A few months ago, I purchased a Kodak Century No. 7 studio camera at an estate sale, along with a Thomas Hobson Cooke Series II 15" f/4.5 knuckler, Pinkham Bi-Quality 14" f/4.5, Taylor Taylor Hobson Series II 13" f/4.5, and Kodak Portrait Lens 305mm (12'') f/4.8. All have flaws: while the glass on the Pinkham 14", the TTH 13", and the Kodak 12" cleaned up and is basically perfect, the THC 15" has a 2mm chip on the front element and a badly dented filter ring. The Pinkham also has a dent in the filter ring, and the No. 5 shutter the Kodak is shot (iris works fine).
Eventually I may sell some or all of these, but I'd like to figure out what kind of images I'm capable of making with them first. I've been working my way through a box of Ilford FP4+, and will order some 8x10 as well, but hope to get some advice on best practice to get the most out of these while I have them.
I've attached sample test images below in ascending order: Kodak 12" (still life w/ bottle & alliums), TTH 13" (still life w/ bottles, cabbage & stone), Pinkham 14" (still life w/ bottles, petrified wood, salt shaker), and THC 15" (still life w/ alliums & portrait). All shot between f/8-f/22, 30—1/2 sec, FP4+ developed in Xtol 1+1 and scanned.
Composition and content aside, are there techniques I can use to take better advantages of these lenses and explore their unique characteristics? Different combinations of aperture and lighting conditions? Are there particular film stocks/developers that are well-suited to them?
Thanks in advance.
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