Looking for a budget 360mm for portraits?

[wallpaperviking]

Am looking for any suggestions for a budget 360mm lens that covers the 8 x 10 format. Would be looking to use it for portraits, so it would be nice if it was not too slow..

I do not need it in a shutter, so a barrel is fine. With regards to barrel lenses, do they still allow you to change aperture?

Thanks so much, look forward to any responses :)

[Randy]

If 360mm is most important, I have a 360mm Yamasaki Congo f/6.3 in barrel. I haven't used it much and have not shot any portraits with it. Plenty of coverage for 8X10. I can't remember the lens design, don't know if it is a tessar, dialyte...? It may be to sharp for your portrait use...? Looks to be one on ebay, buy-it-now for $68 US. And yes, it has a nice round aperture from f/6.3 to f/90.

[Oslolens]

Any +3 close-up lens, from the cheapest uncoated, the B+H multicoated, the achromatic from difference manufacturers and lastly two of +1,5 Nikon will give you 333mm focal length.

Bot singel and double will be soft, but you can use home made aperture to really have the stars you want in the background.

With a singel 72mm filter, you will have ca f5 (333/68=4.897)

[maltfalc]

https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=365mm+lens&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_odkw=365mm&_osacat=0

[Dan Fromm]

I do not need it in a shutter, so a barrel is fine. With regards to barrel lenses, do they still allow you to change aperture?

It depends on the lens. The 365 mm projection lenses to which you were directed in post #4 don't have diaphragms.

[Bernice Loui]

How much $ is considered "budget" ?

8x10 Ilford FP4 cost about $7 per sheet, plus processing and post processing cost and your time and resources to make a print.

8x10 is not a "Budget" sheet film format.

Better to share what the portrait image goals are than just "Budget" portrait lens as that is too broad a request.


Bernice

[John Kasaian]

I don't know about today's prices, but it used to be that the 15" Ilex Paragons and 14" Wollensak Velostigmats were considered budget friendly, and very nice lenses they are.
Uncoated 14" Kodak Ektars were often found more budget friendly than the newer single coated Commercial Ektars if that helps.
I have a 15" B&L Magic Lantern lens (no shutter)I picked up cheap on EBay a few years ago, it's beast though!
Also look for 14" Rapid Rectilinear

[Mark Sawyer]

"Budget" is a pretty nebulous specification, meaning "whatever I find cheap", so it could be anything. The OP could find a "budget" Cooke Portrait Lens for under $50.

Some lenses are cheaper than others in a competitive market, but who knows what may pop up at an estate sale or the local Craigslist...

[Jody_S]

"Portraits" is the difficulty here. What is a good lens for a portrait varies a lot between photographers. "Budget" on the other hand is pretty straightforward. There are 2 categories of budget lenses in barrel in this focal length: projection lenses, mostly triplets, without aperture, like the Russian lenses linked above. Advantages: wide lenses, usually quite soft, which the ladies appreciate, and will give pleasing OOF rendition. Given that up to 90% of an 8x10 sheet will be OOF when doing traditional portraits, that's important. The 2nd category is process lenses, decommissioned from printing shops. These will have an aperture and they will be razor-sharp, but they will be f9 at best, often f11 or less, and do not generally give pleasing OOF rendition.

Less in the budget categories are the lenses that were made for portraits in that focal length, the Tessars. You should be able to find a 14" Tessar formula lens that is f6.3 or possibly even 4.5. I am partial to the Bausch & Lomb Tessars for their creamy rendering. But you most likely won't find one for under $100. Wollensak Velostigmat series II, Ilex Paragon, Kodak Commercial Ektar (sometimes more budget 'Anastigmat') and any number of other makers. When in doubt, if you see an f4.5 or f6.3 lens, ask the question here and someone will be able to tell you if the lens in question is a Tessar formula. There are process lenses at f9 or so that are Tessars that might be adequate, but I personally would want the wider f6.3 at a minimum.

[Havoc]

"Budget" on the other hand is pretty straightforward.

Is it? When you are shooting at 10 <insert currency of your liking> for each shot then a single box of sheets rapidly approaches the price of a lens.

