intentionally unnatural. You see in the eyes big light sources on each side of the camera. Hard to tell from the jpeg, but the nose looks a little out of focus, so I'd guess the aperture would be f16 or less and it would be a slightly long lens. Your options are tiny depth of field or slight depth of field. You don't need any super sharp lens for brutally sharp portraits in 8x10. Anything that's not "soft focus" will show every single pore and whisker at non-wide open apertures.

[Gem Singer]

Look for a Nikon/Nikkor 450M or a Fujinon 450C.

If you want more space between the camera and the subject (and have the bellows for it), look for a Fujinon 600C.

Focus on the eyes and close down to f22 or f32.

[PaulSchneider]

Wow thank you guys!

I'll look out for those japanese lenses!

Kind regards

Paul

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

With a tight headshot on 8x10 you are pretty close to 1:1, so in reality nearly any lens 300mm or longer would provide a fine perspective. The issue, as pointed out above by Gem is how much room you want between you and your subject. A 19" lens would mean about 38" between lens and subject at 1:1, but of course this also means 38" of bellows. Make sure your camera has the bellows. A 24" lens will give you a bit more space (48"), but with this much extension you are going to face lots of other issues, such as probably having to use an intermediate standard (with a studio camera) and probably need orangutan arms (or a assistant) to adjust the lens while looking through the glass.

The lighting looks like two big softboxes on either side of the camera, as well as some background lights. DOF is running from mid-nose (tip is out of focus) to sideburns, so this is probably (again as Gem writes) around f32, to get much more with big softboxes at 1:1 you are going to need some serious power (>4800ws per light).

[Mark Sawyer]

Bear in mind that the sort of magnification you're looking at is near 1:1, and a 450mm/18-inch lens needs 36 inches of bellows extension to focus at 1:1. That is more than many 8x10 cameras can handle. I'd check your maximum bellows extension and get a lens that's half that, or maybe even a little less.

[Mark Sawyer]

Jason beat me to it!

[mdm]

A much bigger problem than the lens will be finding people to sit for you, once word gets out. I dont expect many women have the confidence to allow themselves to be photographed in that way. Do you have any Angelina Jolie's in your life. You could concentrate on ugly sweaty hetrosexual men who have given up and dont care or dont realise what they look like. The soul laid bare, definately has value.

Personally, I feel a kinder (less honest?) approach could be more appropriate and offer more utility to everyone concerned.

David

[Frank Petronio]

There are videos of Martin Schoeller online, I saw one linked from "A Photo Editor" last year. I think but am not 100% sure that he uses a 360 Rodenstock Sironar-S but it would hardly matter whether it was that or the Schneider APO-L version.

If you can afford to do it his way, go to NYC or LA and simply rent an 8x10 Sinar and two high-powered Profoto heads and packs, an couple of assistants, the small studio space at Industria SuperStudio, and 50 holders or so of 8x10 Portra 160 Color Neg and have a go at it.

Figure about a grand for the camera, a couple for the lights, assistant, space, and couple more for film and processing.

That's the level guys like that work at, Gregory Crewdson, big fashion togs, etc.

Not to slam Martin, by all accounts he is a nice guy, but the funny thing is that a lot of the hobby retired dentist photographers on this site can outshoot him with their broken-down fifty year old cameras set-up out beside the barn in open shade....

[Brian C. Miller]

To put it mildly: overkill! You don't need an 8x10 Sinar to make razor-sharp mugshots like that. Get something used that's good, and then get a 300mm lens. My Calumet/Cambo 8x10 monorail has 600mm (2ft) of bellows, and you can pick them up for pretty cheap these days. Excellent used lenses are cheap, too.