SOME THOUGHTS ON LENS

PATRICK ALT

SOME THOUGHTS ON LENS

PATRICK ALT

The question I am asked most frequently by photographers and clients is what lenses they should buy for their new or restored view camera. The purpose of this article is to address some of the issues relevant to this question regarding modern and classic lenses. I will state up front that my knowledge of optics is more experiential than scientific. For those interested in a more technical approach, there have been several excellent articles written by Ron Wisner and others explaining the variety of optical formulas and types available. While this information may be interesting, the ultimate determination must be based on the what the intended images are and the best way to achieve them. I have always been an intuitive image maker. My concerns are more about whether a specific lens will do what I want rather than the degree of spherical aberration or how many air surfaces a lens has. This article will be reflective of this philosophy and will be oriented more towards cameras 8 X 10 and larger.
There are several matters of relevance to consider in choosing a particular lens. Before I get into actual lens specifics, these issues should be examined. The first deals with equipment and how the photo industry markets it. In order for the industry to survive, it needs to convince us that if we do not have the latest, fastest, sharpest, etc. this or that we will not be able to do good work. This is most acutely seen in 35mm and more mass market consumer items. It is somewhat less prevalent in the area of large format cameras and lens, but still holds sway for many people new to the view camera. In my initial experience with a large format camera, I too was susceptible to this marketing strategy. Therefore, I did not know nor would consider at the time the many wonderful lens choices available to me because of their relative age and lack of current technology.
The photo industry has settled, with some exceptions, on 4 X 5 as the industry standard for large format. The extensive variety of cameras, lenses, enlargers, and film goes to support this view. Because this format is relatively small, there has not been any need for modern lens designers to give many of their lenses large image circles as they are not necessary or needed. Therefore, many modern lenses do not have sufficient coverage to allow any camera movements on larger formats. However, when the decision is made to move up to larger film sizes, lens options become significantly diminished. Many modern lenses designed for 8 X 10 are extremely expensive and heavy. Up until the 50’s, 8 X 10 and 11 X 14 were the industry standards and the equipment choices and availabilities were reflective of that. Lens design from this period needed to have greater coverage in order to work effectively with the bigger cameras. Therefore, this presents us with an expanded range of classic lenses as alternate choices to their more cumbersome and pricey modern counterparts.
One important factor that cannot ever be stressed enough is the ratio of enlargement between the size of the negative to the size of the final print. A 35mm negative enlarged to an 8 X 10 print is the same degree of enlargement as a 4 X 5 is to 30” X 40” and an 8 X 10 negative blown up to 5 by 7 feet. Since these last sizes are beyond the realm of most darkroom workers, the critical sharpness of modern lenses becomes less of a factor in lens selection and more whether the image circle will cover the negative with camera movements. Optical sharpness becomes even less of a factor when the final print is a contact print. A classic lens, especially one from the 19th century, can appear razor sharp as a contact print. However, a bench test would show this same lens to be absolute mush if used to make extreme enlargements. In addition, many of these older lenses will have an optical quality that will render to the image unique and singular characteristics. Over the last 150 years of photographic lens design, there has been extraordinary evolution of technologies regarding image sharpness and contrast. If a lens of clinical sharpness is crucial to your vision and work, then contemporary optics will probably offer you the best solution. However, old and classic lenses may provide you with a special quality to your final prints. This quality may be most subtle or profoundly distinct depending on the age and formula of the lens. I have several friends who work with lenses even older than the ones I use. Their work is a perfect marriage of process and vision allowing the unusual character of these lenses to play a prominent role in the images they make. A daguerreotype lens from the 1850’s will introduce a remarkable attribute to a photograph. For those working in alternative processes such as platinum, cyanotype, or others, these lenses bring interesting and often beautiful characteristics to the final print.
