Portrait lens recommendation for view camera on 6x7

[guphotography]

Hi folks,

Aside from my usual architectural work, I do want to shoot some portrait with arca swiss 6x9.

Can you recommend a portrait lens for it? The overall rendering is important, even if I stop down wee bit rather than fully open.

The longest lens I have is rodenstock apo sironar digital 135mm, has anyone any experiences with this one for portraits?

Many thanks

 

[JoelM]

That lens could work well, but for headshots, you might consider a 210 like the Rodenstock Apo Sironar.
Joel

 

[guphotography]

Thanks Joel, given the same focal length, do you have any experiences with similar likes such as nikkor, schneider etc.?

 

[Paul Spinnler]

You could use the fabulous Mamiya RZ67 110 2.8 adapted to your Arca via an RZ to Arca adapter; the 110 is famous for both its rendering and sharpness and 3D pop. SK Grimes might be able to helo. FFL is 10.5cm, which should be long enough even with a short bellows. For headshots you just extend your bellows. You could even the famous 105 2.4 for Pentax 6x7.

 

[Paul Spinnler]

Objektivplatte 110x110, standard, flat mit Hasselblad V Bajonett

www.arca-shop.de

This adapter + a good V lens, like the 110 planar ...

 

[anyone]

I use a Apo Sironar S 150mm and quite like it. Your 135 is from the same line, why not give it a try? Both are modern lenses, so if you look for some special character lens they may not be the first choice.

 

[JoelM]

Thanks Joel, given the same focal length, do you have any experiences with similar likes such as nikkor, schneider etc.?

So, I'm not sure if you are using large format lenses or lenses for a particular Arca body and mount. For LF, my experience with Fujinon A lenses was very good and they covered 8x10 so plenty of room for movements. I have a Schneider 90mm Makro tilt-shift lens with a large image circle, but not sure if it will cover 6x9 film. It's a bit wide, but would give a different perspective. Otherwise, all my experience is with LF lenses like Grandagons and whatnot.

 

[guphotography]

Thanks everyone, I will try with what I have first, see how they turn out.

110mm is a great idea, but how do you trigger the leaf shutter in the lens? Or set the shutter speed? Since I'll be working with 6x7 on M Two.

 

[anyone]

I looked briefly into using medium format leaf shutter lenses on my view camera and gave up shortly after: I couldn’t find an easy way to trigger the shutter and it seemed not worth the hazzle, since there are good and affordable large format lenses around.

The Hasselblad V 110mm 2 mentioned above doesn’t have a shutter at all, it’s meant to be used on Hasselblad’s FPS cameras.

 

[guphotography]

I'm definitely more interested in large format lenses, otherwise it is too troublesome for the set up to work, my camera should be with me in two weeks' time, looking forward to testing it.

 

[Jmaaa]

I would definitely stick to large format lenses and not try to adapt any medium format lenses. You can get excellent large format lenses for very little money. Besides, the medium format lenses mentioned are a bit overhyped. I have both the Mamiya 110mm and the Pentax 105mm and they're both nice lenses but not worth the current prices. The Mamiya is a very good standard lens but I don't think there's anything special about it compared to the other Mamiya lenses. The "pop" people rave about probably has more to do with the RZ's bellows allowing you to get very close and get very shallow DoF. The Pentax 105mm is nice and does have a very particular look, but that mainly has to do with it's propensity to flare and the shallow DoF which, frankly, makes it very, very hard to get accurate focus wide open.

If I were you I'd first give the 135mm a try and if that is too short, maybe look into a 180mm or a 210mm. You don't really need to get an expensive APO version since the slight edge in sharpness compared to a cheaper non-APO version might not even be desirable for portraits. You can probably get a good Schneider or Rodenstock 210mm for under $250 if you look around.

 

[guphotography]

Well, it's been a while, now I have 180 and 210 in the bag, time for some serious tests on digital back before start working with film.

Now I just need to find time ...