Ron Wisner on ULF portrait lenses

[David A. Goldfarb]

On my 11x14" camera, which has only clumsy focus on the rear standard (you can move the back on two slides, but you can't keep it vertical at the same time) and geared focus on the front, the focus is a rack-and-pinion design, so the focus knob stays in the same place on the bed for people with normal arms, and the rail moves in and out.

[Ole]

All right!

Now own up - who of you outbid me on the Rodenstock Serie I No.3 Portrait lens yesterday?

All is forgiven - I've got a Suter No.6! And a (ca. 1870) Steinheil Patent, probably a 28cm Aplanat, and a very early one at that.

[mark]

Doing portraits with a 4x5, then an 8x10 Deardorff, I got into habit of using the lens standard's knobs to compose the shot and rough focus, then fine focus with the film standard.

First time I tried shooting a "head and shoulder" bride's portrait with my 11x14 and 24" lens, I couldn't reach the front knobs because my arms were too short. My face smooshed into the ground glass and my fingers wiggled desperately.

The bride was a photographer. Everybody at the wedding was a photographer. Everybody but me took a picture of the moron with the huge camera waving insanely at the bride from inside a dark cloth.

Since then, I've believed with all my heart that large format portraiture, not to mention ULTRA large format portraiture has a lot of room for personal preference.


don

"This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last."

ROFLMAO Needed the Laugh. Thanks.

[Claire Senft]

It does not make sense to me.