therbert
20-Feb-2016, 17:11
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is my first post to the forum, so please bear with me...
Back in the late 1980's I was heavily into photography, and being me, I was always looking for something bigger, with youth and inexperience not have learned yet that bigger doesn't always mean better. So I started with 35mm, and then a friend gave me (!) a Bronica ETR. I saw those negatives and chromes, and how much bigger and brighter they were, and got what I thought were some pretty good results, so I figured that if they were better, then a 4x5 camera had to be even better, so I borrowed a Crown Graphic from the father of a friend, enjoyed using that for a while. Etc, etc, etc.
Then, in the 90's I fell into the digital age, and thought, "I can take so many more pictures, I'll just keep getting better!" Well, as you might imagine, just the opposite happened. I just kept trying, but somehow, what I saw through the viewfinder of the camera just never seemed to show up in the image, and after a while I got discouraged, and stopped taking pictures almost altogether, except as documentation for some project or another. I've recently decided that I really want to go back to taking pictures, and I'm going to go back to film, and I want to do it with a view camera. A few years ago, I bought a Shen Hao 4x5 camera, with a Rodenstock Geronar lens in a Copal #0 shutter, but never got around to using it. I have an Ansco 5x7 camera with both 4x5 and 5x7 backs, a Century 8x10 with both 5x7 and 8x10 backs, and an 11x14 camera with no back. A friend of mine built me a back for it, but although usable, it's made from plywood, and in the intervening years I've done a lot of woodworking, and plan to make a better back for it that will be a better match to the camera. I've been reading posts on the forum for about a week, and the thought of using x-ray film in the 11x14 camera intrigues me, although I'll have to do a lot more research before I start that. Which brings me to the part of the post that actually has something to do with lenses.
I used to buy a lot of stuff from Brooklyn Camera back then, and acquired some lenses in barrels because I could afford them. I have sitting on the desk in front of me a 12" Commercial Ektar, which I thought might make a nice lens for the 8x10 camera (but I haven't yet done any research, so I don't know if it will cover), a 500mm Krauss Tessar in a brass barrel, which from my research seems to cover 11x14 quite easily, and a 360mm f4.5 Astragon, which when I got it was new in the box. I thought I might use the 12" CE with an NOS Packard shutter that I also have in a box somewhere, given appropriate film. I also have an Alphax shutter with flange, but no lens mounted in it. I have no information about the 360mm Astragon at all.
I realize that this is a rather broad topic, but I thought I would solicit suggestions and comments about the lenses and the possible uses I have listed. Or, if you think I should just slink back into my hole, you can tell me that, too. But do it gently, please... ;-)
Back in the late 1980's I was heavily into photography, and being me, I was always looking for something bigger, with youth and inexperience not have learned yet that bigger doesn't always mean better. So I started with 35mm, and then a friend gave me (!) a Bronica ETR. I saw those negatives and chromes, and how much bigger and brighter they were, and got what I thought were some pretty good results, so I figured that if they were better, then a 4x5 camera had to be even better, so I borrowed a Crown Graphic from the father of a friend, enjoyed using that for a while. Etc, etc, etc.
Then, in the 90's I fell into the digital age, and thought, "I can take so many more pictures, I'll just keep getting better!" Well, as you might imagine, just the opposite happened. I just kept trying, but somehow, what I saw through the viewfinder of the camera just never seemed to show up in the image, and after a while I got discouraged, and stopped taking pictures almost altogether, except as documentation for some project or another. I've recently decided that I really want to go back to taking pictures, and I'm going to go back to film, and I want to do it with a view camera. A few years ago, I bought a Shen Hao 4x5 camera, with a Rodenstock Geronar lens in a Copal #0 shutter, but never got around to using it. I have an Ansco 5x7 camera with both 4x5 and 5x7 backs, a Century 8x10 with both 5x7 and 8x10 backs, and an 11x14 camera with no back. A friend of mine built me a back for it, but although usable, it's made from plywood, and in the intervening years I've done a lot of woodworking, and plan to make a better back for it that will be a better match to the camera. I've been reading posts on the forum for about a week, and the thought of using x-ray film in the 11x14 camera intrigues me, although I'll have to do a lot more research before I start that. Which brings me to the part of the post that actually has something to do with lenses.
I used to buy a lot of stuff from Brooklyn Camera back then, and acquired some lenses in barrels because I could afford them. I have sitting on the desk in front of me a 12" Commercial Ektar, which I thought might make a nice lens for the 8x10 camera (but I haven't yet done any research, so I don't know if it will cover), a 500mm Krauss Tessar in a brass barrel, which from my research seems to cover 11x14 quite easily, and a 360mm f4.5 Astragon, which when I got it was new in the box. I thought I might use the 12" CE with an NOS Packard shutter that I also have in a box somewhere, given appropriate film. I also have an Alphax shutter with flange, but no lens mounted in it. I have no information about the 360mm Astragon at all.
I realize that this is a rather broad topic, but I thought I would solicit suggestions and comments about the lenses and the possible uses I have listed. Or, if you think I should just slink back into my hole, you can tell me that, too. But do it gently, please... ;-)