So one day over at Bausch & Lomb, they sat down and decided it was about time to give TTH's portrait triplets a good kick in the nuts. Those lenses had been successfully annoying the competition since 1898.

In the previous article, I pondered and mused, among other things, about how only a few of my portrait lenses can currently challenge the Hermagis Portrait and the Fast Worker in the ring without immediately throwing in the towel. On paper, the Dallmeyer 3B seemed like an evenly matched opponent - so how did it turn out? Did...

What makes a portrait lens truly great? What should we highlight, what combination of features should it have? Let's subtly ignore weight and size and cut straight to the essentials - so first and foremost:

It's almost become a mantra to kick off my articles with lines like, "The only lens in the universe", "A ridiculously rare contraption", or "Rarer than hen's teeth." What can I say? I wallow in the extraordinary, feeding the illusion of my own uniqueness. Enough excuses, though - let's dive into today's lens. A piece so outrageously...

Those who remember my previous articles will surely recall my adventures in the land of ping pong shows and papaya salad, where I started with a muttering about dragging medium-format gear to places where I could barely drag myself. Since then, however, my tendency toward self-punishment has progressed considerably, and I've had no qualms about...