The first thing I ask photographers, when I am queried as to what lens to buy, is how do they see the world? Are you a wide angle person, a normal lens person, or do you like the look of longer lenses in your work? This is a relevant issue many people rarely give much thought about. It is important to go back over your existing body of work and see which, if any, class of lenses you have worked with primarily in the past. I am almost exclusively a normal lens kind of guy and I shoot normal lenses on all my cameras, whether it be 8 X 10 or 14 X 17. This determination is important to consider in budgeting for a lens purchase as it makes no sense to buy a long lens initially if all of your work has been done with extreme wide angles.
The choice of lenses is also greatly determined by the kind of images you make. When I first started with a 4 X 5, I worked with just one lens (normal of course) for 12 years and shot close to 15,000 negatives with it. Since that body of work was the nude in the landscape, it was easy to relocate my subject where I wanted her to be. Other focal lengths were not necessary. While the nude is still my main body of work, I have expanded my imagery to include the landscape in general. In exploring the image possibilities within this grand tradition, I discovered early on that one lens would not allow me the flexibility photographing the landscape requires. When one has physical constraints imposed upon you such as fences and other impediments, additional focal lengths have become a necessity. Start with focal lengths appropriate to your subject matter, then expand the range of focal lengths to allow greater flexibility of image and interpretation. For example, if you do mostly portraits, then a longer lens would be the appropriate choice. For 8 X 10 I usually recommend the following focal lengths; a 240 to 250mm (10”) for slight wide angle, a 360mm (14”) for normal, and a 450mm (18”) for a longer lens. These three focal lengths will cover most of the situations found in the studio or field. One can, of course go up and down from those choices. It is a good idea to have about a 100mm or 4” spread between focal lengths. Anything shorter than that is usually unnecessary and can often be easily rectified by tripod relocation.
There is an extraordinary variety and selection of classic lenses available to large format photographers on the used market as well as a selection of modern lenses. I will start with lenses for the 8 X 10. As stated earlier, there is an enormous selection of modern lenses for the 4 X 5 and it is out of the scope of this article to discuss the options available. Modern lenses are so technologically refined, debating the relative merits between a Schneider, a Nikon, or a Rodenstock comes to seem like the debate over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. You may prefer one over the other, but optical sharpness will be essentially identical. It will be virtually impossible when comparing prints taken with different brand modern lenses to discern any difference from one lens to another. This must always be the final test. It is also mistakenly assumed that if you buy one brand of lens, then you should also buy the same brand for every other focal length to keep the same look. It just doesn’t matter. The vast majority of 4 X 5 lenses will also cover 5 X 7. It is when the jump to 8 X 10 and larger is made that a whole different class of lenses must be considered.
We will start with 8 X 10. For very wide angle there are several lens choices. The 6 .5” Wide Angle Dagor is an excellent lens. Another lens to consider for this focal length is the 159mm WA Wollensak. This lens is tiny, about the size of a quarter and is available in a variety of shutters. There are also some Zeiss Protars in this focal length that will cover, but these are rarer and usually more expensive. The 190mm Wide Angle Ektar will cover, but has limited movements. The next jump up is to 210mm and there are also several choices. The first is the 8.25” Dagor. Another great lens is the discontinued 210mm Schneider Angulon. This is a small lens with sufficient coverage for 11” X 14” cameras. The next lens to consider is the 250mm or 10” Kodak Wide Field Ektar which will also cover 11” X 14”. The Ektars are wonderful lenses with good contrast and large coverage and are available in a wide range of focal lengths. The normal length Ektars of 12” and 14” focal lengths are usually my recommendation as a first lens purchase for their quality, availability, and price. Of course the Dagors will always be the first choice of many photographers for their astounding sharpness and large image circles. However, their popularity is also reflected in their current asking prices. Other Goertz lenses that are excellent are the Artars. They are very popular in longer focal lengths and are used primarily on larger cameras such as 7 X 17 and 12 X 20 banquet cameras. The Artars are available in standard Artars which are typically uncoated