Cheap portrait lenses

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

1) Pentacon 135mm f2.8 (yes, I love to use for portraits)
2) Jupiter-9 85mm f2
3) Pentacon/Meyer-Orestegor 100mm f2.8
4) Kaleinar-100mm f2.8 MC
5) Nikon Series-E 100mm f2.8
6) Nikon-P 105mm f2.5 NON-AI
7) Takumar 105mm f2.8 (SMC or Super)
Cool

Vega 12B 90mm f2.8

any other recommendation? Lens must be under 100 EUR.

Laurence · Expire: 2016-06-19

I of course am enamored with the Jupiter9 as well. However, I find it interesting that you enjoy the focal length of the 135! I had always "heard" that 135 is not the so-called "optimum" for portraiture, but I guess it is, as usual, in the eye of the photographer!

This gives me impetus to use my old Tak 135/3.5 pre-set in portraiture, as I know it's not the sharpest lens out there; therefore it might serve very well as a portrait lens.

Atilla, do you "stand back" and take a more distant shot, or do you use the 135 to come in close to the head alone in the frame?

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

This is taken with Pentacon 135mm, sure for this focal length need to keep extra distance compare with real portrait lens.

http://www.pbase.com/hqdesign/image/69439309

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Yey, Biometars are good one, I wasn't impressed by 120mm old ones.I never tried Trioplan I not sure about that at all. Is anybody tried for portraits ?

Laurence · Expire: 2016-06-19

Regarding a "portrait" lens, I was able to get some very quick snaps of my father-in-law in one of his moments of lucidity (he is suffering from dementia, but when I can get him outside, he is MUCH better, thus the smile in this image). I basically bundled him up in my alpine clothing, and we head up the trail for a little ways. It is REWARDING to see him smile again. He is not only my father-in-law, but he is my friend. There is a lot to be gained from this particular generation.

My father is also suffering from the disease, but is farther along unfortunately, so I cannot get him out of his immediate environment. Needless to say, there is a lot of yo-yo-ing back and forth between them.

Anyway...all that aside, this is a portrait snapped with the Mamiya Sekor 55/1.4. Although my scanner does a relatively crappy job on 35mm film, this one shows some of the "personality" and sharpness of the Mamiya lens. The bokeh is actually quite nice, given that the branches in the background were very bold. The lens softened things down in a good way. Not bad at all for a $25.00 lens. I am looking forward to a scanner upgrade soon.

Atilla, I love your list of lenses!

Mamiya Sekor 55/1.4 @ f2.8
HP5
Developed in Rodinal @20C for 9 minutes, 49:1
Scanned and presented with no adjustments

Same image slightly sharpened with Unsharp Mask (27%/1.0/0)

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

I think the Trioplan cries out to be used for portraits.

-

Laurence · Expire: 2016-06-19

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Laurence this is one of the best portraits ever published on this forum.
It is so true. Really moving.

Leave the image unsharpened, it is better. It would be better instead to slightly deepen the blacks.

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Great portrait Laurence! Excellent!

Orio let we see we have a Trioplan Fun Club I hope somebody will try it, Carsten you have a perfect model always with you Smile

LucisPictor · Expire: 2013-12-03

It depends if I shoot indoors or outdoors and if I use my crop DSLR or a FF film SLR.

For outdoor shots, I prefer 85mm to 135mm lenses (sometimes even 200mm):

1) Nikkor-H 1.8/85 (Yes, I got this lens for under � 100,-)
2) Jupiter-9 2.0/85
3) Kaleinar-5N 2.8/100
4) Meyer Trioplan 2.8/100

1) CZJ Sonnar 4/135
2) Nikkor-Q.C 3.5/135
3) Jupiter-11 4/135
4) Jupiter-37 3.5/135
5) Weltblick 3.5/135
6) Tamron Tasei Kogaku 2.8/135 (not a brilliant lens, but very nice for portraits!)
7) Pentacon 2.8/135 (but only on 7th place, since the blades of my copy are slow...)

1) Telear-N 3.5/200
2) Jupiter-21M 4/200

For indoor shots, I prefer 50mm lenses (DSLR) and 85mm (film).

1) Nikkor-S.C 1.2/55
2) Rollei Planar 1.8/50
3) Pentax SMC-M 1.7/50
4) Auto Revuenon 1.4/55 (Tomioka)
5) Mamiya Auto Sekor 1.8/55
6) Helios-44-2 2/58
and a Canon EF 1.8/50 II Embarassed

1) Nikkor-H 1.8/85
2) Jupiter-9 2.0/85

At my EOS 350D indoors sometimes even 35mm lenses:
1) Leica Elmarit-R 2.8/135 (but you won't find that one under �100,-, I'm afraid.)
2) Nikkor-O 2.0/35

And these zoom lenses are also pretty nice for portraits:
- Soligor C/D Zoom+Macro 3.8-5.3/35-200 MC
- Tokina RMC II 4/80-200
- Tamron SP 3.8-5.4/60-300 MC 23A
- Soligor MC 3.5/70-220 Macro
(But the last two are really long and quite heavy...)

BTW, this one was shot with the Jupiter-9:

And this one with a 135mm, but I need to check which one.

