portrait lenses

im interested of good portrait lense, can u give me some recommendations?
im interested in 50mm fix.

DA*55 1.4 - Designed for portrait on the Aps-c sensor... I'd love one!!

Your budget?

If you dont mind doing the camera settings and focusing yourself the smc m 50mm 1.7 I find a very nice lens.
Ian

What would you have to pay for one of these? £400 .. or more?!
84mm equiv FL ideal for portraits, and with f1.4 has to be perfect.

Rich S

I found on crop cameras 85mm suited me perfectly. On Pentax I use the 50-135 f2.8 for it's versatility. Come retirement, this year, I'll probably retire it and use the 70mm Ltd. which is good but too short for my professional style. Maybe the Tamron 90mm macro would serve you well, maybe me too also gives you an opening into the close up world.
David

That's a complicated question and you don't give enough detailed criteria for people to recommend just one lens, so most will just give you their favourite fl or lens ! Even though you mention a 50mm prime .. is that the only fl you'll consider ?

Are you talking about head shots (100 - 135), upper body (70-90) or full body (50) ? Studio or outdoors (in which case those FLs can be more flexible) ? MF or AF lenses ? Budget ?

Anyway, some ideas (you don't always need the sharpest lens(es) !) :-

50mm : one of Pentax's 50/1.7 (-), FA 50/1.4 ($), Cosina 55/1.2 ($$), 43 Ltd ($$), Helios 44 - 58/2 (-), 55 Ltd ($$$), SMC Tak 50/1.4($).

70-90mm : Sigma 70/1.4 ($$), 77 Ltd ($$$), Zeiss 85/1.4 ($$$), Samyang 85/1.4 ($), Sigma 85/1.4 ($$$), Jupiter 9 - 85/2 ($), Pentax 85/2 soft ($$) or you could also use the Tamron 90/2.8 macro ($, great bokeh).

100-135mm : Super Tak 105/2.8 (-), SMC Tak 135/3.5 (-), and macro lenses such as any of the Pentax 100/2.8s ($ - $$) or Sigma 105/2.8 ($$).

To say nothing of established portrait zoom lenses such as the Tamron 28-75/2.8 ($$) or Pentax 50-135/2.8 ($$$) ! ...... and a plethora of other excellent lenses !!

Going for about that used...

Check out images on the 'other forum' in the 'lens club'section

The classic portrait lens on film would be 85mm (so the equivalent would be the SMC Pentax-DA* 55mm f1.4) to 105mm (Equivalent would be SMC Pentax-DA 70mm f2.4 Limited) but some prefer 120mm (equivalent would be SMC Pentax-FA 77mm f1.8 Limited).

I used to use the 100mm on film but currently have the 77mm, but I am seriously thinking of selling that and buying the 70mm instead. It doesn't sound a lot of difference, but the shorter lens suits me slightly better and I would be back to the field of view of the 100mm lenses that I used to like very much.

I like my Pentax-F 50mm f1.7

Recently, my local club (Trowbridge Camera Club - shameless plug) ran an evening of studio portrait experience.
Backdrops,main and slave flashes, modelling lights, models, were all laid on - all we had to bring were bodies and lenses. Despite having two 50mm primes in the bag, I ended up using a lens that no-one has yet mentioned.
So, lets hear it for the Pentax-F 35-70 [loud cheers].
But seriously it is a really useful portrait lens. The zoom is just enough for precise framing, but not too long to lead to optical compromise.
Oh, I nearly forgot, cheaper than any good prime from the film days.
Geoff