Studio portraits/old glass

[bdolzani]

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I've naturally been a street and travel/full scene-try and make all the elements work together at f8 type of shooter, until the pandemic brought me inside to give studio work a try. I've loved adding it to my repertoire and have a softbox and a few backdrops now. 

I made these very quick portraits of my wife and son yesterday to work with the old glass. Wife was very tired and no makeup ('hey would you sit down here for 2 seconds??') and son was also tired and while appeasing dad, was only giving me the death stare. Still fun capturing my family in this setting. 

My wife: 90mm Summicron at f2 (1976)

My son: 50mm Elmar collapsible at f2.8 (1957)

M246

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[bdolzani]

Any suggestions on adding any faster lens for portraits? I own no Summilux and it's driving me crazy ;-). 

I also have a Noctilx F1 interest at the moment. Just saying. 

appreciate any thoughts, thanks all-

brian

[stuny]

Very nice

[bdolzani]

58 minutes ago, stuny said:

Very nice

much appreciated thank you

[fotografr]

18 hours ago, bdolzani said:

Any suggestions on adding any faster lens for portraits? I own no Summilux and it's driving me crazy ;-). 

I also have a Noctilx F1 interest at the moment. Just saying. 

appreciate any thoughts, thanks all-

brian

Are you locked in to the Leica brand for adding lenses? If not, I would suggest looking at some of the faster lenses in the current Voightlander lineup. The 90/2 APO-Skopar is small, light and tack sharp--but not clinically, so very good for portrait work. It's also quite inexpensive. The Nokton 75/1.5 is also very nice and very reasonably priced. 

In the Leica lineup, both the older 75/1.4 and 75/2 APO are excellent for portrait work but will block much more of your viewfinder than the Voigtlander and are also a lot heavier and considerably more costly. 

Meanwhile, it looks like you're doing just fine with what you now have. One thing to keep in mind about using ultra fast lenses for portraits is that the shallow dof when used wide open can have some unpleasant results. 

Edited September 2, 2022 by fotografr

[bdolzani]

2 hours ago, fotografr said:

Are you locked in to the Leica brand for adding lenses? If not, I would suggest looking at some of the faster lenses in the current Voightlander lineup. The 90/2 APO-Skopar is small, light and tack sharp--but not clinically, so very good for portrait work. It's also quite inexpensive. The Nokton 75/1.5 is also very nice and very reasonably priced. 

In the Leica lineup, both the older 75/1.4 and 75/2 APO are excellent for portrait work but will block much more of your viewfinder than the Voigtlander and are also a lot heavier and considerably more costly. 

Meanwhile, it looks like you're doing just fine with what you now have. One thing to keep in mind about using ultra fast lenses for portraits is that the shallow dof when used wide open can have some unpleasant results. 

Hey Brent thanks very much. I am probably quite good with what I have, but I still love seeking and trying everything I can. 

You always hear of 1.4 for portraits and softening women's faces. Interestingly however I like portraits and photos that reveal, not hide (presumably my street/documentary bent). 

I am pretty tied to Leica brand in that I like investing in the value and aesthetic and what will keep it over time. 

Edited September 2, 2022 by bdolzani

[hepcat]

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Very nice indeed.  Well done.  The only thing I can add is first, that the older glass tends to render portraiture much more nicely than the modern, more clinical glass.  The only other thing I have is that shooting at much larger than f/2 on a 50mm and up at that distance causes you to have DOF problems.  You can have the eye perfectly sharp at f/1.4 or higher, but have both the nose and ears out of focus... which is disconcerting to a viewer.   The large aperture lenses are best left for their designed purpose, which is general use in poorly lit situations where there's just no other way to make the image.  The idea was that a soft image (or whatever other aberrations were inherent in large aperture glass) is better than no image at all in low-light situations.   Use the DOF to your benefit, don't let it make you a victim. 

[bdolzani]

On 9/3/2022 at 6:54 PM, hepcat said:

Very nice indeed.  Well done.  The only thing I can add is first, that the older glass tends to render portraiture much more nicely than the modern, more clinical glass.  The only other thing I have is that shooting at much larger than f/2 on a 50mm and up at that distance causes you to have DOF problems.  You can have the eye perfectly sharp at f/1.4 or higher, but have both the nose and ears out of focus... which is disconcerting to a viewer.   The large aperture lenses are best left for their designed purpose, which is general use in poorly lit situations where there's just no other way to make the image.  The idea was that a soft image (or whatever other aberrations were inherent in large aperture glass) is better than no image at all in low-light situations.   Use the DOF to your benefit, don't let it make you a victim. 

I appreciate this very much, thank you! Both the advice and the compliment. I feel like I've done pretty well at 2.8-4 for portraits but wasn't sure if I was missing out on a holy grail of apertures :-).