What lenses would be best for portrait work

As I said, the 50mm smc is a great lense for portrait work. You cannot go wrong. I am sure all users will agree on it's reliability.

Given that there is a huge selection of "50mm SMC" lenses, it might help the OP if you could narrow your recommendation to 1 or 2 specific lenses.

The ranges include SMCP, SMCP-M, SMCP-A, SMCP-F, SMCP-FA. Lenses within those ranges have maximum apertures of 1:1.2, 1:1.4, 1:1.7, 1:2, and 1:1.8 if you count the older 55mm.

That's a bewildering array of lenses to choose from.

PS: I corrected your spelling mistake. The word lens has no 'e' on the end.

I have a 50mm f1.7 bought second hand from eBay and to be honest, although the shallow DOF and speed of it is brilliant, I have been told by quite a few people who has seen photos taken with it that its not very sharp. The photos have been taken at around f8-f11, so right in the sweet spot, but even when enlarged, I tend to agree. There is a softness or a lack of focus and I am wondering if the lens has some kind of abberation in it. I am tempted to buy another, but I don't want the same thing to happen again. So, just beware where you are buying from and the quality you are getting. I am going to do a test back to back with the 18-55mm kit lens for sharpness, but the speed is a factor there....

I find that very difficult to believe as the 50mm 1:1.7 in it's various forms is one of the sharpest 50mm lenses you'll find anywhere.

There are other causes of lack of sharpness, camera movement and inappropriate settings for the scene to name two. Could one or both of these be the cause?

If a 50mm f1.7 made by Pentax isn't sharp, even wide open, then something is very wrong with the lens or the technique.

with respect I would suggest that if you aren't getting sharp shots with the 50 F1.7 then you are doing something wrong, or you have an extremely bad copy. Even the lowly 50 F2 is tack sharp at those apertures.

Hi guys

This is what I thought. I have posted images to another site and people have commented and I have even thought myself that its not completely sharp.

The images mainly have been taken in a studio, so good light. The images when hand held actually came out sharper than those taken when the camera was on a tripod when taking a few low light off camera flash shots and they looked very unfocused. So, I am thoroughly confused. I don't think my skills are THAT bad!

I am tempted to buy another one and see if there is a difference. I like the contrastyness of the 50mm, yet I have never been able to get the sharpness that I feel I should be getting. I feel that there might be something wrong with the lens, but I have checked it over and I can't see a mark on it or the functioning of it is excellent. Are there any tests I can do to check the sharpness?


Can someone have a look at these images and see what you think regarding sharpness please? Ignore everything else as they were practice.....

And sorry for hijacking the link!

http://www.ephotozine.com/u88758/gallery/1367172

http://www.ephotozine.com/u88758/gallery/1365341

http://www.ephotozine.com/u88758/gallery/1347068

http://www.ephotozine.com/u88758/gallery/1194317

http://www.ephotozine.com/u88758/gallery/1168712


Thanks for the feedback. This is very frustrating.

If you fix a newspaper to a wall and set up your camera on a sturdy tripod, focusing very carefully and making sure the camera is square to the subject, then you will be able to judge the sharpness at different apertures. Compare it to another lens that you like to give a more scientific result.

Use the 2 second delayed action to avoid camera movement of any kind.

The images you have posted are difficult to judge as the method of resizing you have used will also be a factor, as will the amount of Unsharp Mask given. If you aren't sharpening your images in Photoshop or similar that may be the problem. All digital images start off slightly soft.

If you don't use Photoshop then dial in +1 sharpness in camera instead.

Another point.... are you using the default focus screen? And have you checked the adjustment of the dioptre wotsit (very technical this)? I have found my eyes are not up to manual focusing on the K10/20. Much easier on the LX/MX/ME Super...

Also on a tripod turn the SR off - I have no idea why you do this but they say to.

Personally I test lenses by taking a photograph of a brick wall in good light so I can use a fast shutter speed. I usually test wide open as a first step.

John's suggestion is good as well but brick walls have ready made texture and don't move (often).

Mike

Hmmmmm food for thought. Will try the focusing test tonight. Thanks for that John. Will compare it to the kit lens and see what they are like.

I do apply sharpening in PS. It also depends on how much is needed to how much I apply. I knew that digital images initially are soft, so sharpen pretty much all my images. I don't want to over sharpen to avoid "halo-ing", but maybe I am not sharpening enough? Oh and I do use unsharp mask, but tend to try and avoid sharpening over 50%, just in case....

The resizing is also done in PS. The rules of posting on that site are that the image can't be more than 600x600px, so would definitely effect the sharpness. Mind you, I have had one or two blown up and printed to A4 size and they still don't have that "tack sharp" look to them and you see on other images.

I didn't realise you could dial in sharpness in camera though. I am using a K100D. Where would that feature be in the menu system?

Womble, how do you mean, default focus screen? I check the dioptre regularly as I tend to knock it quite a lot when putting it in my bag, but I didn't realise there was a focusing screen. Could you expand on this a little more please? This might be something I am missing and could be vital...

Thanks for all the info again guys. This is really very good stuff and much appreciated!

well at least, if they do then you have problems which are more pressing than lens sharpness!!

I use portrait lens a lot, and am happy with My MF Nikor 135mm Ai lens with K20D Body using a converter. The results are awesome, Its the sharpest combination i have seen with a great depth of bokeh.

The usual focusing screens are plain because they assume you will be using AF. You can buy third party screens from people like Katzeye that have focusing aids like split-screens and microprism collars (just like older MF cameras) that make MF easier. It all depends on what you are used to and how good your eyes are!

Best wishes, Kris.

Ah, ok, well, there isn't anything extra on the camera. How would I fit one of these screens as when doing low light OCF shots, it would definitely be useful! I shall look into this! I used to do a lot of film SLR photography back in the day, so not averse to a split screen focus method.

Thanks for that!