Kodak Portrait Lens—other Dual Purpose Considerations

[Mark Booth]

I am planning to venture into a new world of discovery with my new interest in vintage lenses. Unfortunately I am not that experienced with large format vintage lenses and have only used vintage glass with Leica cameras until recently. I shoot large format with a 4x5 Wisner camera and recently fell in love with a purchase of a minty Schneider Angulon f6.8/12cm lens with synchro-compur shutter. I quickly became hooked on vintage glass—smooth tonal transitions and bokeh.

I am actually considering a sharp but smooth vintage lens for landscape use in the slight to moderately long lens category for 4x5 application. However, I am also interested in a (dual purpose) lens (or second dedicated lens) that can work well for soft luminous aberrations in portraiture and table top fine art.

I understand that the Wollensak Verito is legendary as a true soft portrait lens, and I love what I have seen done with the Voigtlander Heliar lens in limited depth of field and smooth transitions of high values and tonal separation. I have three primary questions to ask of those with far more expertise than myself in this area.

1) Assuming (dual purpose) Does the Heliar work well for distant subjects as in landscape use? If so, which Heliar lens design works best for this application—Heliar Defocus/Dynar Type/Universal Helair models?

2) I am not knowledgeable of the Kodak Portrait lens, but would this lens present itself as a dual purpose lens?

3) Is it best to go with two distinctively different lenses to obtain a smooth but sharp landscape image, and then a second lens purchase for soft focus applications, or can a dual purpose lens approach work for my descriptions?

Thanks for contributing to this discussion thread.

—Mark Booth
Issaquah, WA. USA

[Shen45]

A Verito wide open or just closed down a tad for portraits and shot at between 11 and 16 will give sharp but smooth for landscape, a very versatile lens.

[Mark Booth]

Steve, Thanks for this helpful comment. I would of never considered the Verito to be this versatile in landscape too. One only hears of its renown for glowing highlights in portraiture and the like.

[CCHarrison]

Mark

I am about to publish Part 2 of my Soft Focus Lens Article which will help answer your question, but my short answer is to look into the Wollensak Velostigmat Series II lens. This is a sharp 4 element anastigmat with the option of adding diffusion via moving the front cell. Note that only the larger sizes have the diffusion feature. Also, these are less expensive than most other options. The Verito is another option but for sharp pics you need to stop down to f/11 and smaller.. However, the added benefit is you can use the rear cell alone for a longer focal length...

I am sure you will get more good advice...

Dan

[wfwhitaker]

With a Wisner 4x5 you're limited to 4x4-inch lensboards (or Technika with an adapter). The Kodak 305mm Portrait lens when available in a shutter is in an Ilex 5 shutter and is going to be too big for that lensboard. Heliars were available in a 21cm focal length. Also the Verito was available in an 8 3/4" focal length. Both would be appropriate for your format and your camera. But don't limit yourself; consider other vintage lenses, too. Velostigmats, Radar's and other so-called "commercial" lenses were intended to be dual-purpose lenses in their day - slightly soft wide open, but quickly becoming sharp as they're closed down. Keep in mind that the overall look can be largely attributable to the lens, but is partly due to the film used, processing and the lighting.

[Shen45]

Steve, Thanks for this helpful comment. I would of never considered the Verito to be this versatile in landscape too. One only hears of its renown for glowing highlights in portraiture and the like.

I'm not sure, I haven't checked lately, but Will had a wonderful series on how the Verito behaved at various apertures. It was actually the reason I purchased mine. If he still has the link active maybe he will post it.

[Shen45]

http://wfwhitaker.com/tech/verito.htm

Thanks for the effort you did on this series Will.

[Mark Booth]

Steve/Dan/Will:

Thank you for your outstanding suggestions. I am continually amazed at the wealth of knowledge that exist within the photographic community and appreciate your insights shared on vintage large format lenses.

I am about to publish Part 2 of my Soft Focus Lens Article

Dan, thank you for the news about your soon to be published article! Steve, thank you for making mention of Will's outstanding lens performance (example) page on the Wollensak Verito 8 3/4" f/4 lens.

This is a huge help in getting me pointed in the right direction!

Wollensak Velostigmat Series II lens. This is a sharp 4 element anastigmat with the option of adding diffusion via moving the front cell.

Dan, you make mention of "moving" the front cell—is this removing the cell or by way of adjustment? Do you know at what focal length this feature is available?

Thanks,
Mark

[Mark Booth]

http://wfwhitaker.com/tech/verito.htm

Will makes mention that the Wollensak Verito 8 3/4" lens is mounted in a Ilex Universal #4 shutter. I presume that the #4 shutter would fit on my Wisner lens board? Would such a thing be best installed on a barrel lens by SK Grimes or other recommendations? (This might be viable option for me)

[CCHarrison]

Mark

take a look at this thread by Mark Sawyer
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=57385

Thanks
Dan