Vintage portrait lens for 4 x 5?

[norm the storm]

Hi everybody

It seems that some olds lenses are popular for their character.
What is a good vintage portrait lens for 4 X 5 (240 to 360 mm)?
What are your suggestions?

Regards

[Armin Seeholzer]

Imagon 250mm, Cook 229mm but expensiv, some older Wollensak Velostigmats, Heliars and Universal Heliars 300mm etc.

Cheers Armin

[Shen45]

Verito but learn how to use it. Wide open is not always the best way to use a soft lens. My Verito is an old one [ well they are all old ] a 9" which is very nice for portraits. I have a couple of petzvals and an Imagon and while they are all soft [ish] portrait lenses they are all individual in the images they produce. If you have an older 210 - 300 tessar try is wide open. A tessar will give a very pleasing image as well. Not SF but very smooth.

[Richard Rankin]

A lot also depends on whether or not you need a shutter or not. I liked a Caltar 300mm back when I used modern lenses but it was in a Copal 3 shutter and strained my 4x5. You could get a petzval for a little over $100 probably but it isn't going to have a shutter. You can use them as-is or also use only the front element to often get an interesting softer effect and longer focal length.

Richard

[jp]

Just browse the portrait threads in image sharing to see what people have used and what sort of results they can do in experienced use.

Something in the 200ish mm range. I like my old 210 meyer trioplan (triplet), a 210 tessar wide open on speed graphics, kodak portrait 305 on a 5x7 or 8x10 camera with 4x5 back. This is what I use for older lenses on 4x5.

Expensive lenses of the 1920's were often made in focal lengths suitable for the graflex SLRs. ..spencer port-land and struss pictoral, verito, etc.. but are beyond my budget.

[Steve Hamley]

How big is your lens board?

Cheers, Steve

[norm the storm]

How big is your lens board?

Cheers, Steve

140 x 140 mm Sinar

[norm the storm]

A lot also depends on whether or not you need a shutter or not. I liked a Caltar 300mm back when I used modern lenses but it was in a Copal 3 shutter and strained my 4x5. You could get a petzval for a little over $100 probably but it isn't going to have a shutter. You can use them as-is or also use only the front element to often get an interesting softer effect and longer focal length.

Richard

I prefer to use a shutter

[rdenney]

I prefer to use a shutter

Since you are using a Sinar, get a Sinar/Copal shutter, mount a universal iris flange on a Sinar board, and then you can experiment with any lens. You might spend half a kilobuck or so, but you only have to spend it once.

Rick "much easier and cheaper than custom-mounting old portrait lenses in trustworthy shutters" Denney

[Dan Fromm]

Since you are using a Sinar, get a Sinar/Copal shutter, mount a universal iris flange on a Sinar board, and then you can experiment with any lens. You might spend half a kilobuck or so, but you only have to spend it once.

Rick "much easier and cheaper than custom-mounting old portrait lenses in trustworthy shutters" Denney

+1

Dan -- that's the classic argument for front-mounting -- Fromm