[wallpaperviking]

Amazing, thanks so much for the suggestions! I will start the hunt! :)

[Jody_S]

Is it? When you are shooting at 10 <insert currency of your liking> for each shot then a single box of sheets rapidly approaches the price of a lens.

I'm still shooting from my last batch of x-ray film bought 4-6 years ago. I calculated it came out to CAD $0.45 / sheet incl. delivery. Prices are up a little, my next batch might end up costing $0.75 / sheet.

[Mark Sawyer]

Is it? When you are shooting at 10 <insert currency of your liking> for each shot then a single box of sheets rapidly approaches the price of a lens.

Freestyle has Bergger Pancro ISO 400 8x10, 25 sheets for $124.95, or about $5 a sheet. 8x10 wet plate is around $2 a shot. Emil does wonderful work with paper negatives at perhaps a dollar a shot. And as Jody said, there's x-ray film. And mammography film.

[Randy]

Just bought a box of 8X10 Arista EDU 100 - $209 for a 50 sheet box, delivered - $4.18 a sheet.

[Tin Can]

X-Ray is cheap and resembles old film, good for practice and portraits

buy a case and save

https://www.zzmedical.com/analog-x-ray-supplies/8x10-in-fuji-x-ray-film.html

you will shoot more and learn more










I'm still shooting from my last batch of x-ray film bought 4-6 years ago. I calculated it came out to CAD $0.45 / sheet incl. delivery. Prices are up a little, my next batch might end up costing $0.75 / sheet.

[Jody_S]

X-Ray is cheap and resembles old film, good for practice and portraits

buy a case and save



X-ray did for me in 8x10 what a dSLR did for me in smaller formats: made me lose my fear of pressing the shutter button for fear of 'wasting' a shot. I learned a lot from being willing to spend a day experimenting and breaking every rule I was taught, chimping and analyzing histograms on the fly on the back of the camera. With X-ray I still have to bring it home and develop it, but if I burn through 20 sheets trying out a new lens, who cares? Total cost with development is around $10-$11. These days that's the cost of lunch at a fast food place. I spend more on gas driving to and from wherever I'm shooting than I do on film and supplies.

[Scott Davis]

Back to the original question, if you're still looking for a lens, a Commercial Ektar in barrel is still a good option. They're not cheap cheap, but they're a LOT less expensive than a 14" Commercial Ektar in Ilex 5 shutter. And you can't get much more classic a portrait lens - Yousuf Karsh used one for much of his studio portrait work.

[Philippe Grunchec]

X-Ray is cheap and resembles old film, good for practice and portraits

buy a case and save

https://www.zzmedical.com/analog-x-ray-supplies/8x10-in-fuji-x-ray-film.html

you will shoot more and learn more

Is it really 8x10" or 18x24cm?

[Tin Can]

Is it really 8x10" or 18x24cm?

ZZ sells 8X10, fits perfectly in 8X10 film holders

[Jim Noel]

I use 8x10" x-ray film of several varieties. If I could still buy mammography film, I would do so because it is single sided.
I grew up in the era when ortho film was the standard, and panchromatic was just coming to the fore. For most subjects, it is my favorite. One major exception is female portraits. It' normal contrast works well for me and nature. Since there are seldom any decent clouds in southern Cal skies, i exclude the skies from my images most of the time. Therefore the fact that ortho film doesn't show the clouds doesn't bother me. Last but not least, I save hundreds of dollars each year on film from4x5 to 5x12 and 8x10. I rarely bought anything else when I had the 7x17.
And to answer Phillippe, it is 8x10 in the US.

[Philippe Grunchec]

Here in Europe we can still find mammo films, but 18x24!

[Drew Wiley]

I have several 360's. Ironcially, the one I would consider the best portrait lens was the cheapest - a single-coated f/9 Zeiss mfg tessar-design barrel process lens with lovely background blur, but very critical in-focus sharpness. No shutter. You'd need to add that. Easily covers 8X10.

[William Whitaker]

One man's budget is another man's bankruptcy. Just sayin'....
It would be nice if you could be specific.

