Cameras

The company (or companies) named "Toko" made many cameras over the years. But there may be or more likely there have been more than one Toko camera company at various points in time. One Toko camera company made a wide variety of subminiature cameras. The same company - or perhaps a different one - made several medium format cameras. The same company - or perhaps still another one - made various large format cameras. Few people have heard of any of them and the name is often confused with Toyo, Tojo, etc. Some of the large format Toko cameras are marked with the model name and/or serial number, but some are not marked in any way. The earliest models are probably the ones that are most likely to be unmarked or unlabeled.  Most of the cameras were available in Cherrywood (the lightest and least expensive wood), but they were also available in Rosewood (slightly heavier and more expensive), or Ebony (even heavier and even more expensive), as well as special order woods (which, of course, are even more expensive). Some, and perhaps all, of Toko's 4x5 cameras were made by Nagaoka -- a well-known 4x5 camera manufacturer.  We know this because some of the later Toko FL-451 and FL-452 4x5 cameras have a plate on the bottom saying "Manufactured by Nagaoka".  Perhaps Nagaoka bought Toko at some point or perhaps Toko had Nagaoka make some of their later cameras.  Nagaoka 4x5 cameras typically have aluminum metal parts whereas Toko cameras use more attractive brass parts.  I do not know if any Toko cameras are still being made. In any event, they are difficult to find on the used market, but typically they sell for much less than similar, better known 4x5 cameras -- even though they are probably less full-featured.  The website www.toko.com does not list any photographic gear.

Toko Nikki II

My Toko Nikki II is in beautiful rosewood with a Beattie Intenscreen and extra fresnel lens for even better viewing.  Here it is with a 125mm Fujinon NW f5.6 lens.

The Toko Nikki II was my first 4x5, purchased in 1985. I still have it. The 1985 Buyer's Guide from Popular Photography lists a Nikki I, a Nikki II and a Nikki III. The Nikki I was the same as the Nikki II, but it lacked the back focus movement of the Nikki II, so it was less expensive and extends only to 12 inches (300mm). I have never seen or heard of a Nikki III, so I doubt that there ever was one. Maybe it was on the drawing board, but I don't know what features could have been added to the Nikki II - maybe front shifts or rear rise?

The Toko Nikki II adds rear focus to the Nikki I so you can extend the back out (60mm) or move it forward (50mm). This allows you to set the total bellows extension anywhere from 65mm to 360mm (14 inches). It also lets you use super-wide-angle lenses - even without a recessed lensboard and without having to drop the camera bed -- as well as using longer focal lenses such as 300mm and 360mm lenses - and even 400mm telephoto lenses. With a recessed lensboard you are even able to use extra-super-wide-angle lenses such as the 47mm Schneider XL (see below) and with extension cones you can use 600mm lenses (see below).

Both cameras have substantial rise and fall on the front standard (75mm up or down) as well as left and right swings (20 degrees left and right) and backward and forward tilts (90 degrees forward and 20 degrees back). Neither has shift on the front standard. On the rear standard both have left and right shift (20mm left and right) and left and right swings (12 degrees left and right) and backward and forward tilts (28 degrees backward and 20 degrees forward). There is no rise and fall on the rear standard.

The front standard took Wista or Linhof type lensboards but the shutter hole was purposely placed off-center (a little lower than dead center). The rear standard was a standard, universal spring back accepting 4x5 sheet film holders, Polaroid film packs and holders, 6x7 and 6x9 roll film holders, and even 5x7 film with an adapter back.

Toko FL-452

My Toko FL-452 is in beautiful cherrywood with a Beattie Intenscreen and extra fresnel lens for even better viewing.  Here it is with a 300mm Fujinon C f8.5 lens.

The Toko FL-452 is almost identical to the Nikki II. They also made a FL-451 which was the same as the FL-452, but it lacked the back focus movement of the FL-452, so it was less expensive and extends only to 12 inches (300mm). They never made a FL-453, which confirms my belief that there never was a Nikki III either. The Nikki cameras had a small clip on the top to keep the camera body closed when collapsed, but this was removed on the FL cameras to keep the clip from accidentally scratching the top of the bellows.

