[pure-silver] Re: Preferred Studio Camera

Dear Ralph,
Well, I've certainly used my Linhof monorail for studio portraits, and been delighted with the results. But the considerable time lag between the focussing and the exposure - occupied by setting the lens stop, closing the shutter, inserting the double dark, removing the slide, etc. means that there is little spontenaity in it. Please note the etc. also includes talking to myself and swearing.
Recently I have been experimenting with an old Crown Graphic hand camera in this situation, and am starting to appreciate it. Set up the whole lens and film train and then focus on the eyes with the rangefinder and sight through the wire finder. As the lens at 135mm ( Optar ) is a little short for the the full format of 4 x 5 inches, I leave a margin of space around the subject and accept that the usable section of negative will be about 3 x 4.
The old Optar is a little prone to flare, I suspect, so I need to keep the backdrop illumination about the same reading as the face for the higher key pictures and I need to make sure side lights are flagged off, but the tonality of the negs is wonderful and there is no grain to fight - even using Rodinal.
The other choice for me is the Hasselblad in 6x6 with a Makro-Planar 120 lens. I have a prop shade with insert that seems to solve flare problems and so far it yields fine results in the studio.
Uncle Dick 

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