I have an 8x10 Tessar 1C, marked 11 13/16" FL which gives a lovely rendition. These lenses are common on the used market. They are what were often referred to as "commercial" lenses because wide open they were a little soft, but stopped down they were sharp. So for the working commercial photographer they did double duty as both a portrait lens at faster stops and as a sharp lens closed down for shooting catalogs and other assignments. One lens to do the work of two was their idea of "budget", I guess, back in the day.
They're lovely lenses, if a bit clunky. My 8x10 is in a Betax 5. My 10x12 version of the same is in a Studio shutter. In years past they've been all over Ebay. Probably still are.

And yes, a standard barrel mounting will have an adjustable iris, except, maybe, for a projector lens or other special-use lens.

[Drew Wiley]

Like I said, mine is an f/9 process lens, so relative small, and could easily be fitted within any no.3 shutter. Being a process lens, it's also very sharp, even as wide as f/11. But for 8x10 coverage with movements, you'd need it stopped down quite a bit more. It wasn't marketed as a Tessar; that's just its lens construction. Was marketed for process camera use. It's even a decent enlarging lens, though not quite equal to what I generally use. Small enough to fit a Durst turret ring.

[Havoc]

Quite a lot about RX film, but when I ask for a shop where I can buy it and that will ship it to me.... never got a response sadly. Only I find on the net is dental about the size of half a credit card.

[Jody_S]

Quite a lot about RX film, but when I ask for a shop where I can buy it and that will ship it to me.... never got a response sadly. Only I find on the net is dental about the size of half a credit card.

I buy mine off eBay. I prefer Agfa, that's just a matter of taste. It is a challenge though finding sellers that will ship outside of USA, but there is one right now and I'm tempted to buy another 5-10 boxes to make sure I don't run out for a few more years.

[Daniel Unkefer]

I just bought today a second 360mm f5.6 chrome Schneider Componon for my Sinar TLR 5x7. I have found that lens to compare favorably with chrome 5.6 Schneider Symmar. They even look very similar side by side. Big Plasmat type back in the sixties they liked to use lenses wide open sometimes. I like doing that. Repair Guru Ken Ruth (Photography on Bald Mountain) told me Componons were his favorite taking lenses, and encouraged me to buy an entire set. Quite reasonable back then

Anyway now $150 on Ebay (been there forever) and the Price is acceptable to me. If you like sharp lenses consider chrome Componons. If the elements are milky they can be easily taken out and washed with dishsoap in the kitchen sink. Ken taught me that trick. The rear group that stays in the barrel can also be cleaned of any milkiness, that is very common with these.

Here is my 360mm f5.6 chrome Componon on my 8x10 Sinar Norma. The second lens I bought today is identical to this one

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50189329028_191eb124a8_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jt4qX7)8x10 to 5x7 Norma Special Bellows 1 (https://flic.kr/p/2jt4qX7) by Nokton48 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/18134483@N04/), on Flickr

[Randy]

I just bought today a second 360mm f5.6 chrome Schneider Componon...
+1 on the Camponon's - my first lens for my 8X10 was a 300mm - used it for several years and regret getting rid of it.

https://www.dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/mup3tipms7igr2t/linda2a.jpg?raw=1

[Daniel Unkefer]

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51181099188_2017bd17d2_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kYGvEC)360 Symmar Norma Auto Iris Pair (https://flic.kr/p/2kYGvEC) by Nokton48 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/18134483@N04/), on Flickr

Another excellent sharp Plasmat choice is the 360mm f5.6 chrome Schneider Symmar.

Here is a matching pair of automated aperture Norma boards on my 5x7 Sinar Norma TLR

The bottom lens I picked up very reasonably and recently from a local dealer. Met him at a local camera auction to pick it up in person
It was in the original Norma box and packing never used :)

[Tin Can]

Don't tell her!


+1 on the Camponon's - my first lens for my 8X10 was a 300mm - used it for several years and regret getting rid of it.

https://www.dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/mup3tipms7igr2t/linda2a.jpg?raw=1