Portrait lens options for5x7

**Ian Greenhalgh** · 5-Dec-2013, 08:09

Hi folks

I'm planning to do a portraiture series on 5x, and I don't think I have a suitable lens as I'm looking for a classical smooth look which probably means a lens with residual spherical aberration.

These are what I have for 5x7 above 150mm:

Wollensak Enlarging Raptar 4.5/162mm - not tried it, doubt it will cover 5x7, might be quite soft wide open?
Ilex Acuton f4.8/215mm - plasmat, doubt the rendering will be what I want
Eskofot Ultragon f9/210mm - process plasmat, again probably won't have a suitable rendering
Wray HR Lustrar f5.6/7" (178mm) - tessar type, intended to be shot at f8 or smaller, don't know what the rendering is like wide open
Staeble Ultragon f9/240mm - another process plasmat
Wray APO Process Lustrar f10/12" (300mm) - dialyte, doubtful it will render in a suitable way

So, what options do people recommend - trying out the lenses I have first, perhaps using a diffusion filter?

What lenses do people recommend for 5x7? A Pentac 2.9/8" might be the ticket, I know the image circle turns to mush in the corners on 5x7, but for portraits, that will probably look nice, and wide open it's soft and glowy.

A petzval appeals, but I have no idea what length would be needed for 5x7 and I don' know how to find a Petzval without paying more than my meagre budget can afford, any tips on Petzvalhuning would be appreciated, aren't some magic lantern/projection lenses Petzvals? I do happen to have a pair of Kershaw projection lenses from the 1950s that are Petzvals but they are 5 and 5.5" respectively and are very heavy as the barrels are very thick aluminium to dissipate the heat of a 35mm projector's lamp. I shot this with the 5" one ad this is the wort of smooth rendering I like for portraits:

P.S. Shutter isn't an issue, I'll be using paper negatives so a lens cap will suffice.

**Pete Watkins** · 5-Dec-2013, 08:25

You could consider a Kodak Ektar 203. Nice image when opened up but I've never tried mine on 5x7 portraits.
Pete.

**Ian Greenhalgh** · 5-Dec-2013, 08:42

Hi Pete

That's a dialyte, right? I could try my Wray 12", that's also a dialyte.

**DrTang** · 5-Dec-2013, 08:45

I'm looking for a 240 Heliar in synch shutter myself

otherwise...I have a 250mm f3.5 Xenar and a f6.3 300mm

**Greg Y** · 5-Dec-2013, 08:54

My choice is the 240 Heliar..... thanks to Jim Galli

**Jim Noel** · 5-Dec-2013, 08:55

The portrait you provided looks pretty nice. If your background is going to be plain, why not use it? If you want a longer FL, buy a 2 1/4" slide projector. They are dirt cheap now and you might find one with an appropriate lens for well under $50. Try Goodwill online store, Salvation Army and similar stores.

**Dan Fromm** · 5-Dec-2013, 09:18

In Dagor types, there are now several 210/6.8 Beryls up on ebay.fr (not mine, and I'm not acquainted with the sellers). All in barrel, the cells are direct fits in a Compur #1.

BTW, isn't 210 mm a bit short for a portrait lens on 5x7?

**goamules** · 5-Dec-2013, 09:32

It sounds like you want to save money, so I'd look for a Bausch and Lomb IC Tessar or Series II Velostigmat. If you're patient, you could get a 9" Velo with the soft focus adjustment, like this one 251361432503.

**Ian Greenhalgh** · 5-Dec-2013, 09:49

I'd like a 240 heliar, but sadly, Heliars are probably outside my budget, hence my interest in the Pentac, which is similar to a Heliar of course and AM Pentacs are pretty common here, I have one but the front glass is ruined.

I'm not sure what would be a good focal length for portraits, I suppose 300mm would be about right. The bellows on my 5x7 limits me to about 360mm I think. I have a huge 14" Anastigmat without a name on it, just a crown, the aperture blades are missing so it's wide open only, that might be worth a try I suppose, not sure if it's a tessar or a triplet.

The portrait was taken with a Kershaw 5" projector lens that is a Petzval type, it was mounted on an old 6mp Canon DSLR. I doubt that 5" lens would come close to covering 5x7. I do have a longer one but I think it's 5.5", I'll have to dig it out and check.

B&L and Wolly lenses don't turn up too often over here in England, but there are plenty of English equivalents.