![Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar f/4.5 21cm - Lens Test [EXPLORE] | by James L Pearson](http://live.staticflickr.com/7106/8162264813_f9e6370991.jpg)
James L Pearson
Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar f/4.5 21cm - Lens Test [EXPLORE]
Kit: Graflex Speed Graphic 5x4 • Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar f/4.5 21cm • Fomapan 100
Light: Bowens studio flash, manually fired through umbrella above and to the right of the camera
Exp: Exposed using the focal plane shutter on 'T' for 1 sec or so • f/4.5 • 100 ISO
Dev: R09 ONE SHOT (Rodinal) • 1+50 • 8 mins • 20 degrees C • Scanned with Epson V700
I've been searching for a cheap portrait lens for the 5x4 set up, which involved reading lots of different articles and viewing lots of different examples. Most of the best lenses are sold for a bit more than I'm willing to spend (at the moment) on eBay. But then I discovered this barrel lens at MW Classic Cameras where I bought the camera. Being a barrel lens means it doesn't have a shutter, but that's where the focal plane shutter of the Speed Graphic comes in handy. Using flash is a bit trickier as there is no usable sync for electronic flash when using the focal plane shutter. So for this test I decided to darken the room, manually open the shutter and fire the flash before closing the shutter again - using 'T' mode. It seemed to work well and the result from the lens looks really nice.
Of course if I was trying to capture the FED 3 properly I would have stopped the lens down a bit, but I wanted to see what the out of focus areas looked like wide open.
Mounting the lens is going to be the next challenge so that I can use it properly without the fear of it falling on the floor - it's currently mounted in a cardboard 'lens board', which I can wedge into the front standard. It performed very well for this test!
Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar f/4.5 21cm - Lens Test [EXPLORE]
Kit: Graflex Speed Graphic 5x4 • Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar f/4.5 21cm • Fomapan 100
Light: Bowens studio flash, manually fired through umbrella above and to the right of the camera
Exp: Exposed using the focal plane shutter on 'T' for 1 sec or so • f/4.5 • 100 ISO
Dev: R09 ONE SHOT (Rodinal) • 1+50 • 8 mins • 20 degrees C • Scanned with Epson V700
I've been searching for a cheap portrait lens for the 5x4 set up, which involved reading lots of different articles and viewing lots of different examples. Most of the best lenses are sold for a bit more than I'm willing to spend (at the moment) on eBay. But then I discovered this barrel lens at MW Classic Cameras where I bought the camera. Being a barrel lens means it doesn't have a shutter, but that's where the focal plane shutter of the Speed Graphic comes in handy. Using flash is a bit trickier as there is no usable sync for electronic flash when using the focal plane shutter. So for this test I decided to darken the room, manually open the shutter and fire the flash before closing the shutter again - using 'T' mode. It seemed to work well and the result from the lens looks really nice.
Of course if I was trying to capture the FED 3 properly I would have stopped the lens down a bit, but I wanted to see what the out of focus areas looked like wide open.
Mounting the lens is going to be the next challenge so that I can use it properly without the fear of it falling on the floor - it's currently mounted in a cardboard 'lens board', which I can wedge into the front standard. It performed very well for this test!