https://research-repository.st-andre...=6&isAllowed=y[/QUOTE]
Thanks for posting the link to my dissertation. I apologize that there is not more information on modern lenses and how to use them effectively but I was already well over (+20,000) the normally allowed word limit.
In total agreement with the assessment that the Fujinons are not true soft focus lenses. JP's comment seems most accurate. I own all three focal lengths and they just aren't SF, either with or without their tea strainers.
The problem with the otherwise marvelous Kodak Portrait 305mm is the #5 shutter, which requires a lot of lens board real estate to mount. It covers 5x7 with ease wide open and 8x10 at studio portrait distances (assuming the corners have a detailless backdrop field).
Pre-war Imagons render better tonality IMHO, especially sans tea strainers. The modern f/6.8 models are not worth owning. If using the tea strainer, you must be ultra-careful to not have hot highlights which will render almost as an image of the strainer; in the 1950s, this effect was named "Kuhn's spider" or bug. Ugly and distracting under all circumstances. I have a pre-war 250mm which is a shining beauty on a 6x12 rollfilm back (sans strainer). N.B.: not all Imagons have an iris in the shutter.
A Verito is the easiest true soft focus lens to learn to use. Although shorter focal lengths will cover a 4x5, a 9 inch will yield a better rendering. To some extent, excellence in SF rendering is related to focal length; 12" (Kodak, Port-Land, Hyperion, Dallmeyer, Verito) appears to be the shortest for optimal SF effects.
Enjoy your journey into this new world.
Russ
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