Portraits

[sdgmusic]

First off I want to thank everyone for always helping me out.

Given the choice what lens would you use at a portrait shoot:

- Minolta 50mm f/1.7
- Sony 50mm f/2.8 Macro

I have heard that Macro lenses make awesome portrait lenses too. Myth or Reality? I am thinking about getting rid of my Minolta 50 1.7 and getting either a Sony 50 2.8 Macro or a 50 1.4. If I can use the macro for portraits then it's sold, because it is a more versatile lens correct?

Sean

 

[asfixiate]

50 1.4 is what I'd suggest. I'm a canon user and the 1.4 is what I'm probably going to be buying soon. I use 1.8 now. I Might even go with 24-70 L, or 24-105L honestly. You have the minolta now? What's wrong with that?

I'm not very familar with that equipment but I love my 50mm lens even though its a cheap build. Very fast and very good with light.

 

[christopher walrath]

The 1.7 will give you better light if wanted and the macro would be useless as the magnification would not be to useful in portraiture.

 

[keith204]

If you want a macro lens, that will also do portraiture well, then the 50 f/2.8 macro will do fine.

However, the 50 f/1.4 wll do better for portraits.

 

[JerryPH]

You don't NEED a fast lens in portrature and the focal point of the lens you use depends on space. If you are outside, you can use a 70-200 on a cropped sensor with a lot of room. In my home studio, my 30mm barely gets me a face in the room I have... my 18-50mm Sigma is almost mandatory if I want 1/2 to full body shots.

Good strobes and a deeper DOF to avoid blurring ears, noses, necks and what not are usually acheived between F/5.6 and F/8... so putting the lens at F/1.4 is a recepie for a bad shot (GENERALLY SPEAKING!)

 

[Judge Sharpe]

Portrait lenses used to be fairly soft so as to not emphasise any blemishes. I 35mm I have found that 135mm provided just the DoF and a certain amount of foreshortening needed to do portraits. I am not sure what a 50mm lens on a dslr corresponds to but it should be narrow enough to work for portraits. Your lighting will of course depend on the speed of the lens and the film speed- asa or iso as it is known now.
This most likely does not tell you a darn thing but sometimes you have to put up with the ramblings of old men.
Judge Sharpe