Like the Toko Nikki II, the Toko FL-452 adds rear focus to the FL-451 so you can extend the back out (60mm) or move it forward (50mm). This allows you to set the total bellows extension anywhere from 65mm to 360mm (14 inches). It also lets you use super-wide-angle lenses - even without a recessed lensboard and without dropping the camera bed -- as well as using longer focal lenses such as 300mm and 360mm lenses - and even 400mm telephoto lenses. With a recessed lensboard you are even able to use extra-super-wide-angle lenses such as the 47mm Schneider XL (see below) and with extension cones you can use 600mm lenses (see below).

Both the Toko FL-452 and the FL-451 have substantial rise and fall on the front standard (75mm up or down) as well as left and right swings (20 degrees left and right) and backward and forward tilts (90 degrees forward and 20 degrees back). Neither has shift on the front standard. On the rear standard both have left and right shift (20mm left and right) and left and right swings (12 degrees left and right) and backward and forward tilts (28 degrees backward and 20 degrees forward). There is no rise and fall on the rear standard.

The front standard took Wista or Linhof type lensboards but the shutter hole was off-center (a little lower than dead center). The rear standard was a standard spring back accepting 4x5 sheet film holders, Polaroid film packs and holders, 6x7 and 6x9 roll film holders, and even 5x7 film with an adapter back.

Lenses

"Normal" lenses

• 150mm Fujinon NW f5.6 (left) -- This one is a beauty. With an air-spaced design of six elements in six groups, EBC multi-coating, an image circle of 224mm, and the angle of coverage of 76 degrees, it gives plenty of room for movements.  It is equivalent to a 38mm lens with a 35mm format with a 56° picture angle.  It is my most used lens.

• 180mm Fujinon NW f5.6 (right) -- This is considered by many to be the best normal lens for the 4x5" film format. With a design of six elements in six groups, and EBC multi-coating, the angle of coverage of 76 degrees and an image circle of 280mm, it provides plenty of room for movements.  It is equivalent to a 45mm lens with a 35mm format with a 47° picture angle.  

Wide-Angle lenses

• 90mm Fujinon NSW f8.0 (left) -- Its angle of coverage is 100 degrees which covers 4x5 film very well with a 216mm image circle. It has six elements in six groups and EBC multi-coating.  It is equivalent to a 22mm lens with a 35mm format with a 82° picture angle.  It has a flange focal length of 99mm so I have plenty of room for movements without a recessed lens board and no need to drop the camera bed. It is a large and heavy lens, but smaller and lighter than the f5.6 SWD version. It loses about 1 1/2 f-stops of light in the corners of the image, so I use a 1/2 f-stop center filter to help balance things out.

• 105mm Fujinon CM-W f5.6 (middle) -- I once had a 105mm Fujinon NW f5.6. It created great results but the image circle was just 162mm. So I could only move the lens about 6mm either way, at most, at infinity. The 105mm Fujinon CM-W f5.6 version has a slightly larger image circle of 174mm (79 degree angle of coverage) so I can move the lens about 12mm either way -- twice as much as with the 105mm Fujinon NW f5.6.  That may not sound like much of an improvement, but with this image circle every little bit helps. And it is a lot smaller, lighter, cheaper (maybe not) -- and faster -- than the 105mm Fujinon NSW f8.0 (which has a much larger image circle).  It is equivalent to a 26mm lens with a 35mm format with a 73° picture angle. It loses a little more than an 1 f-stop of light in the corners of the image, so I use a 1/2 f-stop center filter to help balance things out.

• 125mm Fujinon NW f5.6 (right) -- This is a beauty. With an air-spaced design of six elements in six groups, and EBC multi-coating, the angle of coverage of 76 degrees and an image circle of 198mm gives you plenty of room for movements, as well as superb results.  It is equivalent to a 31mm lens with a 35mm format with a 64° picture angle. It loses a little less than an 1 f-stop of light in the corners of the image, so I use a 1/2 f-stop center filter to help balance things out.

