Lighting a lens

Note that I tried to put this in "Product Lighting" but that option wasn't available in the drop-down.

A group that I am a member of received a donation of a lens, knowing that they have absolutely no use for it but

hoping they can sell it. As I was on-site last week, and my wife will be back up there in two weeks, I

volunteered to get some shots of it they could use to help sell the thing.

The lens is a Linhof-branded Schneider Kreuznach 360/5.6 Symmar in a Linhof board. Yeah, it's a hulking monster,

almost makes me want to go out and buy an 8x10!

Because I don't expect to shoot many lenses in my career, I really don't want to spend half a day figuring this out.

I don't have a softbox, but I do have two shoot-through umbrellas, various reflectors and diffusers, at least a

half dozen heads, various clamps and jigs, and even one of those nasty light tents I could dust off.

Can anyone suggest an approach to start with? I'd like to give them some pretty decent shots so they have a

chance to get some funds out of this gem.

Van

Here's a good starting point, right in the forum that you posted in, Lighting Themes

http://www.photo.net/photography-lighting-equipment-techniques-forum/00Aif6

I do think it's a pity this forum doesn't seem to have any moderators now - when Brooks and I did it the Lighting Themes were much easier to find because posts wrongly placed there were moved.

My quick and dirty approach for shooting product photos when selling a photographic lens.

Throw it on a large sheet of white posterboard. Use one flash bounced off a white ceiling, with a collapsible diffuser

held CLOSE over the top of the lens. Then add off axis frontal fill with a shoot through umbrella or soft box. The ratio

of how bright the specular reflection on the lens is versus how brightly lit the body of the lens is can be dialed to

taste.

The key is positioning the scrim/diffuser over the top of the lens. The front elements of the lens typically "see" a 180

degree reflection, so I take the collapsible diffuser and fold it into a U shape to wrap around the side of the lens, then

hold it as close as I can get it while still keeping it out of the frame. You can watch the reflection in the lens to make

sure you aren't seeing the edges of the diffuser.

Angle of approaching view also has a big effect on how the different elements reflect the scrim/diffuser, so experiment

with this to get a pleasing effect.

The 360mm Symmar is a nice lens, but they are also fairly common on the used market. It's probably worth roughly

$600 if it is a Symmar-S, less if it is just a Symmar (non multicoated).

" I do think it's a pity this forum doesn't seem to have any moderators now - when Brooks and I did it the Lighting Themes were much easier to find because posts wrongly placed there were moved."

I agree, Garry. When we were moderators, we were the best ! #8^)

Van,

if you're looking for something like:

<a href="http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r181/epatsellis/caltar/?action=view&current=ebay0516.jpg"

target="_blank"><img src="http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r181/epatsellis/caltar/ebay0516.jpg" border="0"

alt="ebay0516.JPG"></a>

A simple scrim about 8-12" above the lens, with a single light source (position to ge the gradient you prefer) is

all it takes.

(I shot this on a product table, though a piece of white card would work just as well)

erie

Here's a shot I used when I sold my 8x10 Sinar F2 and Schneider 360mm Symmar S f/6.8 lens. (bought a motorcycle trailer)

Lighting was simple...medium softbox above, medium softbox camera right, fill card camera left and white bkgd lit separately by a single small softbox from overhead.

Since you don't have softboxes, you could use scrims.<div></div>