Thank you everyone for your answers.
Thank you everyone for your answers.
I just found this information about the type of camera Bill Brandt used for the nudes: a Kodak Wide Angle. Kodak Wide Angle on Antiq-Photo
If this is the camera, it uses whole plate 6½x8½ inch film in relatively modern looking block form holders. An 85mm lens on that format would be equivalent to about a 16mm lens in full frame 35mm. The advantage of that particular camera is that the lens is set to the hyperlocal distance and it's essentially a focus-free point-and-shoot.
I'm interested in this because I have a 90mm lens, a whole plate extension back for a Rittreck View camera and some film holders to match, and am thinking that cobbling something together wouldn't be too hard...
I just found Brandt's actual camera sold at Christies in 1997 for £3,450.
I recently picked up a Schneider 9cm f/12.5 Dasykar lens. A tiny diminutive fellow- I figured it would be an ok wide angle lens "with character" for 4x5, but this discussion is making me think I should try it on the 8x10 just to see what it can do.
Some of the Protars (the f/18 ones are the extreme wide angle Series V) had odd focal lengths, sometimes 8.5cm, sometimes 8.6cm..... They are not too uncommon iin the short focal lengths, and the Bausch and Lomb ones sometimes call out a forat rather than a focal length. I used to have an 86mm B&L one, it JUST made 5x7 if I recall correctly. The "4x5" Protar V was the 85mm one.
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