G-Claron 305/9 for portraiture

Marc Leest

Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2003
Messages
504
Location
Hasselt, Bel
Format
Multi Format
I am in the (used) market for a portraiture lens (4x5'). Offers at this moment are a Sironar-N 300 in Copal3 - huge or a G-Claron 305 in Compur1. The G-Claron is cheaper, but would it be a good deal for my purpose ?

thx, MArc
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Tom Hoskinson

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2004
Messages
3,867
Location
Southern Cal
Format
Multi Format
MY 305mm G-Claron is an extremely sharp and contrasty lens that covers 8x10 with movements. I've never used it for portraiture - if I did I'd probably use a diffuser of some sort.
 

matt miller

Subscriber
Joined
Feb 11, 2004
Messages
824
Location
Iowa
Format
Multi Format
As Tom said, the G-Claron might be too sharp for portraiture. Might be too slow (f/9) as well. It all depends on your tastes.
 

lee

Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2002
Messages
2,911
Location
Fort Worth T
Format
8x10 Format
matt miller said:
As Tom said, the G-Claron might be too sharp for portraiture. Might be too slow (f/9) as well. It all depends on your tastes.
Click to expand...

I shot a family portrait several years ago with my 305 G Claron and it was on color film and the photo was a big hit.

go for it,

lee\c
 

Pinholemaster

Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2005
Messages
1,566
Location
Westminster,
Format
8x10 Format
I'm sure the lens is fine if you enjoy the sharp, sharp detail it will record.

Personally I'd get a little faster lens than f/9.0, but it budget is the issue, I say go for it. You may be onto a great new look by not getting a lens that is soft with shallow depth of field!

Don't look back, do it.
 

Roger Hicks

Member
Joined
May 17, 2006
Messages
4,895
Location
Northern Aqu
Format
35mm RF
Marc Leest said:
I am in the (used) market for a portraiture lens (4x5'). Offers at this moment are a Sironar-N 300 in Copal3 - huge or a G-Claron 305 in Compur1. The G-Claron is cheaper, but would it be a good deal for my purpose ?

thx, MArc
Click to expand...


Dear Marc,

The G-Claron is fine -- I've used mine on 4x5 and 8x10. The Sironar-N offers a couple of stops more speed, but I find this matters surprisingly little on 4x5 inch with a lens this long. If it is too sharp for your taste, you can always add some form of diffuser.

I'm no great lover of Imagons. This is partly pure personal taste, and partly that they don't make 'em long enough: I prefer 8x10 for portraits and normally use a 21 inch (533mm) f/7.7 Ross. Seriously old lenses like this (it's about 100 years old) can give some wonderful portrait effects.

Cheers,

R.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…