and Red Dot Artars which are typically coated. I say typically because many older lenses that were sold originally uncoated have in fact been coated after market. Remember that coating has no effect on image sharpness and only increases contrast and flare control. However, the contrast of the negative can approximate that of a coated lens with a minor increase in development time. Many of the great images of the 20th century, such as those taken by Ansel and Edward, were done with uncoated lenses. Despite the relative primitiveness of their equipment, I think they did pretty well. In fact, they have set the standards to which many aspire. And their images were all done on what is now considered classic equipment. Owning an old Cooke Triple Convertible will certainly not make you Ansel Adams, but it won’t make you a bad photographer either.
This nicely transitions into the convertible class of lens of which the Cooke is but one example. More common are the Turner Reich Triples from the Gundlach Optical Co. They are lenses with three focal lengths in one lens. One common lens is the 12/19/24 inch lens. The 12” is the front and back elements together. The 19” is the back element alone. The 24” is the front element placed on the back, also alone. The single elements are always placed behind the shutter. The shutter will have 3 f/stop scales to correspond to the different focal lengths. Because of their design there is significant chromatic aberration and requires the use of a dark yellow or orange filter to align the different wavelengths onto one plane. Also, they have significant focus shift as the lens is stopped down and requires refocusing at the chosen aperture. These are great lenses to consider as they are relatively inexpensive and there are three lenses in one, something to think about if backpacking is one of your photographic loves.
The one lens I probably recommend more than any other is the Nikor 450M. This is one of the few modern lenses I own because of its small size and enormous image circle. This focal length is normal for 11 X 14 but will easily cover the 12 X 20 and 14 X 17 camera. It also makes for a wonderful long lens for the 8 X 10. The M series lenses from Nikor and the G-Clarons from Schneider are the modern versions of the classic Artars. These are flat field process lenses that work wonderfully as landscape lenses. The 355mm G-Claron will also cover the 12 X 20 format and makes it a wide angle for this format. Other lenses that will cover 12 X 20 are both the 12” f/6.8 and the 14” f/7.7 Dagors. Schneider made a 14” Gold Dot Dagor when Goertz stopped production. However, the formula was changed to an f/8, and while one of the best view camera lenses ever made, it will only cover 7 X 17. The other brand lenses much sought after are the Fuji lenses. These are typically very small compact lens formulas with amazing sharpness and enormous image circles for their respective focal lengths. It is unfortunate they are no longer imported directly into the States, but may be special ordered or found on the used market.
As the format becomes larger, the lens choices greatly decrease. In the very large formats, the choices are pretty much narrowed to the Dagors and Artars. The 24” Artar is now normal for the 12 X 20 and 14 X 17 cameras and are still relatively easy to find. The Artars were made in focal lengths of up to 72”. However, the problem with these lenses now comes down to how much bellows draw your camera has. The 2 common classic 12 X 20 cameras, the Folmer/Schwing and the Korona, both have only 24” bellows draw. So a longer focal length, though having sufficient coverage, will not work on the older cameras without major modifications. Some will work on the modern versions such as the Canham, the Wisner, and now the new Lotus cameras from Austria which have sufficient bellows draw to accommodate these longer focal length lenses. There are other lenses such as the Voightlander Heliars and Colinears, Ross and Wray lenses from England, and Darlot and Dahlmeyer lenses, all of which have distinctive optical qualities. Many of these older lenses are available only in barrel, so must be mounted in a shutter for most people to use. Depending upon their size they can be mounted in clockwork shutters or reliable if antiquated Packard shutters.
For those of you who know me and my work, know I am firmly rooted in the 19th century concerning image, processes, and equipment. This has allowed me to experiment and work with lenses many people would dismiss or ignore. There are enormous options available to those photographers who desire other lens choices then those available in current mail order catalogs. Along with price and availability, these great old lenses are serious alternatives to modern optics. These lenses are a part of our past and a part of our visual heritage. In the end, image clarity comes from the vision of the artist.

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