Originally Posted by
Jay Decker
My Petzval, Dallmeyer, and other softfocus lenses turn into well behaved lenses when stopped down and loose some of that 3D look.
Don't want to say that you can't find portraiture magic in the 4x5 film format, but here's my experience... with good exposure and good development, the T-grain films will yield the beautiful liquid tonal results (and wicked sharpness if desired) in 4x5. However, I personally prefer the to work with old emulsion based films, like Tri-X, FP4, etc., because they are more forgiving, particularly since exposure is less critical with these films and my old lenses and cameras can make my exposures less precise and less accurate. Consequently, I find films with older emulsion yield a smoother tonality in formats larger than 4x5 if my exposure is off.
Empirically, I have found that the lens character imparted to the image is lens, aperture, and film (image) size dependent. Restated differently, the Out Of Focus (OOF) effect imparted by the lens on the aesthetic rendering of the entire image is dependent upon 1) the lens OOF characteristics resulting from uncorrected coma, spherical, and chromatic aberrations, 2) aperture, which also effects OOF effect imparted, and 3) the film size. I suspect that the aesthetic appeal is dependent upon the depth of field and the size ratio of the OOF effects imparted to film to the size of the subject on the film. And, the combination of these three factors in 8x10 portraiture is in one of the sweet spots aesthetically. Personally, I did not find a lens and film combination with 4x5 that produces an aesthetic that I like as well what I saw in 8x10 portraiture. Again, I'm not say that it doesn't exist, I'm saying that I did not find one for myself...
Do you have to go to all the way to 8x10? I experimented with 5x7, and find 5x7 OK for portraits with Heliar or Tessar lenses. I prefer the 3D characteristic of a portrait shot on 8x10 film over 5x7 film. I think whole plate, 6-1/2x8-1/2, would be large enough to get the wonderful transition from sharp focus to OOF gooeyness in these portraits and the whole plate format size is easier for the modern hybrid photographer, but there is more equipment and material (film) available in 8x10.
Finding your magic lens and film combination for portraiture is an area where YMMV. But, when you find your magic combination, please post your results here… I for one want to see what works for you!
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