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Laurence · Expire: 2016-06-19

Whoa! Thank you, Oria and Atilla! I wasn't expecting such comments!

Any technicalities aside, the reason I like this is because most of the time he is not "with our world". One of the fascinating (but also sad) things about brain dementia disease is that the person can "come out of it" for a while and be quite lucid indeed.

This was one of those moments, and he so enjoyed the beauty and thrill of being able to walk among the trees on a cold day, that he cried with joy for himself not too long after the image was taken. So...the genuine smile, with no compromises or self-effacement on his part, is a treasure for me.

And then, within an hour, he was back to "another place" again in his mind. Sad

Thanks again. This was an emotionally moving day for me.

Laurence · Expire: 2016-06-19

LucisPictor wrote: 5) Weltblick 3.5/135

I have not heard of this lens. Do you have any images? I would love to see them.

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

I don't take many portrait shots but, as I understand it, on a 35mm film camera the "perfect" focal length for portraits is 85-105mm. There are two reasons: it provides the most suitable distance between the model and the camera for filling the frame and it tends to "flatter" the model's features and avoids appearing to distort their probosci and any other facial appendages. Smile

The question I'm puzzling is this: if you use a crop sensor DSLR, the ideal focal length for filling the frame at the same camera/model distance would be reduced to around 50-65mm, otherwise the model would appear too large in the frame with 85-105 lenses. But if you use this shorter length doesn't it make noses look larger?

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

For me 85mm the best focal length even if I have 2x crop camera and I really like less sharp lenses.

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

Laurence, I'm sorry I didn't see your portrait before I posted my message, otherwise I would have commented on it first. You can see in his eyes that he's enjoying this moment. He knows exactly who you are and what you're doing. You can play around with sharpness or contrast "till the cows come home" but this alone makes the picture a wonderful memory for you.

I had exactly the same experience with my grandmother, who thought she was back in her childhood nearly all the time. I know the problems you are having to get through and I feel for you.

LucisPictor · Expire: 2013-12-03

Helios · Joined: 05 Jan 2008 Posts: 537 Location: East of France

I took near 10000 portraits last 10 years of the same model .... (Did you notice who ? )... Mr. Green

I cannot say the best results were obtained with a particular lens , cheap or expensive . One of my best (for me) was with a Minolta Xe-5 Body and a 35-105 Rokkor Zoom . Another with j-9 . Other with Tak 1,4/50 on Dslr . With Meyer Orestor 135 (recently!).
About 40 different lenses were used to take ten thousand photos (2500 digital) from the 35mm focal length (Noflexar 35 macro !) to 200 mm .
The most used : (and the winner is ....) Smc Takumar 1,8/85. Not common , not cheap today .
The cheapest : Industar-50-2 on Dslr (5� paid with the Zenit body)
Often smc tak 105 ,135 were used , 100/2,5 Rokkor , Meyer Orestor 2,8/100 (on edixa body) , Czj Sonnar 135, Russian J-9,j-11,j-37.
One of the best absolute value for the price ever : Pentacon / Meyer 2,8/135 .
Followed by the numerous japanese brands from 5/6 manufacturers : Cosina,Chinon,Sun/Sigma ,Tokina, Kiron ,Tamron. Sold under Vivitar,Soligor , Revuenon, Porst , etc, Eyemik , ...In these ranges , there are treasures to discover , and often the lack of contrast , color saturation and sharpness of these lenses at full aperture can be appreciated as great features to take portraits pictures. One of the bests : tamron 2,8/135 bbar !
And don't forget the homebrew lenses ... Lens hacking is very interesting , and the most of time the cost is near Zero... Basic hardware : bellows and extension tubes sets. Then old "unrepairable" foldings with marvelous lenses : Zeiss Tessar , Schneider Xenar , Rodestock, Steinheil (Agfa Apotar,Solinar lenses) , Voigtl�nder (Let's try a Skopar 105 !)
Old TV camera Lenses
The best lenses in terms of Sharpness, color saturation , contrast are not easy to take "classical" portraits I'd like to possess one day the famous Pentax FA 1,4/85mm , or the most unknown Kinoptik Apochromat . I'll surely try them in portrait picture but .... You can easily add contrast , but "a contrario" , it's very hard to remove some.

Industar-50 . Home-made sunshade - black film canister -(very important)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1439/1411338137_25dc7b120e_b.jpg

Helios · Joined: 05 Jan 2008 Posts: 537 Location: East of France

Hey ! This Weltblick seems to be very,very close to my preset cosinon 3,5/135mm !
Paid more for p&p (great britain) than the lens itself (5� if i remember) . With original Box ans user manual, brand new !
And results were largely at the level of chinon, tokina, vivitar ...

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

I am glad about your opinion one of my favorite lens is Pentacon 135mm even if I have many more valuable lenses.

Laurence · Expire: 2016-06-19

Laurence · Expire: 2016-06-19

Helios! GREAT post! Lots of information!

LucisPictor! Thank you! Hope you find a few snaps from the Weltblick.

poilu · Expire: 2019-08-29

very nice portrait Laurence, no need of sharpening