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robertkenney
28-Dec-2013, 13:05
am currently shooting wet plate on a 10 X 10 camera
using a cooke anastigmat 12 3/4" for wide angle and a Ross no.3 Cabinet 14" and a cooke anastigmat 15" for portraits

i've just inherited a camera i will be using to shoot 16 X 16" (as well as other formats) wet plate
i'll use the cooke 15" for wide angle images
what's the minimum focal length i could get away with for portraiture
the longer lenses are hard to find, particularly in and around 27"
thoughts please

Steven Tribe
28-Dec-2013, 16:52
Robert, I think you will find that the no. 3 Cabinet Ross is a 12". At least mine is.

I have only one days experience with wetplate under skilled guidance but I got the impression that around F6 is the maximum acceptable for real live portraits?

So the combination of speed and focal length means very large and expensive lenses. There are petzvals which would be perfect, but very sought after and would put demands on the stability of the front standarad. Perhaps more available are the fast RR's, made by Voigtlander (Euryskop IV), Busch and some others.

Mark Sawyer
29-Dec-2013, 11:44
what's the minimum focal length i could get away with for portraiture
the longer lenses are hard to find, particularly in and around 27"
thoughts please

For a "traditional" portrait focal length, the rule of thumb is something at least 20% longer than the longest side of the plate. That's 14-inch on 8x10, and 19-inch on 16x16. A little longer wouldn't hurt, especially on a square format. Think projection lenses. I can't speak for coverage but maybe something like this, (an ended listing so not to upset anyone):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-CHARLES-BESELER-MADE-U-S-A-22-E-F-LARGE-LENS-/151170071049?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2332703a09&nma=true&si=kI9l5%252Bf9%252BzlJYb3MTKQAoVQb1UI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

robertkenney
30-Dec-2013, 20:28
thanks for the advice
i think i'd already figured out that i need something around 22" but am grateful to get the added advice
will keep you posted