BEST LF PORTRAITURE LENS ?

[darinwc]

If you dont have one yet, get a 210mm sironar. Great general purpose lens, sharp, compact, reliable shutters. These are a good focal length for 4x5 portraits and have great coverage.

Other possibilities not mentioned are the kodak commercial ektars. There is a 300mm f4.5 version but it somes on a huge #5 shutter. The 300mm f6.3 version comes on a much more managable #4 shutter.

 

[Richard Man]

I know this thread is 12+ years old ;-) but I can confirm that the PS945 does work on 8x10, at least for up to my portrait distance of 6-8 feet with no vignetting. Did not try it at infinity etc.

 

[Ari]

Richard, have you tried it as Mark suggested, with only one element behind the shutter? Might be interesting.

By the way, my Cooke came back to me. It was in California for a few days, then buyer's remorse kicked in.
Since it was an eBay sale, I had to take it back.
I admit, I'm very happy it's here again.

 

[Richard Man]

Richard, have you tried it as Mark suggested, with only one element behind the shutter? Might be interesting.

By the way, my Cooke came back to me. It was in California for a few days, then buyer's remorse kicked in.
Since it was an eBay sale, I had to take it back.
I admit, I'm very happy it's here again.

Neither the front or back cell of the PS945 alone focuses with the Gibellini 4x5. The max bellow is 320mm, so maybe with a longer bellow, it could?

Save that XVa for me, maybe I can afford it in a year or two, ha ha. (No, I don't really need it, I just bought a 12" Kodak Portraits, which I will test against the Pinkham & Smith when I have an 8x10 camera...)

 

[Ari]

Richard, not to worry, looks like the Cooke wants to stay with me.
And I'd give the single-cell another try when you have an 8x10 camera. Would be interesting to see the results of that.