Super Wide-Angle lenses

• 47mm Schneider-Kreuznach Super-Angulon XL f5.6 (left) -- This is not an inexpensive lens and it is not for everyone. It boasts a 120 degree angle of coverage which is quite impressive, but it's too much for many situations. For most 4x5 cameras you will need a recessed lens board to get focusing capability and swings/shifts/tilts. But depending on your camera, a recessed board might not be enough. My trusty Tokos have a minimum of 65mm! So I can't use the Schneider as is. And recessed lens boards are not cheap and can require a special cable release -- but they are not as expensive as this lens! For many large format cameras it just won't work. But it works fine on the Toko cameras with a recessed board of 15mm - thanks to its back focusing and the fact that the Schneider has a flange focal length of 59mm. At 50mm of extension, I have a little room to play with at infinity. And when focused closer than infinity I get more room to play.  Many wide angle lenses have flange focal lengths that are longer than their optical focal length. For example, the 65mm Fujinon SWD f5.6 has a flange focal length of 73mm, so I could use it on my Tokos without a recessed lensboard and still be able to do a little swinging and tilting. With large format cameras without rear focusing you might see if super wide-angle lenses will work if you drop the camera bed down to avoid vignetting. Find out what the minimum bellows draw is that you have and compare that to the flange focal lens of the lens. Good luck, because super wide-angle lens like the Schneider are stellar lenses. The Schneider has eight elements in four groups, an angle of coverage of 120 degrees, an image circle of 166mm, and is, of course, multi-coated.  That only gives me 8mm of movement at infinity but with a lens this wide you normally don't need much swing, tilt, rise/fall or shift. It is equivalent to a 12mm lens with a 35mm format with a 118° picture angle. It loses over 3 1/2 f-stops of light in the corners of the image, so I use a 1 1/2 f-stop center filter to help balance things out.
  
  
• 65mm Fujinon SWD f5.6 (middle) -- Its angle of coverage is 105 degrees which covers 4x5 film very well with a 196mm image circle. It has eight elements in six groups and EBC multi-coating.  It is equivalent to a 16mm lens with a 35mm format with a 100° picture angle.  It has a flange focal length of 73mm so I have plenty of room for movements without a recessed lens board and no need to drop the camera bed. It is a large and heavy lens, but Fujinon made an f8.0 version which is smaller and lighter -- and darker on the groundglass. Pick your poison. It loses almost 2 1/2 f-stops of light in the corners of the image, so I use a 1 1/2 f-stop center filter to help balance things out.

• 75mm Fujinon SWD f5.6 (right) -- Its angle of coverage is 105 degrees which covers 4x5 film very well with a 196mm image circle. It has eight elements in six groups and EBC multi-coating.  It is equivalent to a 19mm lens with a 35mm format with a 92° picture angle.  It has a flange focal length of 85mm so I have plenty of room for movements without a recessed lens board and no need to drop the camera bed. It is a large and heavy lens, but Fujinon made an f8.0 version which is smaller and lighter -- and darker on the groundglass. Pick your poison. It loses almost 2 f-stops of light in the corners of the image, so I use a 1 1/2 f-stop center filter to help balance things out.

Long Focal Length lenses

• 210mm Fujinon NW f5.6 (left) -- Many consider this the normal lens for 4x5 cameras. With a design of six elements in five groups, and EBC multi-coating, the angle of coverage of 71 degrees and an image circle of 300mm it can even cover 8x10 film - just barely.  It is equivalent to a 53mm lens with a 35mm format with a 41° picture angle.

• 250mm Fujinon NW f6.3 (middle)-- It's 1/3 f-stop slower than the earlier W version, and has a substantially smaller image circle, but that's not a big deal to me. It will still cover 8x10".  It has the benefit of EBC coating, however. It's a short tele-photo lens, and is similar in size and weight to the Fujinon T 300mm f8.0.  It is equivalent to a 62mm lens with a 35mm format with a 34° picture angle. It's GREAT for portraits.

