Rock Concert

[thronobulax]

[Feb. 2026] Rock Concert



Crown Graphic, 8 1/2" f/6.3 Commercial Ektar, 12x9 Fomapan 100, semistand in Pyrocat-HDC, film scan

 

[thronobulax]

I finally got around to shooting some LF today and boy did I pick a day. 0C with nice gusty winds that were very cold and dry - hand split and started to bleed. What we do for art, eh? It made for Big Fun (tm) for adjusting the camera and trying to hang on to the dark cloth.

I do plan to silver print this for further interpretation, but I was curious how it turned out.

 

[Nas]

I like this. Just the right amount of depth of field for me. Well done for braving the elements. My t-shirt dark cloth design with arm sleeves is perfect in breezy conditions because it's all enclosed.

 

[thronobulax]

I would have preferred a longer lens to further isolate the background by shooting from a bit further away and exploiting the foreshortening and reduced DOF that occurs with a long lens. The problem is that we start to approach the max bellows draw of the Crown Graphic at that point.

 

[Nas]

I would have preferred a longer lens to further isolate the background by shooting from a bit further away and exploiting the foreshortening and reduced DOF that occurs with a long lens. The problem is that we start to approach the max bellows draw of the Crown Graphic at that point.

That's where telephoto lenses come into their own and the shorter bellows requirement to reach infinity.

 

[thronobulax]

That's where telephoto lenses come into their own and the shorter bellows requirement to reach infinity.

Yes, I have been keeping an eye out for a 360mm f/5.5 Tele-Arton, but I have to confirm it will cover 5x4 and what its actual draw requirements are.

 

[MartyNL]

Yes, I have been keeping an eye out for a 360mm f/5.5 Tele-Arton, but I have to confirm it will cover 5x4 and what its actual draw requirements are.

Here's the lens data from Schneider for both the Tele-Arton and Tele-Xenar.

 

[thronobulax]

Thanks. Does "Flange Focal Distance" mean lens-to-film distance for infinity focus or something else?

 

[MartyNL]

My understanding is when focused at infinity;
Flange focus distance is literally the distance from the lens mounting flange to the film plane.
Back focus on the other hand, is the distance from the rear lens element to the film plane.

This should be a good guide to the minimum bellows draw to achieve infinity focus of a lens.

 

[Ian Grant]

I bought a 360mm Tele Xenar a few years ago, it's a nice lens to use, very sharp. However, at 12"/300mm extension focus is around 65 inches, and DOF is very shallow. The lens covers 7x5 at Infinity, it was also available in P6 mount as well as Exacta, Praktina, and M42 for 35mm cameras,

About 3 or 4 years ago I was experimenting shooting poppies close up, initially I tried using my 240mm Nikkor W on my Wist 45DX, but the front focussing makes working at close distances more difficult. In the end I used a 210mm Symmar S, and 150mm Sironar N.



Ian

 

[thronobulax]

I bought a 360mm Tele Xenar a few years ago, it's a nice lens to use, very sharp. However, at 12"/300mm extension focus is around 65 inches, and DOF is very shallow. The lens covers 7x5 at Infinity, it was also available in P6 mount as well as Exacta, Praktina, and M42 for 35mm cameras,

About 3 or 4 years ago I was experimenting shooting poppies close up, initially I tried using my 240mm Nikkor W on my Wist 45DX, but the front focussing makes working at close distances more difficult. In the end I used a 210mm Symmar S, and 150mm Sironar N.


Ian

I've just found one of these for sale in flawless condition mounted in a modern Copal. Although I was sort of looking for the Arton, this one is very tempting.

I am, not terribly concerned about the focus distance using my Crown Graphic as I've reversed the front standard and can bring quite a bit of front tilt to bear which I believe will give me focus closer in.

Have you found it to be particularly prone to flare?

I have an embarrassment of riches of glass available to me on my Wisner Technical field camera, but the short bellows draw of the Graflex really limits longer focal lengths. Did they ever make an extension cone lens board for these cameras, I wonder?

 

[Ian Grant]

I've just found one of these for sale in flawless condition mounted in a modern Copal. Although I was sort of looking for the Arton, this one is very tempting.

I am, not terribly concerned about the focus distance using my Crown Graphic as I've reversed the front standard and can bring quite a bit of front tilt to bear which I believe will give me focus closer in.

Have you found it to be particularly prone to flare?

I've never had flare with any coated Schneider lenses, and telephoto lenses like the Tele-Xenar are less prone to flare as they have 2 cemented pairs of elements and quite a distance apart, around 3"+ for the 360mm. I paid about 120 euros for mine, it is in a Compound #3.

The 360mm Tele-Xenar weighs 890g, the Tele-Arton 1615g, that was in Compur Electronic shutters, a significant weight difference.



A quote from 2018, when I first posted the image on this Forum.

The web does not do this justice. I was actually there when this print emerged from the developer tray this afternoon and the detail in the print is outstanding and Ian printed this with so little effort. Very impressive

Would a Tele-Arton, or more modern Nikkor, or Fuji, lens be better? I'm more than happy with this 1954 Tele-Xenar.

Ian

 

[Nas]

I have an embarrassment of riches of glass available to me on my Wisner Technical field camera, but the short bellows draw of the Graflex really limits longer focal lengths.

Funnily enough, the bellows extension on the Wisner is the main reason I've kept mine. I had listed it for sale and someone asked me to measure the bellows extension, I had no idea it went out so far and I promptly decided to keep it.