Head And Shoulders 4x5

[John Conway]

I agree that the modern lens has a place when it comes to portraiture. I am actually about to photograph my son , now a teenager, with my 4x5 set up. When he was between ten and twelve, I took many pictures of him in black and white with my 8x10 camera and 300mm Fuji lens. It was the first time I had ever used large format.I had the lab do my processing. When I picked up the contacts I was blown away. The lab closed because of digital, and I sold my 8x10. I don't know why, but I go through phases when I can't even hold a camera. But then it comes back, in a strong way, and I feel this intense desire to make images again.

[colotonphoto]

I prefer the 210mm on 4x5 for head and shoulder portraits.

[Ken Lee]

Perhaps people would like to show some 4x5 head and shoulder shots. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand...

Here's the only one I have. 210mm Tessar. Perhaps it's not really just head and shoulders.

[Ari]

Sure, I'm game.
This is a Fujinon-W 210, the older version with a massive IC, and it was shot on Shanghai 100 film.

[chassis]

Nice images folks. What sort of camera-to-subject distances are you working with for these shots?

[Frank Petronio]

Here is a 150mm Schneider Xenar on 4x5 film head and shoulders portrait. If you keep noses away from the edges you see the distortion isn't too bad. Don't mind the harsh lighting, which was intentional.



Another 150mm Schneider Symmar-S, I don't think she looks grotesque yet:



Here is a composite (don't pay attention to the fact that it is burnt out) of a series of portraits done with the 300mm on 4x5. I made these as I went since I had to tear down and reset up my lighting and backdrops on different days and I wanted to be consistent. But I think this jpg lost its profile or gamma changed over the years....



So if a 150mm lens can work and the 300mm works easily, the 210mm will be about middle-ground. I like the 210mm Schneider Symmar - Rodenstock Sironar series (with later versions) because they are compact, inexpensive, great quality, and they are in a Copal 1 shutter with a faster speed than the Copal 3, which the next longer lenses use (240mm Symmars and Sironars ride in a Copal 3). The larger Copal 3 is a good shutter but doesn't have as fast a speed and, being larger and heavier, it may introduce more vibration, especially with a smaller field or wooden camera.

I haven't used a 210mm in years but I think it would be nice to do again, not too far or too close....

Working distance for the 150mm was about 30 inches, the 300mm about 8 feet. It's nice to be further back when they have bad breath, but in general I try to work closer so we can talk softly and quiet things down.

[Ken Lee]

With the 150mm lens, we feel close to the subject. The portraits are rather intimate and even intense.

The images from the 300 feel more impersonal. They have a subliminal feeling of distance, which I guess is perfect for corporate portraits. The people are there, but it's as though they are looking at you through a glass.

[Jim Galli]

With the 150mm lens, we feel close to the subject. The portraits are rather intimate and even intense.

The images from the 300 feel more impersonal. They have a subliminal feeling of distance, which I guess is perfect for corporate portraits. The people are there, but it's as though they are looking at you through a glass.

So a 210 is somewhere right in the middle of intimate and sublime then, right??

[BrianShaw]

12inch Commercial Ektar, wide open I seem to recall.

[Ken Lee]

So a 210 is somewhere right in the middle of intimate and sublime then, right??

It is extinctly so. To say otherwise, would be a fragrant violation of all we hold deer