• 300mm Fujinon C f8.5 (right) -- Many 4x5 cameras only extend to 300mm (12 inches). That means that the longest lens you can use is 300mm - and only at infinity. Some companies get around this by offering slightly shorter lenses, like 280mm. Fujinon offered three approaches. Their first is the 300mm C (compact). It is a lens with EBC multi-coating, a flange focal length of 282mm, angle of coverage of 66 degrees and an image circle of 380mm, so it easily covers 8x10.  It is equivalent to a 75mm lens with a 35mm format.  It has four elements in four groups so it is small and light. So you can get a little closer than infinity - even with a 12" bellows. Fujinon also offered the 300mm T f8.0 telephoto lens with a flange focal length of only 195mm, angle of coverage of 39 degrees and an image circle of 213mm. This will work fine on cameras with shorter bellows but it is twice the size and nearly twice the weight of the Fujinon 300mm C lens. Fujinon also offered the 300mm WS f5.6 lens with an angle of coverage of 70 degrees, an image circle of 420mm, and a flange focal length of 292mm. This will barely work on cameras with 12" bellows and it works fine on 13" or 14" bellows, but it is twice the size and nearly four times the weight of the Fujinon 300mm C lens. And it uses a much larger Copal #3 shutter. Since my TOKO cameras have a maximum of 360mm of extension I went with the 300mm C lens. I don't find the slightly slower f-stop to be an obstacle at all. It is equivalent to a 75mm lens with a 35mm format with a 29° picture angle.

Telephoto lenses

• 400mm Fujinon T f8.0 (left) -- Many 4x5 cameras only extend to 300mm (12 inches). That means that the longest lens you can use is 300mm - and only at infinity. Some companies get around this by offering slightly shorter lenses, like 280mm. But there is another solution.  Fujinon, like other lens manufacturers, offered another approach -- telephoto lenses which have shorter flange focal lengths. Although they are larger and heavier, they allow people with shorter bellows to use telephoto lenses -- long focal length lenses with short flange focal lengths. The Fujinon 400 T is a lens with a flange focal length of only 252mm, an angle of coverage of 31 degrees and an image circle of 220mm, so it easily covers 4x5.  It is equivalent to a 100mm lens with a 35mm format with a 24° picture angle.  It has five elements in five groups and most are EBC multi-coated (the earliest version was not multicoated). Fujinon also made a 450mm f12.5 C but it needs 425mm of extension to focus at infinity. Since my TOKO cameras have a maximum of 360mm of extension I went with the 400mm T lens.

• 600mm Fujinon T f12.0 (right) -- Many 4x5 cameras only extend to 300mm (12 inches). That means that the longest lens you can use is 300mm - and only at infinity. Some companies get around this by offering slightly shorter lenses, like 280mm. But there is another solution.  Fujinon, like other lens manufacturers, offered another approach -- telephoto lenses which have shorter flange focal lengths. Although they are larger and heavier, they allow people with shorter bellows to take telephoto pictures at closer than infinity. The Fujinon 600 T is a lens with a flange focal length of only 383mm, an angle of coverage of 24 degrees and an image circle of 260mm. That's a little too long even for my cameras, but I found a solution. Beseler, an enlarger manufacturer, makes an extension cone for their enlargers. The cone is 3x3 inches and 50mm  (almost two inches) long - and are perfect for any 4x4 inch large format lens board - like the Wista. I was able to bolt the Beseler extension cone to the front of a Wista board and I covered the seams with black silicone sealant. The rear of the 600mm lens fits perfectly inside the Beseler cone.  The Fujinon 600mm has five elements in five groups and most are EBC multi-coated (the earliest version was not multicoated). Since my TOKO cameras have 360mm (14 inches) of extension a little bit of extra extension was all I needed to get to 383mm - and a bit beyond (about 410mm).  So even though it is a 600mm lens I can focus much closer than infinity with a 14 inch (360mm) bellows!  It is equivalent to a 150mm lens with a 35mm format with a 15° picture angle.

Fisheye lens

• 37mm Fisheye Mamiya-Sekor C f4.5 - The only fisheye lenses that I have seen that are specifically made for large format cameras are converters. You screw them into the front of a normal lens (with an adapter, of course) and you get a fisheye effect. I've tried one of these and the results were not that good. In order to get the best results you have to stop them down all the way, which makes it difficult to focus and the results are still not acceptable. The edges are very fuzzy even with a top-notch normal lens.  Here is a sample with the aperture wide open.  It's good for a laugh, anyway.

