article idea for View Camera

[steve simmons]

Howabout a portfolio of work done by photographers using cameras and lenses made prior to 1940?!

along with the image the photographer would have to submit a photo of the camera and lens they used on a tripod.!?

steve simmons

[domenico Foschi]

I sent you a private message, but anyway, if you go to my site and click the Italia portfolio and more specifically Venice, those are all images taken with 140+ years old lenses.
And this is an image of my 8 x 10 fitted with a "speed graphic shutter" for my conley portrait lens.

[Oren Grad]

Steve -

Nice idea. Why not consult with some of the old-lens gurus here and see if you can come up with a range of examples with distinctive optical character? For example, maybe you could show pictures from a Petzval, a Dagor, a Heliar, a Rapid Rectilinear, etc., and include some text explaining the differences. Some of the optical subtlety is inevitably lost in reproduction, but the differences among some of the older lens types are so extreme that you can still have something worth showing.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

I like Oren's idea. I am interested in old lenses and to see nice examples made from a variety of lenses would be interesting.

[domenico Foschi]

My 2 cents.

I think that an article that encompasses the lens used plus the technique in the shooting and processing stage would be comprehensive and interesting for people who are trying to explore these venues.

[Ken Lee]

Domenico - You are a real artist. Te saluto, Maestro !

[Bruce Watson]

Howabout a portfolio of work done by photographers using cameras and lenses made prior to 1940?!

along with the image the photographer would have to submit a photo of the camera and lens they used on a tripod.!?

Cameras and lenses are just tools. The art is far more important that the tools. I'm not even slightly interested in such an article.

[BrianShaw]

Cameras and lenses are just tools. The art is far more important that the tools.

This is true, but I'm interested in an artilce like this becasue I have not yet mastered the art of "the old look". I could use some insight into what tools will work; I have already figured out which tools will not.

Now if someonme would write an article that would educate my wife that screwdrivers are the correct tool for turning screws, not butter knifes

[Bruce Watson]

Now if some one would write an article that would educate my wife that screwdrivers are the correct tool for turning screws, not butter knifes

The article we can write. Can you get her to read it? :-)))

[Ole Tjugen]

Now if someonme would write an article that would educate my wife that screwdrivers are the correct tool for turning screws, not butter knifes

Most of the time I use a fingernail for turning screws, but I realise that is not common practice.

Cameras and lenses are just tools, I agree. But the phrase "just tools" implies to me a disregard of the value of using the correct tool for the job, and the immense amount of work that has gone into perfecting said tools. I own about 35 LF lenses, 14 LF cameras, 9 saws, 14 hammers and a plethora of screwdrivers. And guess what: They're all different. They each have their own "area of expertise" where they do the job better than anything else possibly could.
Five of my hammers are only for splitting rocks. If you haven't split a lot of rocks, you would never believe there were this many tools for one simple job - but your premises would be wrong. Anyone with experience in splitting rocks of differing size, structore and toughness knows that every rock is different, and the correct tool is important not only to do a good job, but to avoid injury. I wouldn't use any of those hammers for driving a nail, they're entirely unsuited!

"The art is more important than the tools."
Yes, I agree. But just as I wouldn't use a 5kg sledgehammer to drive a nail, I wouldn't use a 90mm Super-Angulon to do portraits on 4x5" film. The end result - the "art" - is very much dependent on the tools you choose to use in making it.