Thanks. The Fujinar 30cm was an early hopeful, but I haven't found it in a shutter, nor do I know if it ever found its way into a Shanel or Copal 3.Originally Posted by Exploring Large Format
I have the Fuji 250 f/6.7 for the shorter focal length already.
Probably great, if you can control it.
Luis mentioned the 300mm G-Claron. A little older lens is a 300mm Repro Claron. (I recently saw one for sale on eBay.) Also, a 12" Red Dot Artar. Single coated, but very sharp at those distances. They cover8x10 at infinity, but without much in the way of movements.
I finally filled in my 300mm gap with a single-coated Fujinon 300mm, inside lettering, that's in absolutely beautiful condition. (I haven't used it yet; it's been on my Covid quarantine shelf.) In the same vein, there's a 300mm Schneider, single coated, convertible Symmar.
Last edited by neil poulsen; 10-Apr-2021 at 20:02.
Difficulty with large aperture 12" / 300mm lenses for 8x10 and large aperture 12" / 300mm lenses in general, majority of them are older and in older shutters (IMO, not shutter speed consistent, not always reliable). This was a problem that HAD to be addressed back in the 8x10 film days since many really GOOD portrait lenses were in wonky old shutters or barrel only.
Some time in the later 1980's of the 8x10 days wanting to use vintage lenses for portrait images resulted in becoming Sinar shutter centric.
For images made with strobe, shutter speed accuracy, consistency and all those demands required from a shutter exposing film with mostly constant light demanded proper shutter performance. Using strobe negates much of that.
~Strobe has a great tendency to traumatize the portrait sitter~
That said, once the Sinar shutter was on camera, all the problems with vintage shutters went away opening up the ability to use virtually any lens in barrel or shutter (long as T setting operates) that fit a Sinar lens board.
Having done the 12" lens rounds on 8x10, most single coated full aperture f4.5 Tessars work good for 8x10 head-shoulder portraits with a typical taking aperture of f8_ish. The uncoated Tessars tend to be too low contrast. Of these the faves are 12" f4.5 Ektar and 300mm f4.5 Xenar. Others are likely not going to be that different. 12" Heilar has a softer-rounder out of focus rendition at their full aperture, in the end, preferred the Ektar & Xenar. Kodak Portrait could work good for you if that is the kind of look you're after.
Other vintage could be Goerz Celor, TTH Cooke Aviar both are non-coated as delivered. The 300mm f4.5 industar (Russian Tessar) remains a bargain with performance that would surprise most. 300mm f4.5 Boyer Saphir (French) is another example of lesser known large aperture Tessar. Difficulty, these are in barrel like many other large aperture lenses that can fit this need good.
Round aperture common in older barrel lenses or shutters (Ilex, Compound and..) IS desirable over the modern shutters (Copal and such) with less than round apertures.
Non-Tessar lenses like modern plasmats might not produce the out of focus rendition desired with the process versions having too small a full aperture.
Suggestion would be to get a Sinar or similar shutter on your camera of choice, find a suitable 12" or 300mm Tessar with a full aperture of f4.5, then focus FAR more on lighting and non lens-camera image making techniques... Effective portraits will allow some expressive aspect of the portrait sitter's personality and soul to shine in the finished print. This is often far less about the technical aspects of image making many photographers obsess over, but MUCH more about the portrait sitter.
Bernice
industar 37. this one even comes with a bonus camera. :P https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Soviet-Camer...oAAOSwE~xgbtyq
Maltfalc, I've looked at the Industar lenses for wet plate, but for film I wish there were a shutter option. I'd get one in a heartbeat.
Bernice, thanks as always for your help. I need a lens in a shutter, as I don't want to go through finding then mounting a Sinar shutter to my non-Sinar camera.
FWIW, I like to shoot wide open, or maybe at f8 or thereabouts.
Will continue looking, thanks again.
Just a thought. I have several 300mm f4.5 barrel lenses because they were cheap. If you are willing to approach portraits with film like you do wet plate (without using strobes), ie. making exposures in the seconds, what I do is I use a 100x100mm ND filter (3 or 6 stops depending on how much light there is and what film I use) and literally I use blu tack to hold it in place in front of the lens. Once you’re in the second to few seconds regime, you really don’t need a shutter. Just count Mississippi’s. But yeah that means you need to approach it like wet plate portraiture to make sure the person is still.
This is an FKD shutter and Industar 300 F4.5 on a 162x162 Linhof board.
Cheap when they show up.
So we can assume Packard shutters are not a solution for you?
How were you planning to use the Kodak 405 or 305?
As some point out, strobes and flashbulbs eliminate many shutter problems and can overpower the Sun
I find my biggest problem is sitters
If you want 'sharp' perhaps Digi is best
This is very interesting to me and a good movie
How ‘Mank’ Shot Day for Night, and in Hi-Dynamic Range Black-and-White
Tin Can
click the link, there's a shutter included.
Ari,
You seem to be chasing that elusive dream portrait lens. Been there and done that and found it. :-)
Our tastes in them sometimes are highly subjective, shaped by our diverse personal photographic experiences.
If you tell us more about the reasons of rejection for each lens that you have used, maybe we will have more clues and point to some interesting directions.
I agree with Bernice that light conditions play important roles, sometimes more than subject matters, compositions and even lenses. A Sinar auto shutter or a Packard shutter will help you widen your choices.
I do agree that lenses do have their own unique ways to announce themselves individually, sometimes strongly and sometimes quietly. I am still learning my lessons as I have more than a dozen 8x10 "portrait' lenses.
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