Soft Focus. Spencer Portland ~ Gundlach Hyperion Compared

Also posted for my friends at lfforum

PortLand 2​

Quickie comparison. Only 5 images so far. Click on the picture.

http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/2014_Work/Hyperion_PortLand/PortLand_Hyperion.html

Next time I'll scrub the bugs off the chrome first.

I have to agree, that Portland is a wonderful lens w/ a beautiful way of rendering. The second lens you showed the results from, I don't like so much. It's more soft and out of focus than anything else. But the first shot on your link is a real winner. Not bad for a single element lens! Having the right model helps too. It wouldn't have been the same with a Yugo :]

I'm certain that some people would be inclined to say you could get that effect in Photoshop. Of course, you couldn't. Not at all. To my way of thinking, this is what large format does best. I don't shoot it anymore and have to make do w/ the more miniature formats, but it's nice to see work like this.

It sounds like prices have gone up a bit since they were new (see link below).

http://www.macrolenses.de/bilder/Spencer Port-Land Lens Brochure.pdf