mamiya RB67 portrait lens?

Have bought an RB67 pro, I want to ge a portrait lens for the camera,

what is recommended.

I have seen some negative responses about the soft focus lenses,

would I be better of using a standard short telephoto with a softar

filter?

Howdy Grant,

Let me ask, do you plan to do tight headshots, 3/4 length, full body shots, what type of shooting distance do you plan for between you and the subject? if its indoors, you can easily measure this distance or pace it off in foot steps.

Do you plan to do more that one person in the shot?

i use the RZ and have used the 150 and the 180 for portraits. the longer tele's give you a more flattering PERSPECTIVE and won't distort the caracteristics of the face that a short lens like maybe the 65 would. i would guess that the responses that you'll get vary between the 110 for group shots all the way up to the 250 for extremely tight head shots. forget the soft focus lenses (see the archived mamiya responses in this section). The heliopan soft filter is a nice one, or just go to your local flower or fabric shop and pick up some black toulle lace, fold a double layer over the lens and secure it tightly with a rubberband (also in the archived responses) don't forget to allow about a third of a stop for each layer.

if you go to www.keh.com you can find some nice lenses for your needs and fair prices. their grading system is very conservative and honest.

send some more details...

m.

I use the 180mm lens for portrait work with a diffuser filter. I have no experience of the soft-focus lens but I prefer a conventional lens since I can use it for other purposes.

You can use the 150SF lens for straight work. It is pretty sharp from f11 down. However, I now use my 180 much more often.

Grant,

 

I have a Mamiya RZ67 and use the 250mm lens for portraits. Usually I shoot at f16 in the studio. For a head and shoulder portrait f16 keeps the face very sharp. I get a fairly smooth look on a painted, textured background if it is 10 feet behind the subject.

 

Brooks Short

I have an RB with the 180 and I like it a lot. It's very sharp and has a good working range and control of depth of field.

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/108637&size=lg

I think after reading previous posts and the answers to this one I will forget about the soft focus lens and stick with my trusty softar filter.

 

Thanks to everyone for replying

G'day Grant

I've got an RB67 Pro-S. The guy I bought it from was a portrait photog with 40 years in the business. The standard lens that came with my unit was the 127mm, which is by Mamiya's standard a good general lens, but essentially a perfect portrait lens. The 127mm is a beautiful lens and I have no problems with it being too soft. Mind you, each lens will need a test roll put through it as they are all going to be different at the end of the day. Hope this helps...:D

 

Syd

Grant,

 

I use 3 different lenses on my RZ Pro II. A 180 Short Barrel

which allows use either with its extender for normal work or with

the shift adapter for control of depth of focus; a 210 APO that is

way to sharp for portraits except for shooting smooth skinned

babies ( softar I or II required); and my favorite the soft focus 180.

The latter comes apart and allows you various levels of diffusion

via slip on rear element diffusion caps like the ones made for

view cameras. It is very sharp when no diffusion cap is in place.

It is very diverse in levels of control using the caps in

combination with f/stop choice. A lot of people don't bother to

experiment with these combinations and write off this great lens

idea. Check it out. It isn't like the soft focus lenses for 35mm.

Hi Grant,

This is a different approach but interesting non the less,

I use a 140mm Macro lens for portraits!!!

Yes, I know not the usual choice but because of this reason...

It is as sharp as the 180 / 150mm lens's, it has a similar perspective to the 150mm and here's the benefit...

It will allow me to take selective body parts for advertising work (close up of eyes, lips and teeth) to around 1/3rd life size.

Its also great for macro work !!!

Regards.

<p>A friend of mine is reading Annie Liebowitz "At Work," and said that Annie (who I think used an RZ67) loved the 150 for portraits. I don't know if there is more than one or anything, just thought I'd pass on the semi-useful information to this 6 year old thread.</p>