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Thread: Looking for 5x7 macro lens recommendation

  1. #11
    Mike in NY's Avatar
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    Re: Looking for 5x7 macro lens recommendation

    Oren, would the Schneider lens that fits the bill be the Symmar S?
    I dream in black and white.

  2. #12

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    Re: Looking for 5x7 macro lens recommendation

    Not just lens or focal length. Using a camera with limited bellows and extension of aprox 14" and lenses in aprox 100mm (4") to 180mm (7") focal length will put the camera-lens aprox 150mm (~6") to 16" (~400mm) or not much more away from the subject / object..

    ~How will the object-subject be lighted / set-up?

    Will the overall set up be stable and achieve what is needed?

    One of the most difficult aspects of close-up photography is lighting and overall set up. Turns out, the ability of the camera drives a LOT of these factors, less so the lens.

    IMO, lens of choice would be a APO process lens aka APO artar, APO ronar, APO nikkor and similar with no less than 240mm focal length to deal with the lighting and set up issues. Camera must accommodate what is needed to achieve this set up and lens focal length.


    Bernice

  3. #13
    Mike in NY's Avatar
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    Re: Looking for 5x7 macro lens recommendation

    Between my Speedotron pack and heads, not to mention halogens, lighting is no problem, and the shoot will be staged on my 4 x 8 table top.
    I dream in black and white.

  4. #14

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    Re: Looking for 5x7 macro lens recommendation

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike in NY View Post
    Between my Speedotron pack and heads, not to mention halogens, lighting is no problem, and the shoot will be staged on my 4 x 8 table top.
    120, 180 Apo Macro Sironar or the older 210 and 300 Makro Sironar.
    The first two are optimized for 1:5 to 5:1.
    The other two were optimized for 1:3 to 3:1. These two requiring reversing the elements. Normal position for 1:3 to 1;1 and switched around for 1:1 to 3:1. Pictographs on the front and rear groups make this easy.

  5. #15
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    Re: Looking for 5x7 macro lens recommendation

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike in NY View Post
    Oren, would the Schneider lens that fits the bill be the Symmar S?
    120 mm Makro-Symmar HM

    Also, for completeness, full names for the others I mentioned:

    120 mm Apo-Macro-Sironar
    120 mm Nikkor-AM ED

  6. #16

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    Re: Looking for 5x7 macro lens recommendation

    Been there done this... will be curious as to the results..

    Strobe heads and their light source is not small. Keep in mind these strobe heads are designed for much larger subjects. Alternative is to use a light box or set the whole thing up in a light tent. Both cases, lens shading is ReallY important due to the light source to lens to subject-objet distances.

    ~Then light metering will be "interesting"..


    Bernice



    Quote Originally Posted by Mike in NY View Post
    Between my Speedotron pack and heads, not to mention halogens, lighting is no problem, and the shoot will be staged on my 4 x 8 table top.

  7. #17

    Re: Looking for 5x7 macro lens recommendation

    The classic rule is that the diagonal length of your soft box determines the optimum box/subject shooting distance. A medium size box would prolly do you well. Recently I am using an old restored square Broncolor Pulso softbox and a silvered-or-white reflector on the opposite. At least this is a starting point.....

    Of course there are a zillion ways to do it. A sheet of plexiglass and two sawhorses allow you to under light the subject. I have a FOBA shooting table I am slowly restoring which gives you a lot of options

    I have a complete set of Rodenstock Apo Ronars in barrel, as well as a complete set of Schneider chrome Componons that I am enjoying using for this type of work

    240mm to 300mm would be my first guesses for 5x7/13x18. I am looking forward to doing more of this in the future
    Flikr Photos Here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/18134483@N04/

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  8. #18

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    Re: Looking for 5x7 macro lens recommendation

    Yes. This is a good starting point for soft box size. Of the soft boxes used back in the day, Broncolor light boxes are GOOD. The other light box that worked GOOD, Plume Wafer with the inner diffuser panel(s). Be aware the diffuser fabric can change color with age. Likely not a big deal these days due to the lesser demands of color rendition on color transparency film.

    The alternative is to set up the whole thing in a diffusing light tent or BIG ring light or fiber optic lighting system (Elinchrom Fiber Lite System) with mini-stands for the fiber optic cables and their accessories (focusable lenses and such).

    In all cases, proper lens shading is a must due to the proximity of the light source to lens.. The potential for lens flare and more is extreme.



    Bernice


    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Unkefer View Post
    The classic rule is that the diagonal length of your soft box determines the optimum box/subject shooting distance. A medium size box would prolly do you well. Recently I am using an old restored square Broncolor Pulso softbox and a silvered-or-white reflector on the opposite. At least this is a starting point.....

    Of course there are a zillion ways to do it. A sheet of plexiglass and two sawhorses allow you to under light the subject

    I have a complete set of Rodenstock Apo Ronars in barrel, as well as a complete set of Schneider chrome Componons that I am enjoying using for this type of work

  9. #19

    Re: Looking for 5x7 macro lens recommendation

    I have three or four Chimera soft boxes to fit Broncolors from small to XL including strip lights which is extra narrow box. These are GOOD too I will have to dig these out of storage
    Flikr Photos Here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/18134483@N04/

    “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
    ― Mark Twain

  10. #20
    Mike in NY's Avatar
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    Re: Looking for 5x7 macro lens recommendation

    Thank you for the suggestions about lighting; I appreciate your thinking about it and offering suggestions, but we're getting off topic. Metering won't be involved and neither will light boxes, since I'll be using collodion to make ferrotypes, which I've been making for years. I didn't mention it before because I didn't want to get off topic about Petzvals (which is the last thing I would use for this project), or discussions about collodion, ferrotypes, lighting, and exposure times, which I have plenty of experience with. So back to lenses... I normally use one of my 5x7 lenses to get within a couple of feet of small subject matter. But for this upcoming project I'll be shooting really small objects and my existing lenses can't fill the plate with the image. So thank you for the suggestions received so far; I appreciate it very much.
    I dream in black and white.

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