Graflex.org

[starza]

Hi,
Just bought a 4x5 rb series d. I'm a graflex beginner and I'm not familiar with all of series d aspects. The camera came with a 4.5 Schneider lens. I heard that's good. However, the reason I bought this machine was to take vintage portriats. I was told to get 2.8 barrel lenses; they will produce the select focus characteristic 1920's portriats. My question is this: which focal lengths will the 4x5 series d work with. I read that after or before a certain focal length, the shutter will be blocked by the back of the lens. What is a good source to buy 2.8 barrel lens and how much does a quality lens go for?

thanks for the help,
gerald

[Les]

Personally I think you've been reading too much on the internet. I'm gonna say 80 to 90% of all Graflex Series D lenses came f4.5 lenses and most made a living, put kids through college with one lens.

Yes they did make f2.8 or 2.9 Pentac lenses in the 8" range but they will run around $200 and your Schneider lens will do just fine if you learn how to use it.

I'm guessing the lens is something around 8" and your subject is around 6 feet away.

With those dimensions in mind, the difference in the depth of field between f2.8 and f4.5 is 1". Not all that significant.

So do like many many other famous and not so famous photographers did in the twenties..... try some portraits when you focus on the nose, try others focusing on the eyes. The difference will be seen in the sharpness of the ears.

Another trick is to focus sharply on the eyes and then unscrew the front cell of the lens a turn or two. The effect of this varies with the type of lens, but it's worth playing with.


Now you'll hear about the "charactaristics of the out of focus shadows " of this lens vs. that lens. For now ignore it. Get to the point where you know exactly what the portrait will look like before you pick up the camera. I suggest a minimum of 3 50-sheet boxes of film before you buy another lens. Once you know the ins and outs of that lens you will be able to understand, and better use that very fast portrait lens.

Itzak Perelman didn't learn to play the violin on a Stradivarius.

[t.r.sanford]

A couple of things to remember -- first, the 4x5 "Super D" usually was supplied with a 190mm. lens; the 3¼x4¼, with a 152mm. lens. Anything much shorter would interfere with the mirror's swinging up (not the shutter as such, though the effect is the same).

But second, you don't want a short focal length lens for portraits. I'll defer to those who have spent more time looking into this than I have, but I know there was an f:2.9 Dallmeyer "Pentac" made in 8- or 8¼-in. focal length. There were a lot of them around, 25 years ago; perhaps some will turn up on eBay.

It's kind of unusual, but not unheard-of, to find lenses faster than f:4.5 or so in focal lengths over six inches or so. The "Aero Ektars" are a distinguished exception -- and I rather think the "Pentac" may have been designed as an aerial camera lens too.

[Dan Fromm]