Portrait lens for M8

[B&W]

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Wondering what lens that will be the perfect portrait lens for M8 and strobes

 

Do you have any suggestions?

[carstenw]

The lenses people typically love for portraits are: 50 Lux, 50 Lux Asph, 50 Noct, 75 Lux, 90 Cron, 90 Cron Asph. Many also like the older Summicron 50. Guy M. uses the 135/3.4. Of course, others are also used, but these are the common ones.

 

I love the classical look of the 75 Lux myself. The 50 Lux would have a similar look. The Noct is unique, but can have a somewhat strained bokeh at times. The 90 Cron Asph is very sharp (as is the 135/3.4), and may not be flattering to all subjects.

[egibaud]

I would avoid 1.4 lenses as they do give some back focus problems, for portrait you do want to have the right focusing sport, not an ear instead of the eye.

 

I love my Cron 50 and feel that my Elmarit 90 is too much for close portrait. I wanted a cron 75 but I've just ordered a CV 75 to give it a try. If you want just one lense I would give a try to the Cron 50 (50 X 1.3 = 66)

 

Eric

[jcbjr]

Wondering what lens that will be the perfect portrait lens for M8 and strobes

 

Do you have any suggestions?

 

i really like the 50mm f/1.4 and 75mm f/1.4 for portraits. sometimes wide open, sometimes stopped down a touch. agreed that you need to be careful wide open, but if your camera is properly focus-calibrated you should be okay wide open. it's nice to have option with the lux's.

 

john

[B&W]

i really like the 50mm f/1.4 and 75mm f/1.4 for portraits. sometimes wide open, sometimes stopped down a touch. agreed that you need to be careful wide open, but if your camera is properly focus-calibrated you should be okay wide open. it's nice to have option with the lux's.

 

john

 

My M8 is spot on (after a trip to Solm) but my 50 lux is not

Scheduled to go to Solm next week

 

I'm thinking about 75 Apo-cron, 90 Elmarit or 90 Apocron for portrait. The 50 lux does not offer space between the me and the portrait.

[misha]

if $ is not a factor, 75 cron asph is probably your best bet.

i have 50 pre-asph lux and like it. something was back focusing, and it turned out to be the camera which was quickly corrected in NJ.

my issue with CV 75 is the minimal focusing distance of 1m vs. .7m on leica lenses.

it was probably the main reason why i never felt comfortable with the TE.

[Guest guy_mancuso]

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Been using a 135 apo lately also. i like long lenses for portraits

[lars_bergquist]

What do you mean by 'portrait'? The answers above make it clear that you can do portraits with everything including wide angles. It all depends on your intentions. Just obey the Rule: never go closer than 2 meters/6 feet. This holds irrespective of focal length. They all give the same perspective (i.e. image geometry). The focal length does just determine the cropping. The reason why some people think that wide angles distort is that the wide cropping of the subject makes some photographers (well, button pressers) to go inside that 2 m limit. Then, even a 135 gives you big noses and invisible ears.

 

The old man from the Age of Hans Holbein (well, nearly ...)

[misha]

What do you mean by 'portrait'? The answers above make it clear that you can do portraits with everything including wide angles. It all depends on your intentions. Just obey the Rule: never go closer than 2 meters/6 feet. This holds irrespective of focal length. They all give the same perspective (i.e. image geometry). The focal length does just determine the cropping. The reason why some people think that wide angles distort is that the wide cropping of the subject makes some photographers (well, button pressers) to go inside that 2 m limit. Then, even a 135 gives you big noses and invisible ears.

 

The old man from the Age of Hans Holbein (well, nearly ...)

you are right, but being closer is probably more important to me than mathematics

[Guest Olof]

I would avoid 1.4 lenses as they do give some back focus problems...

 

 

I use the 50 1.4mm asph, and have no problems with back/front focus. I thing thats more a problem with the 35mm range, but these lenses are not typical portrait lenses.

[jsjxyz]

My M8 is spot on (after a trip to Solm) but my 50 lux is not

Scheduled to go to Solm next week

 

I'm thinking about 75 Apo-cron, 90 Elmarit or 90 Apocron for portrait. The 50 lux does not offer space between the me and the portrait.

