Lens for color

[Pedro_fiz]

Which lens would you recommend for 4x5 color pictures?
I am thinking in a 150 or 135 for general purposes
Thanks for posting

[Two23]

Which lens would you recommend for 4x5 color pictures?
I am thinking in a 150 or 135 for general purposes
Thanks for posting

Both are pretty close on a 4x5. I use 90-135-180mm. For color I suggest a newer lens with multicoating.


Kent in SD

[Pedro_fiz]

Do you think APO is needed?

[Two23]

Do you think APO is needed?

Probably not, but I most shoot negative film for color.


Kent in SD

[Corran]

Any lens you want. I've used 100-year-old lenses on color positive film before. Nothing wrong with it, just a different look. Unless you are doing scientific or catalog work that needs exacting color reproduction standards, there are no hard and fast rules.

Here's a photograph on E100VS shot with a very old Verito lens:

[Pedro_fiz]

The main use in my case will be for portraits and I am not sure if an APO treatment would be needed or MC could be enough.
Your photo is beautiful but effectively the colors artificial.
Many thanks

[Corran]

Please explain what you mean by "the colors artificial?"

E100VS is a saturated and high-contrast color positive film. For portraits I assume you will be shooting color neg, which will have a very different look. Your choice of lens can/should also pair with your choice of film. I like the look of older, lower-contrast lenses on positive film. On negative, it might be too much.

Multicoating and APO are two different things with two different purposes. If you want high performance, you should get an APO lens.

For color (or b&w) portrait work I personally have used a Voigtlander 15cm f/4.5 APO Lanthar and enjoy that lens a lot. It has the APO performance with a classic look and contrast profile. YMMV. Perhaps find images appealing to you in the monthly "portrait" thread and see what lenses they are using.

[John Layton]

Bryan that is wonderful! As for color values...looks to me to have just a tad too much magenta - but then again this could be my screen, and/or this might be your choice. Would be interesting to see how this would be rendered with color negative film - although I suspect that with lens choice and subject conditions you could have some trouble pulling enough color contrast. Dangerous ground for me here...as color is currently not my forte!

[Corran]

Thanks John. Foreground is definitely magenta-ish, I think in real life (decaying red leaves) but I do sometimes struggle with magenta balance. The condition was very low in contrast generally but high contrast between the ice and surroundings. There is a lot of interesting interactions between old lenses and high-contrast color positive film. I disagree with the general idea that one should only use newer APO lenses for color.

I like shooting slides but I probably will retire from that now that I can print RA-4 so I can actually make [darkroom] printable images. Nothing beats a good chrome to look at though.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Do you think APO is needed ?

Hi!
In the good old days, non-apo and non-coated lenses delivered superb color images!

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/prok/

and more recently ...
https://www.pinterest.fr/barberella1964/kodachrome-4x5/

Sure, you need at least a good color process, be it tricolor from 3x B&W negatives or a direct color film