  
  
  Moving right along, REAL fisheye lenses come in two "formats". The first are full-frame fisheyes which cover the entire film format. The others are circular fisheyes which create a circular image on the film. Actually, the full-frame fisheyes are really circular fisheyes but the image is so large that only the central portion falls on the film. Most full-frame fisheyes have lens shades on them to cut out extraneous light. But if you remove the lens shade you can use these lenses on larger format cameras as circular fisheyes. I once used this approach with the Minolta 16mm MC Rokkor f2.8 full-frame fisheye for their 35mm cameras. By removing the lens shade, I was able to use it on a 120 film holder -- as a circular fisheye. Of course I had to create an adapter, but it worked great until it was stolen.

  
  
  
  Since I wanted a fisheye lens on my 4x5 cameras, and no one that I know of, makes that I decided to become creative. I looked at various medium format cameras, but most did not make fisheyes, and those that did had the shutter in the camera. I needed one with the shutter in the lens. The 37mm fisheye for the Mamiya RB cameras came to mind. This is very large (three by four inches) and very heavy (almost three pounds), you have to figure out a way to attach it to a lensboard, but the results are superb. It is multi-coated and has nine elements in six groups. On the rear you can put on 40.5mm filters. I got step up rings to 77mm - my standard - so I can put any type of filter on the fisheye.
  
  I discovered that the rear of the Mamiya 37mm fits almost perfectly over the light shield ring on the Wista lensboard. I epoxied the lens to a 77mm filter ring and then epoxied the filter ring to the front of the lensboard.  I then covered the seams with black silicone sealant.  I, of course, had to first drill out the lensboard to the width of the filter ring. Then I cut off the short, built-in lens shade on the front of the lens. The only "problem" for me is that the fisheye is now centered on the lensboard while all of my other lenses are slightly off-center as they should be (about 10mm lower than center). That's not really a problem though because the Toko Nikki II and the Toko FL-452 allow for up to 75mm drop on the front standard.  I just drop the front standard 10mm when the fisheye is used to get the image in the center of the film -- easy to see on the ground glass. The f4.5 aperture of the Mamiya lens makes the image very bright and clear. The circular image, when focused at infinity, almost reaches to the edge of the film frame, so if I do close-ups with this lens, the image will be too big to get a full circular image on the film. You can get a full-frame image, at any distance, simply by cropping on the darkroom easel.   This lens is equivalent to an 8mm lens with a 35mm format.
  
  Here is an short article that I wrote about the details with several pictures.  It is in ADOBE format so you will need some software that can read it.  It is at www.subclub.org/fujinon/gonefishin.pdf.

Macro and Micro lenses

• 180mm Fujinon A f9.0 (on left camera) -- This tiny marvel is an APO process/macro lens optimized for 1:5 to 1:1 magnification, but which gives great results at any distance. With a design of six elements in four groups, and EBC multi-coating, the angle of coverage of 70 degrees and an image circle of 252mm gives you plenty of room for movements -- at any distance.  It is equivalent to a 45mm lens with a 35mm format.  For a 4x5 lens it is extremely small and lightweight.  With my maximum bellows extension of 360mm, I use it for magnifications from 1/5X (1:5) to 1X (life-size) -- 4x5 inches.

Due to the limit of my bellows -- 360mm -- I can only get to 1X (life-size) with my 180mm Fujinon, so I revert to shorter focal length lenses (below) -- which don't have a typical, large format, threaded-shutter lens mount.  So I use an Agfa Polaroid Prontor shutter in combination with my short focal length macro/micro lenses.  The Prontor shutter has a common, #1 (40mm) front thread, but it lacks an aperture -- something that most large format shutters incorporate.  This means two things.  First, it's much thinner than most large format shutters, and just as important, it's much less complicated and less expensive.  These can easily be found for under $20 in excellent condition -- without a lens, of course.  The lack of an aperture is not an obstacle at all because all of my macro/micro lenses have apertures.  The Prontor shutter has speeds from 1 second to 1/125, plus B -- and a PC flash connection, so it is perfect for close-up work.  The most unusual feature of the shutter is that it has TWO cable release connections.  The first operates the shutter for the speeds from 1 second to 1/125 -- and it is a very convenient, auto-cocking shutter.  The shutter is normally closed, and is opened by a press on the shutter release -- and when it closes, it is immediately ready for another exposure.  No cocking is needed.  The second shutter release has two purposes.  Pressing a cable release in this connection opens the shutter -- until it is released.  This allows for viewing, composition, and depth-of-field examination.  And if a locking cable release is used, time exposures of any length are easy.

