A Soft-focus Experiment with a Magnifying Glass, an old Studio View Camera, and Polaroid.
17
Aug
2009
A few weeks ago, Comrade Bing Tan showed us some examples of soft focus work made with antique soft-focus lenses. He expressed his desire to get one such lens. Most of those lenses are really expensive- costing several hundred $$. Seeing those photos, I thought that the “softness” seen there was mostly from lens aberrations. Defects, if you will, which ‘soften’ the image. I thought too that the same could be done with really cheap lenses. Lenses which were not even meant for cameras, like
magnifying glasses.
I had been given an old Studio View Camera of unknown provenance. A rather nice wood and brass affair. It may be a Korona or some Kodak Studio Camera. Nothing to mend except from some cracks in the bellows lining. All I needed was a lens and some 4X5 film holders, and I could do the “soft” experiment.
I never thought that it would happen soon. But it did, thanks to Comrade Bing himself. Last Saturday, after the Rangefnder Filipinas meeting, someone suggested to “play” with the large view cameras in attendance… there were three around. Not at all unusual… Out came Comrade Bing’s Polaroid holder, some outdated Polaroid BW instant film, and I hastily made a cardboard “lens board” and taped my trusty old magnifying glass…
The camera with a single element lens (my old magnifying loupe). Taped on a cardboard lensboard.
Focal length is perhaps 20-23 cm, with a nominal/guessed aperture of f/6.
JefJac and Direk Uro behind.
There was no shutter! ISO 400 film (but being outdated, may actually be closer to EI 160-200) would have made exposures impossible in brighter light. But it was indoors at night. Not too bright fluorescent lighting. So little opaque card (left over from the lensboard) held over the lens served as the shutter. 1-4 sec exposures were just right.
Flap shutter in front, covering the lens, as Direk Uro unsheaths a Polaroid sheet prior to exposure.
Maan, at the back, checking if any prestidigitation is involved…
And the First Result. JefJac is coërced to become the first Victim/Model for the experiment. This is how it came out:
The Original, his Copy, and the Camera.
Next two victims: Drea and Comrade Bing. Comrade Bing is intentionally bokeh-fied…what better way is there to demonstrate the softened abilities of an ordinary hand loupe than to bokeh-fy the inquirer himself????
Bing & Drea, to the left, posing for the camera.
Focused lens on Drea. Note card ‘shutter’ covering the lens, ready to be unflapped for exposure.
Even Direk Uro was made to sit for one Polaroid softee…
Four Polaroids…four photos shot.
**Thanks to Cent Rubin for the behind-the-scenes photos.
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