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  #11  
Old 15th May 2020, 08:54 AM
martinhupfer martinhupfer is offline
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Thanks for your comments.

Years ago I visited Leica in Solms, they produce their lenses at themself and they told us they are trimming the optics to be more contrasty than in the past.
There was a big change with the digital requirements. I bought a 28mm for my M8 and found this lens was too sharp and crispy so I swapped it to an much older lens.
It was quite unnatural in my feeling.

Of course the Nikkor lenses will be as sharp as all the others I have for Hasselblad and Rollei but hopefully they render a little smother :-)

Any way, that old lady is probably handmade and manufactured by a small group of men, and so it has a soul to be found
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  #12  
Old 15th May 2020, 10:27 AM
big paul big paul is offline
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I have been using my softer 111 filter and putting it under my enlarging lens when printing ,if you move it about as you expose the paper you will get more softness ,or do what the old pro,s used to do and just before you take the photo breathe on the lens .
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  #13  
Old 15th May 2020, 12:32 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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It's interesting how when lens performances get sharper, that a lot of people say that they are now 'too sharp'.

As well as using an older type lens on the camera, if one does darkroom work, maybe it would be a good idea to get an older (and i.e. softer and maybe even cheaper than a new 'old' lens for the camera?) lens to use on the enlarger?

Terry S
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  #14  
Old 15th May 2020, 01:36 PM
martinhupfer martinhupfer is offline
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Hi Terry, that's also a good idea and I have done this often.
But I want to get it on my negativ, full framed and original as possible.
It's me, the camera and the subject in that special light and condition.
I'm not the one to make it later on.

If I wanted to get it hyper perfect on location and reduce it in my "office", I could use a full-frame digital camera and make it the easy way.

But that's another world which is not mine anymore.
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  #15  
Old 15th May 2020, 02:07 PM
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Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry S View Post
It's interesting how when lens performances get sharper, that a lot of people say that they are now 'too sharp'.

As well as using an older type lens on the camera, if one does darkroom work, maybe it would be a good idea to get an older (and i.e. softer and maybe even cheaper than a new 'old' lens for the camera?) lens to use on the enlarger?

Terry S
I'm not sure new lenses are getting more sharp.

They are getting more contrasty (i.e. flare less) - which can look like sharpness - even before the ageing of the old lens coatings is taken in to account.

The other thing that has changed as the years have gone on is the manufacturing quality - todays lenses are much more consistent than they were - old lenses had huge variation between the optimum and the normal.

I don't know if it was true but it was rumoured that Fleet Street hacks would often buy several lenses of the same sort - try each one out and use only the best one.

There are lots of stories that the film studios did exactly the same thing too.

Martin
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  #16  
Old 15th May 2020, 02:19 PM
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Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by big paul View Post
I have been using my softer 111 filter and putting it under my enlarging lens when printing ,if you move it about as you expose the paper you will get more softness ,or do what the old pro,s used to do and just before you take the photo breathe on the lens .
A soft filter on the enlarging lens spreads out the light - which makes the shadows on a print - the effect can be slightly sinister.

A soft filter on a camera lens again spreads out the light - but this time it spreads out the highlights instead.

The other way of doing a soft filter on a lens is to take a sacrificial UV filter, don't bother blowing the dust and grit off the front of it and then polish it with a cloth - both from side to side as well as round and round. Sadly, it was the fate than unintentionally befell many a camera lenses as dads used their neckties to clean their camera lens before a shot.

Martin
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Old 17th May 2020, 11:20 AM
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photomi7ch photomi7ch is offline
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Ultimately it does not matter how good a lens is if the film is not held perfectly flat the degree of sharpness will be affected. Whether or not you can see this is dependent on how well the backing plate behind the shutter holds it in place.
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