Favourite portrait lenses.

[tony lockerbie]

Almost forgot, what on earth is a Dreamagon!?

 

[Ellenmarie]

Nikkor 85mm f1.8 .. love it.

 

[Nicole]

35mm - 50mm f1.4
35mm - 85mm f1.8
35mm - 105mm f2.8
MF - 75mm f2.8
MF - 80mm f2.8

 

[Claire Senft]

Nicole Do you own a camera that has a 75mm 2.8 available for it? How does it compare to your 80mm Hasselblad lens?

 

[Nicole]

Claire I rent a MF Pentax 645 every once in a while with a 75mm 2.8 lens, it's gorgeous! I can't compare the blad 6x6 80mm and pentax 645 75mm lenses, they are both very different, IMO.

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

I also vote in favor of the Nikkor 105mm f2.5 for portraits, but I must admit I have taken a lot of portraits with a Nikkor 50mm f1.4 with great results. I personally love the bokeh.

What would you experienced Nikkor fans recommend for an 85mm? There are so many to choose from.

Another question: I have never used a soft focus filter before. Sounds like something I'd like to experiment with. Can anyone recommend a good one for a reasonable price?
Ara

Depends on how you define "reasonable."

The new 85mm f1.4 Zeiss Planar in Nikon mount.

 

[jimgalli]

First, I have no business in this discussion as I don't do 35mm portraits. Couple of thoughts though. Don's shot with the Leica lens is simply gorgeous. Perfect. As is David's with the Kodak lens. What a grand idea that. The out of focus area in John's shots really trouble me. Bad .jpg or just really bad bokeh? Finally, any portrait is better than no portrait at all. You could spend a lifetime buying junker cameras on ebay and pointing them at people.

 

[joeyk49]

RokkorX 135mm f2.8

OK...its the only "portrait length" lens I have. I recently put my auto 35 with a zoom on a shelf, in favor of an Minolta X370 with Rokkor prime glass (a 50 and a 135). The experience is almost like turning on a light switch...

Now the Rokkor may be a little sharp for portraiture, but I plan to have a lot of fun with it anyway...

 

[df cardwell]

I wish had a better way of sharing images than this..

mrcallow's negs are so pretty you could weep,
gotta get the man a zillion dollar scanner

 

[Paul Sorensen]

I also don't really shoot 35mm, but I insist on mentioning my 180mm for my Mamiya RB67.

 

[jd callow]

I wish had a better way of sharing images than this..

mrcallow's negs are so pretty you could weep,
gotta get the man a zillion dollar scanner

Thanks Don. I also wish there was a better way to share images. The jpg's are overly sharpened (sorry) neg scans, the out of focus areas are wonderful (to my eye) when viewed as intended.

 

[JohnArs]

Here you see some pictures and the home of the Dreamagon:
http://www.dreamagon.com/sample.htm
Take care, Armin

 

[Simon E]

Olympus OM 85mm f2 - used by Jane Bown of The Observer (UK newspaper) almost exclusively, to marvellous effect, for over 30 years.

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

The SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4 gave me great portraits of my furry friends with its lovely bokeh and very shallow DOF. The J9 seems to be a new keeper, but I haven't tried it on portraits yet.

 

[Roger Hicks]

The lens comes quite low on my list after the subject, the lighting and the materials (film, dev, paper dev), but I like the 90/4 Dreamagon, the 90/2.2 Thambar, the 90/2 Summicron, the 75/2 Summicron, the 135/1.8 Porst/Soligor, the 58/1,4 Nikkor, the 200/3 Vivitar Series 1... anything I've got from 58-200mm, really, depending on the effect I want. Or with a full-size camera (8x10 inch) , a 21 inch (533mm) f/7.7 Ross at full aperture.

Look at the 'About Us' section in www.rogerandfrances.com and you'll see a Dreamagon shot of my wife Frances Schultz in black and white. Or if you subscribe to Black & White magazine (the UK version) that's the picture they use as her contributor shot. As far as I recall, Marie Muscat-King's portrait of me in my weekly Amateur Photographer column (also in the 'About Us' section) was shot with a 70-210/2.8 Apo-Sigma.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[MattKing]

Olympus OM 85mm f2 - used by Jane Bown of The Observer (UK newspaper) almost exclusively, to marvellous effect, for over 30 years.

I love my Zuiko 85mm f/2.0, although I don't know how often I am able to use it to "marvellous effect"

Matt

 

[benjiboy]

Jane Bown shot an 80th birthday portrait of the Queen, I saw recently (they are the same age) that knocked me out, it's really worth seeing if you can, she is a master of available light portraiture, and I have admired her work for years in The Observer, her style is what I aspire to, but will never achieve.

 

[df cardwell]

Everything about Ms. Brown seems just right.

Her Observer bio: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/specialreport/story/0,8224,212437,00.html

 

[catem]

Jane Bown shot an 80th birthday portrait of the Queen, I saw recently (they are the same age) that knocked me out, it's really worth seeing if you can, she is a master of available light portraiture, and I have admired her work for years in The Observer, her style is what I aspire to, but will never achieve.

I feel this way as well, Jane Bown has to be one of my most favourite portrait photographers. I admire her work and her art greatly, and most of all her attitude to her subjects to the practice of photography in general.

 

[Dorothy Blum Cooper]

When I do shoot with my A-1, I love using my 85mm 1.8. One of my favorite if not the favorite Canon lens I own!!

Here are a few from a recent session in Uptown New Orleans. All were shot with my 85.

http://www.dorothyblumcooper.com/Espinoza28.jpg

http://www.dorothyblumcooper.com/Espinoza50.jpg

http://www.dorothyblumcooper.com/Espinoza12.jpg

 

[Magnus W]

The Pentax SMC-M 85/2.0
I actually prefer this over the (reportedly) better Pentax SMC 85/1.8, at least for portraits.

-- MW

 

[Bjørn Joachimsen]

Carl Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 (Contax) at f/2. Amazing bokeh and sharpness!

 

[m_liddell]

I also don't really shoot 35mm, but I insist on mentioning my 180mm for my Mamiya RB67.

I agree!

Back on topic, I really like the nikon 105mm f/2.5 AIS.

 

[Gerald Koch]

A 135 focal length causes noticeable flattening of the facial features and I would not consider it suitable. Something close to 100 mm is a much better choice although anything from 85 to 120 mm is acceptable.

 

[Max Power]

My Jupiter 9 (85mm/f2) in LTM gives amazing results when mated to either the R3A or Zorki 4. I really love the softness and shallow DOF wide open. An amazing lens.

Kent