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Thread: F Stops For Portraits Questions

  1. #11

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    Re: F Stops For Portraits Questions

    Yeah, I'm working with the limitations of that focal length for portraits, in order to use the fstop offered by that lens...

  2. #12

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    Re: F Stops For Portraits Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by ColonelKurtz View Post
    Sorry, should've specified: Using a 4x5 camera with a 150mm lens for portraits. Would love to see examples of portraits anyone has shot with a 4x5 camera, and the corresponding data for each. Thanks
    150 is not my favourite lens for portraits, for the reasons listed by BS above, but I do use that lens on kids.
    I have found that kids -and overweight adults- are less affected by the exaggeration of facial features caused by a short lens.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    150mm @f/8 - roughly 1m distance.
    Last edited by lenicolas; 20-Dec-2020 at 23:41.
    "I am a reflection photographing other reflections within a reflection. To photograph reality is to photograph nothing." Duane Michals

  3. #13

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    Re: F Stops For Portraits Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by ColonelKurtz View Post
    Yeah, I'm working with the limitations of that focal length for portraits, in order to use the fstop offered by that lens...
    Why is that stop different then on a 210 or 240?

  4. #14

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    Re: F Stops For Portraits Questions

    Exactly what I was looking for... to see your subject's eyes in focus (as they are on the same plane), as well as getting a sense of the distance from camera to subject, and subject to background while getting a sense of what will be out of focus at that f stop. Perfect example for what I was trying to get an idea of... Thanks!

  5. #15

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    Re: F Stops For Portraits Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Salomon View Post
    Why is that stop different then on a 210 or 240?
    I'm using f2.8 on a Xenotar 150mm. Quite different from the usual offerings on large format lenses... but wanted to see what f8 and f11 were looking like, before I go and do the test, anyway...

  6. #16

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    Re: F Stops For Portraits Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by ColonelKurtz View Post
    Yeah, I'm working with the limitations of that focal length for portraits, in order to use the fstop offered by that lens...
    I have resolved to artificially light my 4x5 portraits. I’d rather be free to use a “slow” lens of the right focal length than limit myself to a short lens because it’s faster.
    When the setup time for the camera is considered, it doesn’t make that big a difference to also setup a strobe.
    And as long as you’re shooting B&W, lighting a portrait with one strobe isn’t too complex.
    "I am a reflection photographing other reflections within a reflection. To photograph reality is to photograph nothing." Duane Michals

  7. #17

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    Re: F Stops For Portraits Questions

    Oh I see... I'm using the Xenotar in dim light (at the beginning and the end of the day) for portraits, and shooting it at f2.8, but will also start to use it at f8, 11, and 16. I'm never close than your example, and am happy with the results so far...

  8. #18

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    Re: F Stops For Portraits Questions

    Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	210750 Xenotar 150mm at f2.8. Image is cropped a bit.

  9. #19

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    Re: F Stops For Portraits Questions

    My approach to 4x5 portraiture has become primarily location lighting, supplemented artificially only if necessary. I shoot HP5 at 400 or 200, depending on the development needs. My primary lens is 210; a 135 added recently for including more environment.

    I agree that 150 is short for head and shoulders; with the 210, I generally start at upper body, about 5 ½ to 6 feet from the subject. Closer is certainly possible but needs careful consideration of the perspective. I have seen many closer portraits with the 210 that worked well.
    Examples of the 210 are on my Flickr page: Dana (cropped) , Friend Reading, and the four studio portraits from years ago.
    Philip Ulanowsky

    Sine scientia ars nihil est. (Without science/knowledge, art is nothing.)
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    https://www.flickr.com/photos/156933346@N07/

  10. #20

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    Re: F Stops For Portraits Questions

    Great to see all the different approaches, here. Of course a 210 or a 240 even, is what most of the people I know are using for portraits, but I'm after the 2.8 f stop, and I also don't mind the possibility of slight distortion of the 150mm lens, if it does happen. I spent years making traditional portraits with the usual focal lengths (35mm, medium format, and now large format), but have moved into different territory now, not to say that I won't revisit. Thanks again!

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