• 100mm Minolta Auto Bellows Macro Rokkor-X f4.0 -- (far left) Should I run out of bellows with my Fujinon 180mm, I simply switch to my Minolta 100mm. It was designed for use on a Minolta (or similar) 35mm bellows. It has five elements in four groups, multi-coating, a 55mm filter thread (on the front of its standard lens shade), half-click stops to f32.  The flange focal length is 85.5mm.  This lens can be put to good use elsewhere, like on a large format camera. All you need is an adapter or two. I have a Minolta-to-Leica (39mm screw) adapter for the lens, and a Leica-to-40mm adapter for the Prontor shutter (lower left). This lens was not designed for large format use, but as you focus closely the image field increases dramatically and 4x5" is easily covered. Despite being designed for 35mm film, with 185mm of bellows extension (1:1), it's image circle covers the 4x5 format -- at lower magnifications it will not, but it is still completely usable in that situation with a little cropping in the enlarger. I use it for magnifications from 1X to 2.6X.  It is equivalent to a 25mm lens with a 35mm format.

• 50mm Minolta Auto Bellows Macro Rokkor-X f3.5 (left center) -- Should I run out of bellows with my Minolta 100mm, I simply switch to the Minolta 50mm. Like it's longer brother, it was designed for use on a Minolta (or similar) 35mm bellows. It has six elements in four groups, multi-coating, a 55mm filter thread (on the front of its standard lens shade), half-click stops to f32. Flange focal length of 43.5mm.  It is equivalent to a 12.5mm lens with a 35mm format.  I use it for magnifications from 2.6X to 6.2X.

• 25mm Minolta Bellows Micro Rokkor-X f2.5 (right center) -- Should I run out of bellows with my Minolta 50mm, I simply switch to the Minolta 25mm. It's really a microscope lens, but the difference is that this 25mm Bellows Micro has an adjustable aperture, unlike most microscope lenses. It has six elements in four groups, and apertures to f16 with full f-stop clicks. It has multi-coating, but no front filter thread -- a small gelatin filter holder was available which attaches to the rear of the lens. Flange focal length of 11.2mm. Minolta originally used Leica microscope optics, but decided to make them themselves. This lens does not have a regular Minolta mount on the rear. Instead it has a normal RMS microscope thread that is 0.8 inches (20.32mm). In order to use the lens, I use an RMS-to-40mm adapter (lower right). You easily fill the 4x5 format and you get dramatic results. It is equivalent to a 6mm lens with a 35mm format.  I use it for magnifications from 6.2 to 13X.

• 12.5mm Minolta Bellows Micro Rokkor-X f2.0 (far  right) -- Should I, somehow, STILL run out of bellows with my Minolta 25mm, I just switch to the Minolta 12.5mm. It has a flange focal length of -7.5mm (that's correct, MINUS 7.5mm).  It is equivalent to a 3mm lens with a 35mm format. I use it for magnifications from 13X to 30X.

Soft-focus gear

I have three methods for making soft-focus images.  Each of them creates very different soft-focus pictures -- and in different ways.

#1 -- Soft focus filters:

The soft-focus filters I use are Minolta Portrayer Type S filters.  

Minolta made lots of filters, and their soft-focus filters are called "Portrayer" filters.  These are unlike any other soft-focus filters -- which typically just simply diffuse the image overall -- to a greater or lesser extent.  Minolta's approach was to use wave-optics -- using a special compound to coat glass in precise patterns and thicknesses.  They came in two styles and two sizes -- 55mm and 72mm.  They are multi-coated and have no effect on the exposure.  Their Portrayer P filters are designed for portraiture, and soften the skin tones, but little else.  They came in three strengths -- mild, medium, and strong.  Their Portrayer S filters are designed for scenics, and diffuse the subject while preserving overall sharpness.  They came in two strengths -- mild, medium.  A strong effect can be achieved by using both together.  You can see the effect either by looking through the filter, or better still, looking through the lens -- as the effect increases with the focal length.  The effect is not influenced by the f-stop being used.  I have the two 72mm Portrayer S filters -- which I can use on any of my large format lenses from 37mm fisheye to 600mm with step up & down rings.  While I don't use them with my 12.5mm and 25mm micro lenses, I can use them on the enlarger if I want to.

