What's your favorite portrait lens?

[vanylapep]

Please share, I'm looking for new toys

[LucisPictor]

Depends on the camera.

Nikon Df: Nikkor-H 1.8/85

Fuji X-T1 / X-E2: Pentax-A 1.4/50 or Nikkor-S.C 1.4/50 or Nikkor-S.C 1.2/55

Leica M8: Voigtländer Heliar 2.5/75

Nikon D7000: Nikkor AI 1.8/50

Pentax K100D: Pentax-A 1.4/50

For µ4/3 I really like the M.Zuiko 1.8/45.

[Aanything]

Zeiss planar T* 1.4/85 for Contax slr

[Humulus]

Jupiter 37A 135mm f/3.5
Cyclop 85mm f/1.5
Zenitar-M 50mm f/1.7
SMC Takumar 50mm f/1.4

[Billou]

Pancolar 80/1.8. Compact, relatively light, good 3D and my favorite bokeh.

[thebbm]

contax planar 50mm & 85mm 1.4
olympus zuiko 85mm f2

[rbelyell]

i canno argue with the zeiss plana 85/1.4, but my favorite is the zeiss biometar 120/2.8 for P6 mount, adaptable to pretty much any slr. to me its the perfect outdoor FL and gets you in tight. indoors i really like my new leica summarit 75/2.5 and my old zeiss biotar 75/1.5 exakta mount. all 3 lenses have tons of 'pop' and the most subtle bokeh.

[Dazey]

My favorites
Nikkor 85mm f1.4 AF-D
Leica 90mm summicron
Zeiss 50mm f1.5 sonnar zm

[AMDBill]

THE lens is H40/H40-2

if not , FAT BIOTAR 75/1.5 OR TAKUMAR 85/1.9 (better f1. ,beroflex 135/f1.8 and the very discussed : the plastic one , it s named samyang 85/1.4

and many other , like all fast 50mm under f2 ,and special attraction for my PORST 55/f1.2

I LOVE W-O SHOOTS WHITH TIN DOF

[SXR_Mark]

On m4/3 the m.Zuiko 45mm f1.8 (AF, sorry) and the humble Helios 44-2 on the Metabones Speedbooster. Seriously, the 44-2 on the SB is really nice wide open (makes ~40mm f1.4). It is more than sharp enough and has a very pleasant rendering. Actually, the 44-2 on its own is pretty nice, I would post pictures, but I only have portraits of family and I won't post them on the internet.

Mark

[Attila]

Most 85-135mm lenses just fine for portraits, my list is quiet long as favorite.
Carl Zeiss (Jena) Biotar 75m, Planar 85mm, Sonnar 100 and 135mm Pancolar 80mm

[RSalles]

For LF:
Voigtlander Heliar 340/4.5,
Voigtlander Apo-Lanthar 4.5/150,
Cooke 15a,
Kodak Aero-Ektar 2.5/178mm
Voigtlander Petzval > 10" until 1880.

For FF:
50mm:
Rollei Planar HFT 1.4/50
Leica Summicron 2/50
Zeiss Contax Planar 1.4/50

75mm:
CZJ Biotar 1.5/75
Voigtlander Color-Heliar 2.5/75

85mm
Rollei Planar HFT 1.4/85
Helios 40-2 1.5/85

135mm:
Jupiter 37A 3.5/135

[cooltouch]

Well, I don't have a long list, but I've had good luck with a few different ones.

For sure, my favorite is my Canon FD 85mm f/1.2 SSC Aspherical. I've also done well with my FD 85mm f/1.8, my Nikkor 105//2.5 and a long-departed Nikkor 135mm f/3.5. I do like the compression that longer focal lengths can provide, though. A couple of my favorite people shots were taken with a Canon FD 200mm f/2.8.

[Lightshow]

I've always liked the Canon 85/1.2 FD through EF v2.
Rokkor 58/1.2, I used it to shoot a friend, she just loved the shots, so did I, I had fun too.
Pentax 85's
Konica 85
Topcor 85/1.8 might be too sharp, for some situations, PP can fix that.

[Pontus]

Sony/Minolta 135 STF on FF.

[Oldhand]

I can only speak about the lenses that I have and use.
CZJ Biometar 2.8/80 or CZJ Biometar 2.8/120 on Nikon are very good
and Super Takumar 1.9/85 on my Pentax.
For those times when I am not the photographer - eg at weddings as a guest, I prefer something quick and AF as the shots will be transient and not under my control.
AF Nikkor 85mm f 1.8D is my lens of choice here.
OH

[pavko]

Canon FL 58/1.2; even misfocused shots are so pleasing that it is hard to part with them. Drawback of this lens is that you need to be close to the subject and not everyone is comfortable in such situation.

[newst]

I can't argue with any of the suggestions already provided. Some 'portrait' lenses that I enjoy using on the Sony A7 are:

Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 50mm f1.5
Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 58mm f1.2
Carl Zeiss Sonnar 85mm f2.8
Carl Zeiss Jena Biometar MC 120mm f2.8
Konica Hexanon AR 85mm F1.8
Pentacon (Orestor ) 135mm f2.8
Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm f4.0

[Nordentro]

A few of my chioce:

Sankor 105mm f/2.5 (cheap, creamy bokeh, sharp)
Nikkor-S 8.5cm f/2 (Classic rendering, nice bokeh)
Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 (Super fast, sharp at full opening)
Fujinon 75mm f/1.9 (Best 75mm C-mount I have tested, sharp corners)
Olympus Pen F 60mm f/1.5 (Fantastic pop, cover FF too)
Helios-40 85mm f/1.5 (Legendary swirl, nice character, warmer tone compared to 40-2)

[texsport]

Zeiss Biotar 58/2 (Exakta and OMD)
Nikon 135/2 DC AF(Nikon F4 & 5)
Noritar 80/2 (Rittreck,Warner,& Norita 66)
Fujinon 100/3.5 AE + Auto Up close up lens attachment.(Fujica 690)
Zeiss 180/2.8 (Pentacon Six)
Rodenstock APO Renar 240/9 (Graflex 4X5)


Texsport

[Big Dawg]

I use Pentax digital cameras mostly ( K7-KX-K10D) and usually go with a Pentax F series 50mm f/1.4 or a Vivitar Series 1 85mm f/1.4 lens for portraits. I have to say though that I've had pretty good luck with the Pentax 18-55 kit lens too.

[MartinCrabtree]

Dealing with humans in photography is something I've avoided. However I plan on doing a little this year just to see if I can do it well. So thanks for the thread. Nice easy research for me.

[cooltouch]

Martin, I was like you for a long time, but once I got over what mostly amounted to shyness on my part, I found I did okay at it.

Probably one of my two or three most favorite portraits, taken on a very windy and cold January day at Willow Springs International Raceway. This couple were corner workers at one of the race course's turns. I saw that they appeared to be fairly close friends by the way they were talking with each other, so during a lull in activities, I just walked up to them and asked if I could take their picture. I then asked if they could get a little closer together for a tight shot, and their hug was a spontaneous thing. Canon 200mm f/2.8 wide open

[papasito]

I like the forgotten jupiter 9.

I have no it. But if i see one i shall catch it, sure.

Horacio.

[Oldhand]