Shots with the Burnett Combo

rawhead · Expire: 2014-04-29

So some of you know that I've been getting into large format recently, but specifically, 4x5 LF with the so-called "Burnett Combo", or, a Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic (w/ a focal plane shutter) and a Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm f2.5 barrel lens:

the guy on the right––in fact I actually now have different, near pristine body w/ perfect focal plane shutter and pristine cosmetics. My next task, of course, is to find a lens in matching state :-)

The Aero Ektar, which covers 5x7 or 4x5 with movement and an f2.5 max aperture is one of the fastest lenses you can get on LF, and the DoF/FoV is roughly equivalent to that of a 50mm f0.7 lens on 35mm/FF, making this combo one of the "shallowest" combination you can get.

DoF at close distances would be measured in millimeters rather than centimeters:

Combine it with tilt, you can get ridiculous isolation

Of course, the best uses for something like this is portraits where if you choose the optimal subject distance and aperture (always wide open, like it should be :-), you can create an almost floating isolation of the subject:

Of course, when you're out in the field taking portraiture, you really don't want to be setting up a tripod, focusing with the ground glass, asking your subject to stand still, loading the film holder, and finally shooting. So you have to adjust the rangefinder to be specifically tuned to the Aero Ektar. I spent about 2 hours calibrating the Kalart Rangefinder, and the focus is *almost* spot on. But at a subject distance of 2-3 m, I seem to be getting a slight (10-15cm?) front focus.

I'll have to sit down with more precision instruments (somebody told me how I can use a laser pointer to fine-tune calibrate at close distances) to do a sanity check.

The problem of course is that at close distances, I *have* to recompose the shot after focusing, which tends to tilt the focal plane enough to throw off the focus.

I tried something *really* crazy yesterday, where I loaded a couple sheets of Efke IR820 in a film holder, attached a Hoya R72 filter to the Aero Ektar (via a 82mm->77mm step-down ring attached to the front of the lens using a glue gun), and tried infrared photography.

In the street.

Handheld.

Since the Speed Graphic rails don't have the red dot for IR focus shift (doesn't make sense when the shift distance is specific to lens focal length), I did a Google search for IR focus shift and found that with the filter/film I'm using, I should rack out the lens about 1/200th of the focal length. Since the aero is 178mm, 1/200th of that is about 0.9mm.

So, in the field, I focused with the rangefinder, then racked the lens out about what I figured was a little shy of 1mm, composed, and shot:

Efke IR820 + R72 is said to have an EI of ISO1. Since this was a very sunny day, I figured "OK, sunny 16, so 1s exposure at f16. I'm shooting wide open so, 16->11->8->5.6->4->2.8, is 5 stops, so 1->1/2->1/4->1/8->1/16->1/32, i.e., I should shoot at 1/30s–––which is the slowest shutter speed on the Speed Graphic anyway".

So the above was handheld and shot at 1/30s. The focus was tad off and there's definitely some camera shake, but the result was good enough to please me :-))) I will be doing a lot of these this summer, I reckon (I have 48 more sheets :-)

One of the great things with a setup like this, of course, is that you can shoot a fairly wide looking shot like this (again in IR, with guesstimated focus shifting) and still get some DoF effect:

Now with a Jobo CPE2 in my house, I can do color negative/reversal development at home, too, which is great; I can develop six 4x5 sheets with 250ml of Kodak E-6 chemicals, which comes out to about 50c per sheet; about 1/10th what I'd pay a lab for. With that kind of savings, it makes it easy for me to invest in film; so on top of 50 sheets of Efke IR820, I currently have: 25 sheets of Shanghai GP3, 25 sheets of Delta 400 Pro, 10 sheets of Pro 160S, 100 sheets of Tri-X pan, and I'll soon get 150 sheets of Velvia 50.

This was shot with a sheet of Astia 100F

Yup, there's going to be a lot of 4x5 shootin' this year :-)))

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Lost for words at these beauties,not sure on any thing technical but I love them! What a great presentation.

NikonD · Joined: 29 Jul 2008 Posts: 1922 Location: Slovenija

wow...

tobbsman · Joined: 25 Jul 2008 Posts: 2578 Location: Austria

I am speachless, stunning results.

Cheers
Tobias

trifox · Expire: 2014-05-29

oh my god! Shocked

these are really great and look like from another world!

thanks for sharing these!

tf

spleenone · Joined: 26 Dec 2009 Posts: 1130 Location: Slovakia

amazing! Love bigger formats. That dof and that tilt effect... superb.
btw
...where do you get Efke film?

rawhead · Expire: 2014-04-29

Hey guys, thanks for the positive comments Wink

))

spleenone · Joined: 26 Dec 2009 Posts: 1130 Location: Slovakia

rawhead · Expire: 2014-04-29

Nesster · Expire: 2014-02-20

Brilliant photography, interesting camera... sure seems like large format is where real photography begins... ( Twisted Evil

APS-C is where it ends Laughing

)

spleenone · Joined: 26 Dec 2009 Posts: 1130 Location: Slovakia

rawhead · Expire: 2014-04-29

spleenone · Joined: 26 Dec 2009 Posts: 1130 Location: Slovakia

Damn I found it!
...for EU members... pretty cheap.

Film and chemistry. FOMA ... and appears that there are everything.

http://macodirect.de/index.php

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

Impressive! Congratulations!!

rawhead · Expire: 2014-04-29

The lens can, of course, do shots stopped down (lol). Here's an IR shot where I stopped down to F16 because 1/30s is the slowest shutter speed on the Speed Graphic, and 1s is about the shortest speed I'd feel comfortable shooting manually using the "T" setting.

Burnett Combo + Efke IR820, 1s @ F16, Rodinal 1:50, 9:30@25˚C

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

yes, large format + portraits = magic ! Smile

spleenone · Joined: 26 Dec 2009 Posts: 1130 Location: Slovakia

I have to say that this is very good result but also worth attention that full aperture shot for 3D effect (saw on flickr).

fish4570 · Expire: 2012-03-21

woo-hoo! super experiment ...

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Incredible!

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Wow !

Right, I have to get my stuff really working now.

patrickh · Expire: 2011-11-18

Absolutely stunning.

patrickh

rawhead · Expire: 2014-04-29

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the positive feedback! I'm really enjoying this combo, despite the amount of time & effort required per each frame... totally worth it.

I'll be shooting a lot from this combo this year and I'll continue to update this thread with new shots Smile

rawhead · Expire: 2014-04-29

When focused just right at just the right distance, visual "pop" can be quite dramatic (IMHO Very Happy

)

rawhead · Expire: 2014-04-29

Spring, with new, bright greens, is a good time to shoot with Velvia, IMHO Very Happy

I rate the film at ISO25 and get good result on both my Hasselblad and Burnett Combo. At ISO25 and F2.5 on a bright sunny day, well-lit shots are almost perfect at 1/1000s, which makes hand-held snaps with this beast camera a very doable thing Smile

While I'm a self-aware bokeholic and love all the bokeh balls and swirls 'n'all, what really turns me on about these MF/LF super fast lenses is the kinds of images you get when you take a few steps back, and create the kind of "how the hell did you get that shallow dof from that distance?" impression Smile

poilu · Expire: 2019-08-29

wow! that some serious dof! Very Happy