Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/01/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Mon, 3 Jan 2011 "Jim Nichols" <jhnichols at lighttube.net>wrote: >Beauiful portrait. Facial details appear quite sharp, but the highlights >in >the eyes seem to be blurred. Is this because of the lighting setup that >you >used? ================================================================================================= It's the lens. The Verito, the Thambar, the Struss Pictorial, the Aldis Lens, the Speed Panchro*, and others are all diffused focus portrait lenses that use under corrected spherical aberration to produce a sharp image overlaid with a soft glow. If you could see my print, you'd be able to see that all the strands of hair show this feature. On my Verito, stopping down decreases the diffusion; f/4 gives (for me) too much, f/16 - on is too sharp, but f/11 is just the right blend of sharp/soft. With my invented "VElmar" - the 1931 13.5 cm f/4.5 Elmar that I modified to be like a Thambar, the best stop is around f/5.6 or f/6.3. <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Alan+Magayne-Roshak/Portraits/Glamour05_Velmar_AMR.jpg.html> *Check out old Hollywood films from the 1930's - many are shot with this lens at about f/2 or f/2.3. Specular out of focus highlights have a white dot surrounded by a slightly less intense circle of light. I love this look. I got this information from one of my favorite books, "Film Style and Technology" by Barry Salt. He discusses cameras, lenses, lighting, etc. decade by decade. Probably more than you wanted to read. ;~) Alan Alan Magayne-Roshak, Senior Photographer UPAA POY 1978 University Information Technology Services University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee amr3 at uwm.edu http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Alan+Magayne-Roshak/