Do you mean that your M8 is focusing right with the 75 lux now? My 75 lux works OK when stop down to 4.0

 

Jerry

[jackal]

the 75 cron would be as good as useless for portraits as its very very sharp

similarly the 90 apo would also be a bit of a joke

 

50mm does not give you the correct perspective on the face

 

also, for portraits you want a very good background

 

75 lux it is then

[Guest guy_mancuso]

Richard not sure i agree with that , things can always be worked softer too.

 

here is a 75 lux and a 135 apo

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[Guest guy_mancuso]

Here's a 90 apo and it depends on what your shooting and how you want things to looks. the only real rule to follow is go longer than 50mm other than that go by what a lens will do. The 135mm i like because i like compression in the face. But if you shoot these Crons and Apo's yes the images will be sharp but so will a lux and at F4 on a Lux it starts to be a razor blade. Many times i will just add .5 gaussian blur overall or do selelctions to different parts of the face. Don't let anyone kid you these lenses are sharp as hell lux is just as sharp as the crons given you stop down to a certain point. let's face it you did not buy leica to have soft images but if need that look than you can do it wide open and furher steps after the fact

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[Guest guy_mancuso]

You may not notice it here but i did soften it globally a little .5 gaussian blur

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[AGeoJO]

the 75 cron would be as good as useless for portraits as its very very sharp

similarly the 90 apo would also be a bit of a joke

 

If it is too sharp, it can easily be softened on PS but if you want it really crisp to show characters, then oversharpened but actually softer images do not look too good.

 

 

50mm does not give you the correct perspective on the face

Unless it is tight head and shoulder portraits, 50mm FL is actually great on the M8 with its 1.33X multiplication.

[dfarkas]

the 75 cron would be as good as useless for portraits as its very very sharp

similarly the 90 apo would also be a bit of a joke

 

50mm does not give you the correct perspective on the face

 

also, for portraits you want a very good background

 

75 lux it is then

 

I actually prefer these very sharp lenses for portraiture. I'd much rather start with the best possible image in camera and do blemish removal in PS, than start with a soft picture and try to make it sharp later. Not to say that many Leica lenses would give you a soft image, but I do tend to prefer the 75 APO and 90 APO for these applications. Both are phenomenal lenses. In the R line, I routinely use the 90 APO and the 100 APO Macro for headshots.

 

As to "portrait lenses".... I believe that you can use almost any lens for effective portraits. Here are some examples from the DMR.

 

The first three are with the 100 2.8 APO Macro. I often hear this lens is "just too sharp for people." The next is the 28 2.8 (notice no distortion). The last is the 19 2.8. Yes, you can use wide angles, too!

 

One of the things I teach in my lighting workshops is to let go of the idea that you "must" shoot with X lens at Y aperature from Z position. Photography is about creativity. The reason we have so many lenses to choose from is that each gives a certain look and feel. I'd encourage everyone to experiement as much as possible. The 100 and 28 shots were all done on the same shoot. I brought only those two lenses to challenge myself.

 

Alfred Hitchcock used to do the same thing on every movie he shot. In Rope, he never used cuts (each shot was one reel of film). In Lifeboat, there is one location. In Rear Window, all we see is the limited view of the protagonist. He felt that if he made a new challenge for himslef with every new project, he would force himself to be more creative and grow as an artist. I feel this can be applied to still photography as well. Go out with the lens you use the least and leave all your others behind. See what you get. You may be surprised.

 

Sorry to wander OT...

 

David

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[jackal]

guy, in my opinion your frirst lux portrait is miles more appealing

the second one is brittle and cold, your eye is drawn to sharpness and micro-detail, something that has zero to do with good pictures imo

 

i think that gaussian blur is a mathematical filter

its not the look you get with something like a 75 lux

nothing like it

 

and also i think it needs pointing out that the 75 lux is not "soft" as in "not sharp"

its plenty sharp enough

[Guest guy_mancuso]

Well I really should have the same subject too. female and male is really hard to tell becuase of just there skin between rough and smooth. But yes the 75 lux is a beauty and i own it for the look it does give and it does have a certain character different than the crons but both can be used with great care too. agree on the Lux it is plenty sharp

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[wparsonsgisnet]

David, your last shot if fabulous. I reallly like the wide lens here and the lighting is wonderful. Is it the jpg that gives the edge to the bottom of the right forearm or did you do some sharpening?