#2 -- Supplementary lenses (AKA Close-up filters):

The Portrayer filters soften the image overall, from center to edge, but to attain a more tapered softening of the image -- meaning sharper in the center and more diffuse toward the edges -- I switch to close-up filters, but I use these WITHOUT a lens on the camera.  

Since close-up lenses have a focal length of their own, they can be attached to many cameras -- all by themselves -- to create wonderful pictures with a romantic, pictorial, soft-focus effect. Since close-up lenses are usually either simple one- or two-element lenses (there are a very few three and four element versions!), the result is a very soft image, especially at the edges -- much like the three element Fujinon SF series of lenses (they made a 180mm, 250mm and 420mm) or the two element Rodenstock Imagon series of lenses (they made a 200mm, 250mm and 300mm). And just like the Fujinon SF and Imagon lenses, the soft effect from close-up lenses can be varied by adjusting the f-stop on the shutter -- and the change can be seen on the ground glass.  Stopped down, lower diopter filters produce surprisingly sharp results, while high diopter lenses produce extremely soft images with wide apertures.

I use adapters (step-up rings) on the front and rear of a Copal #1 shutter to create Verito-type lenses of various focal lensgths -- from 75mm to 360mm.  

From left to right are 55mm single-element close-up lenses (for the front of the shutter), a 55mm to rear Copal #1 adapter, a Copal #1 shutter, a 55mm to front Copal #1 adapter, and 55mm double-element close-up lenses (for the rear of the shutter).  These lenses are coated, but that's not very important in soft-focus work -- neither is the use of a lens shade.

#3 -- Pinholes:

For even more dramatic soft-focus effect, I pull out my pinholes.

Pinholes "lenses" are a little trickier to use than your typical lens, but they are well worth the effort. First of all, they are really not lenses at all, nor are they made by any major manufacturers. They are merely tiny, "needle" holes in paper, plastic or metal, that you can buy or make yourself. They have great depth of field due to their tiny fixed apertures, but the edges of the image are very fuzzy/blurry.  The best pinholes are laser pinholes in small, thin metal sheets. Because the holes are "cut" by a laser it has a very clean edge -- but these are also the most expensive. They don't usually come with a "focal length" designation. You are simply told the diameter of the hole. You use that to determine the focal length -- using a formula -- which is the point where the image will be the "sharpest". Then, knowing the focal length of the pinhole, and the diameter of the pinhole, you can calculate the f-stop.

My laser-cut, in aluminum, pinholes were chosen based on the shortest and longest extension of my camera's bellows.  They are:

• 75mm (AKA 75mm) f224
• 88mm (AKA 90mm) f231
• 118mm (AKA 120mm) f291
• 151mm (AKA 150mm) f329
• 185mm (AKA 180mm) f364
• 234mm (AKA 235mm) f409
• 289mm (AKA 300mm) f455

For my pinholes, I use 39mm (AKA, Leica) thread, metal lens caps (below). First, I drilled 1/4 inch holes in the middle of the lens caps, and then taped pinhole to the rear of the lens cap so that the pinhole is in the middle of the 1/4 inch hole in the lens cap.

I attach the pinholes to the camera by screwing them into a Leica-thread enlarging lens locking ring epoxied to an off-set #1 lensboard -- below.  I don't need a shutter because the exposures are so long, even with fast film, all I need is a watch.  A lens cap works fine to start and stop the exposure.  

I also expoxied a 77mm filter ring around the Leica-thread enlarging lens locking ring because I like to use typical, "contrast", colored filters, such as 25A (Red), O2 (Orange), etc. for B&W film.  But I can also use graduated filters, polarizers, even center neutral density filters to counteract, to some extent, the extreme light fall-off of pinholes.  And a lens shade can't hurt -- I guess!