which lens is the best portrait lens?

[gary_brown2]

In the forums opinion, which lens is your favorite portrait lens.

Even if you don't own it, but envy it! I've been using my 50 cron and

am thinking of a 75 or 90 ???????? Thanks Gary

[charles barcellona www.bl]

the favorite is what I have - 90m-elmarit

 

its smallish size (compared to say, the 90m-summicron) lets people be more at ease

[remi_lemarchand]

Nikon AI 105 2.5

[Rob F.]

A 90 Elmarit or Tele-Elmarit would certainly be a nice choice. The TE is so compact, and I think less intimidating to the subject; as well as easier to have along. The 75 Lux seems like overkill, unless the portraits will be in dark restaurants, or you wanted to exploit the shallow DOF in your work.

[Sanford]

I second the 105mm F2.5 Nikkor. Opps, wrong forum.

[al_kaplan1]

First off, the above mentioned "wrong forum" 105 f/2.5 Nikkor is a great portrait lens which got it's start to fame with American photographers because it was made in Leica mount!

 

I like the 90mm original long chrome Elmarit. How can that lens be intimidating? The subject is only seeing the end of the same hood that fits the shorter Tele-Elmmarit, or the 135 Hektor, Elmar or Tele-Elmar.

 

I also like my Leica mount 85mm f/2 Nikkor, a much under rated optic. My all time favorite was fitted to my Visoflex IIs, a 150mm f/2.3 Astro Tachar. When it came to photographing a nice tight BIG HEAD picture this lens was gorgeous. It dissapeared during a break-in in '85, and they're really hard to find.

[Troll]

My best portraits seem to be always made with a 40mm Summicron. Strange!

[alfred_alfred]

105 nikkor/2.5 Leica screw mount. 90 Elmarit /2.8 M mount.

Both are excellent potraiture lenses interms of distance to subject and sharpness.

[geddert]

i like the 50cron at f2... in my opinion it has just the right amount of depth of field and sufficient viewing angle... my second choice is a 28mm lens.

[furcafe]

Zeiss 85/2 Sonnar.

[jati]

i second the 50 f2. next choice would be 35 f2. (my only 2

lenses!!) you can do damn near anything with those. im aiming

for a voightlander21 next though. :-)<div></div>

[jim_clifford]

I have just acquired the Noctilux and I love it as a portrait lens at f1... the shallow DOF is awesome!<div></div>

[james_.1]

Hmn...I like my 75 lux for sure. How's this portrait? 1/15th sec. @ f/1.4.

 

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[john_amiet3]

When making portraits, my lens choice is dictated by "how" I want to represent the subject. I should state that a lot of my portraits are not just classic head shots. I try to include some element or behaviour that adds to the character of the subject. Frequently, the lens ends up being a W/A rather than tele. My best recent portrait was using M6+35mm/f2.0. However, I lust after the Noctilux as it does have such a distinctive "footprint" that I really would like to use.

[terry_rory]

Contax (Carl Zeiss) 85mm f1.4 T* (AE or MM)

[fotografz]

There really is no one lens that's suitable for every face when doing head

and shoulder shots. I once did formal portraits of an entire company's

key employees, and used just about everything I owned. Heavier, full

faced people looked way better using a 35mm from a slightly higher

vantage point. It emphasized their eyes while down playing their wider

lower face. For some portraits I've even used a Contax 350/4 APO on a

645, which close focuses down to fill the frame with the head. My

personal favorites are the Contax 645 140/2.8 and 180 Soft Focus on a

Mimiya RZ Pro II ( based on the Imagon type lens with different inserts

to vary softness).

 

I guess the standard Leica M solution could be either the 75 or 90.

However, I think the 90AA is to brutally sharp for most womens' faces

unless you gauss or filter the lens.

[frank]

My favourite lens for indoor portraits (avallable light) is the

Summicron 50 wide open or just a little stopped down. (If light is

very poor my CV 50/1.5 Nokton does a great job.) Second

favourite lenses are the Summilux 75 and the AF-Nikkor 85/1.4.

[dan_brown4]

50mm Summicron. When I bought my 90, I thought I'd use it for

portraits, but I usually reach for the 50 and move in close, I like

that style better. The 90 actually gets used for sports and other

telephoto-only applications.

[alain_besancon]

I agree with Marc about the 'Cron 90 Apo Asph which I use.

Alain

[cosmo_genovese]

105 Nikkor f/2.5 followed by the 180 Nikkor f/2.8 AF EDIF (which I only use on "manual"; I don't have any autofocus Nikons).

[doug herr]

This is a no-brainer: the pre-APO 90mm Summicron-R. Gentle sharpness, great color rendition and bokeh, and R so you can see how much is out of focus.

[albert knapp md]

The 100mm APO f/2.8 for my R8 and the 90mm f/2 for my M7.

Both lenses are very sharp and have loanded me in hot water

with several vain females, but c'est la vie.

[msitaraman]

I've been using the Cosina Voigtlander 75/2.5 quite a bit lately. It is very much a 'portrait' length, and is conveniently small and light, only slightly bigger than the 50 Summicron if you put them side by side without lens hoods. It has edged out my 90 Elmarit M.

 

It is also an inexpensive way, especially used, to find out whether you can make do with 75, rather than 90 for this length.

[dante_stella]

In terms of bang for the buck, the 105mm f/2.5 LTM Nikkor. If you have a

Nikon SLR, the 105/1.8 has exactly the same look and is a stop faster.

 

If you have to "settle" for a Leica product (just kidding), the 80/1.4 Summilux-R

is pretty hard to beat. Fantastic.

[andrew_hall1]

Christopher: with its hexagonal diaphragm, I don't think my Zeiss 85mm Sonnar (for the Contax SLR) is a likely candidate. ;-)