With a new camera typically come new lenses. As far as I can tell, Joel used a single lens on his Press Graflex RB Super D, and that is the 152 mm Kodak Ektar lens this camera most often came with. (or a 190mm lens for the 4×5″ format Super D.)
Below an images of Dorothea Lange using a Graflex Super D in 1936.
As for the for him new Graphic View Camera, Joel used an 8 1/4″ lens (~210mm) most often.
There’s a sleeve with 4×5″ negatives though in the Jessica Fong Collection of Dardis negatives, prominently marked with “TEST 15 inch and 20 inch”. That’s a significantly larger focal length and falls in the mid to telephoto lens for a 4×5″ format.
A quick look at the negatives shows Joel in the bleachers at a COP football game. The date on the sleeve(s) is May 25, 1957, Pacific plays Cincinnati, Dick Bass is already a rising star.
Joel’s camera is firmly mounted on a tripod based on the vantage points in this 28 negative series.
What’s different though is the impression one gets from the game. It is not shot from the sidelines, but instead the images represent what a typical viewer sees while attending a football match.
I’m not showing all 28 negatives here, there are just too many shots that didn’t make it. Shooting telephoto means the need for precision, and the least amount of movement results in blurry images, it is a learning curve, even for Joel.
All by all, a quite different visual experience. I don’t believe Joel made it a habit to record matches like this, based on negatives I’ve seen of future matches, I’m pretty sure he preferred the direct action of the sideline photography.
Joel recorded the camera and lens settings on the side of the negatives, there’s still a bit of information left that is readable.
The lenses Joel tested on this day, were most likely mono-coated, this explains the excellent contrast in the images shown in this blog post.
Cheers !
Finding Joel Pahl Dardis 