Portrait lens

My freind has recently purchaced a K 100 D from from a forum member his main use for the camera will probably shooting portraits. I have given him a smc 1.7 50 mm lens however what would you consider for one starting out on digital photography. Im told the Tamron 90mm 2.8 is a good lens has any one further suggestions.

Regards Ian

For someone just starting out the kit 18-55mm lens is probably a very good choice. It covers the traditional portrait length at the long end and is also reasonable wide angle. It also focuses close.

After practising for a while with the standard zoom it will become apparent what direction future lens purchases will need to take. Lots of lenses are good lenses, but they all have particular purposes.

I sometimes use the D-FA100 for portraits but it often depends on the space I'm shooting in... My house is small so it doesn't get used here...

I'll assume your friend has the 18-55 kit lens and you say you've given a fast fifty... So the lens I'd recomend is the 'Pentax-F 35-70mm' ... It's cheap, sharp and at a useful focal length for portrait. You should find one on the auction site for less than £40.

It also has a close focusing (macro, without really being macro) ability at the 70mm end that imo gives it a little bit more usefulness (or fun at least)

18-55 much too close for portraits IMO, I mainly used a 70-200 in Canon for sit down or H&S portraits and the reason I wanted the 50-135 is it will act as a great general wedding lens and portrait at the 135mm end, I like to be at least 12' away and when using 3 lights 15'+.

It's a matter of taste and style of course, but for full frame 35mm the classic portrait lens id the 85mm f/1.4, the APS-C equivalent being the 55mm f/1.4.

The 70-200mm that many yearn for is of course the 50-135mm in APS-C.

Totally agree with DaveHolmes.
The Pentax-F 35-70mm is a great lens for portraits on any of the K-digitals.
I will go further - it is the "always on" lens for my K20; there are others in the bag, including an M50/1.4, but the 35-70 takes some beating for an all-round choice.
Geoff

So do I.
I have now tried some other lenses , but I believe the F-35-70
is extremly suitable for portaits and as an all round lens.
And it costs very little.

Regards, Horst

DA 70mm f2.4

For someone starting out? Really?

It's a lens I want for sure but...

A mint used one would not be much more than the 90mm macro he is thinking about already. Edit: (actually scrub that, I must have got mine very cheap judging from prices I just looked at)

I went out last night to buy a lens off someone who had just started out ... his kit was a Canon 5D MKIII, a 70-200mm f2.8 IS MKII L, a 100mm f2,8L macro, he was just about to buy a 24-70mm MKII f2.8L and other assorted bits and bobs.

K55 f/1.8 or the Super Takumar 55 f/1.8 like the one i'm selling . 55 * 1.5 = 82.5 which is 'Portrait' territory, depends on the face also of course . Both of the above can be picked up for relative peanuts and pound for pound demolish the kit lens or any of the old zooms in the returned image. Plus your friend will also learn all about exposure, manual focussing, composing the shot, etc, etc.

I would echo what Robbiec has said above about the K55 F1.8. What a lens this is - super sharp and wonderful rendering of colour and bokeh. I would also consider something like a SMC Takumar 135mm F3.5 if you want one at the longer end. I did a shoot last year and this was the lens I used the most - it rendered the models in a very flattering way (example posted below, shot wide open at F3.5). This lens cost me £22 so it is an excellent 'starter' and one to hone your manual focussing skills on. BTW, with this lens you'll need an M42 to K mount adaptor, quite cheap on ebay.




Finally, although it's not a 'fast' lens, don't rule out the Pentax 55-300; you can buy the DA L version for about £150 brand new and it's a stonker of a lens for that money. The portraits I've shot with the 55-300 have turned out great.

Regards
David

Thats a really nice portrait David. Is the takumar similar to the M 135mm 3.5...

Hello Gary, I'm not sure if the Takumar 135mm F3.5 is the same optically as the M version. I would doubt it as there's a good few years between them, but I know someone on here will have the answer. What I do know is that the Tak 135 F3.5 is a very sharp lens that is great wide open and rivals the K135 F2.5 (IMHO) for image quality. Clearly it's not as fast, but I struggle to use the K135 at its widest aperture as the DOF is so narrow it's difficult to nail the focus.

For around £20 to £40 I think the Tak is hard to beat, if you can live with the M42 to K adaptor (mine is fixed permanantly with the spring clip removed) and also with the fact that it's a MF lens.

Best wishes
David