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The best portrait Leica len on SL 601


phongph

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Have the model lying on the bed with her head at the bottom of the bed and he feet at the top of the bed. Stand at the bottom of the bed and shoot towards the top of the bed and just focus on the models eyes. Make sure you are using a Noctilux 0.95 and shoot her eyes..........................everything else will be blur, so no need to worry about her being fat with short legs.

 

If that doesn't work get another model with your spec :) :)

I hope this helps :)

Hi "Neil D"!

Many Thanks for your advice!

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Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS

+1. The ZE 135 f/2.0 is one of my favourites. I like it just as much as my Otus 55.

Eoin................why did you have to say that............lol?????

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Is it something you would recommend on the SL mate......How is it compared to the Leica 135 APO f3.4??

 

The 135APO is very good. And it's really small and light. The Zeiss is a tiny bit better and much larger. But it's two stops brighter and the ability to blur the background is significantly higher. Also since I have the 90-280 with a similar aperture and IS I tend not to bother with my 135APO, even though it's small.

 

Gordon

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  • 6 months later...

Well it really depends on the nature of the portrait, i.e. how much of the person you want to include. For environmental portraiture for example I would use a 35mm lens in many instances. For full length down to one third I would use a 50mm and would only feel the need to go longer if I was wanting to shoot a head and shoulders portrait but even then you can shoot a head shot with a 50mm, for example:

 

30654964413_90a5a841ab_c.jpgOlivia - Transitions by Greg Turner, on Flickr

 

and

 

30522778590_632b4c7457_c.jpgOlly - Transitions by Greg Turner, on Flickr

 

There is some perspective distortion in these two; the nose on both looks slightly larger than it should be and there's less compression to flatter the subject, but they both still work well as close up portraits. if you're shooting professionally and doing say corporate head shots, then consider adding a 90mm pre-ASP Summicron, Summarit or even the 90mm Elmarit.

Hi Geetee1972!

Many thanks for your advice!

Have a nice day!

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I have found that if just the head fills most of the frame, a lens in the range of 75 - 110 or so gives the most pleasing results.  A 35 or 50, due to perspective,  tends to exaggerate the features closest to the camera (e.g. the nose).  

 

For portraits of the full body or most of it, a 50 works just fine.

Edited by fsprow
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Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS

I'm using the M 90mm APO and quite happy with the results.

 

Bill

My 90mm APO is my go to portrait lens then the Noctilux 0.95......I wish I had used that combination yesterday instead of the Leica Soo7.

I will look for a couple of examples but the 90mm APO is a wonderfull lens especially at f2

 

Neil

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Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS

Heres one of my daughter which was with my 90mm APO or the Noctilux.............seems like Lightroom can't get the info from a jpeg, and seeing as I am in Phuket right now I don't have access to the original DNG file

Any it will give you an example of what is out there

 

Neil

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For portraiture I use a Leica-M Summilux pre-asph 50mm also, a very good option for longer length is a Zhongi Yi Speedmaster 85mm f1.2 mine is Canon mount very cheap to buy and excellent results.

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Here are a few I took of my girlfriends son.  He wanted to go to the playground; I grabbed my SL + 90APO

 

33020725755_cfb8111a7c_b.jpg

 2017-02-19_016-298 by Marc Tauber, on Flickr

 

 

32175594114_38d1b3cf24_b.jpg

 2017-02-19_171-298 by Marc Tauber, on Flickr

 

33020699795_81cc4d268a_b.jpg2017-02-19_181-298 by Marc Tauber, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

...and one of my son ;)

 

 

33020701845_24d463bfe9_b.jpg

 2017-02-19_247-298 by Marc Tauber, on Flickr

 

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The question from the beginning of the thread seems a bit odd, here.

Either you have some experience taking portraits - then you will know which lenses can be used.

Or you are a complete beginner, but are really suggesting that there is a single best portrait lens but that you have no clue what it is - which seems a bit strange/contradictory.

 

It would make more sense to ask which are the circumstances to produce good portraits (environment, persons, light, suspense, relaxation, ...  maybe story to be told)

Of course the answer would also not be simple.   But closer to the truth that the lens is just of minor importance.  (unless you insist on a special lens - e.g. trioplan with unusual bokeh)

 

For me the best portraits are from people I know (love or hate) and see in a typical or sometimes completely unfamiliar context.

This makes them very difficult to share on a forum. (where most entries are meaningless to most readers)

Edited by steppenw0lf
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Once upon a time, in a far away land, a portrait lens was defined as normal plus 25% or so. That would make a 75mm lens ideal, however looking at good portraits outside formalist (dead aesthetic) studio pictures any lens whatsoever works if one knows composition, relevant inclusions.

 

I looked for my examples and found that I have lost countless files, one directory of portraits. Totally bummed! Time Machine has none of them. I wonder if the loss occurred when when I upgraded ... so be it.

Edited by pico
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Once upon a time, in a far away land, a portrait lens was defined as normal plus 25% or so. That would make a 75mm lens ideal, however looking at good portraits outside formalist (dead aesthetic) studio pictures any lens whatsoever works if one knows composition, relevant inclusions.

 

I looked for my examples and found that I have lost countless files, one directory of portraits. Totally bummed! Time Machine has none of them. I wonder if the loss occurred when when I upgraded ... so be it.

Sorry to read that. Wretched computers. Having had similar experiences I now have back ups of my back ups of my back ups, all incremental. Of course I have film going back to the 70s.

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  • 5 years later...

Mijn eerste Leica sl 

foto met een 24-70 lens 2.8

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