24-90 for Portrait with good Bokeh or a prime

[daned]

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Which would be good to have for a family portrait with nice Bokeh a 24-90? if not what is a good prime for such a photo which would also have a nice Bokeh. 

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[jrp]

Yes.  Heavy, but flexible and sharp, with nice rendering.

Otherwise, the 75mm APO SL Summicron.

[daned]

Yea that is the issue, the heaviness as after a while it gets tiring to hold it, so thinking of selling to get a prime.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

Where in the zoom range do you typically shoot?

Maybe the Sugma 59mm 1.2 or 85mm 1.4?

Gordon

[Photoworks]

32 minutes ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

Maybe the Sugma 59mm 1.2 or 85mm 1.4?

maybe only one family member is going to be in focus at 1.2 LOL What about the rest of the family?

[Coral Palm]

Cannot say enough good things as some others will say to about the 75mm SL APO, a wonderful lens. Others may disagree which is fine but to me it is a winner. 

[PeterBoyadjian]

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Same 75 SL APO is my favorite 

[Dr. G]

I'm primarily a 50mm shooter, so I'll give you my take.  I have the 50mm APO Summicron-SL, 50mm Summilux-SL and 50mm Light Lens Lab Speed Panchro ii.  All of them are excellent portrait lenses with different characteristics.  I'm going to Cabo for a small vacation and wedding next weekend.  Guess which lens I'm taking?  If you guessed the 75 APO Summicron-SL, you're correct.  Everyone here has made a great recommendation by suggesting it.

Edited May 4, 2024 by Dr. G

[kkcsm]

I have the 24-90 and quite a few fast M primes.  For a family portrait I’m going to be shooting at 50mm or longer, probably 75 or longer and I’m not going to be shooting below a 4 or 5.6 aperture.  75mm at 4 or 90 at 5.6 can still throw a background into a nice blur, assuming the background is far enough away.  I think the most important thing is finding a location where there is distance between your subjects and the background.  The primary consideration is that all of your subjects are sharply in focus and you most likely don’t want them arranged so that their eyes are in focus and their ears are blurred.

The 24-90 fits the bill.

Edited May 4, 2024 by kkcsm

[hansvons]

If I were shooting classic portraits for a living on a daily basis, I'd probably look into the APO 75mm SL. For family portraits the 24-90 will be "good enough", albeit I sold it because it rendered too dimensionally for my taste. However, it’s the best standard zoom on the market.

I shoot portraits every here and then for campaigns and other business-related stuff and do that with a 50mm Summicron M V4, which I find rendering faces unexcitingly and flatteringly flat with a gentle but distinct sharpness that is hard to beat. But the best thing about this lens is how the focus roll-off seamlessly integrates the beautifully blurred background with the subject. No green-screen-like cut-out, but a humongous image without leaving any questions. It works best slightly stopped down at f 2.5 to f4.

[oculaii]

56 minutes ago, hansvons said:

If I were shooting classic portraits for a living on a daily basis, I'd probably look into the APO 75mm SL. For family portraits the 24-90 will be "good enough", albeit I sold it because it rendered too dimensionally for my taste. However, it’s the best standard zoom on the market.

I shoot portraits every here and then for campaigns and other business-related stuff and do that with a 50mm Summicron M V4, which I find rendering faces unexcitingly and flatteringly flat with a gentle but distinct sharpness that is hard to beat. But the best thing about this lens is how the focus roll-off seamlessly integrates the beautifully blurred background with the subject. No green-screen-like cut-out, but a humongous image without leaving any questions. It works best slightly stopped down at f 2.5 to f4.

This is exactly why I really like the 24-90mm and the 24-70mm S Pro, both have a great sense of volume and if can say "dimensionality"

[hansvons]

@oculaii, precisely why diversity is such a beauty. Imagine we were all the same. Principally, there are times when flatness is  desirable (it somewhat acts like the compression of a longer focal length) or dimensionality which shouldn’t be mixed up with plasticity or 3d-pop. You can have some flatness, eg faces look not as eg-shaped as with other lenses of the same focal length, and have an image that pops to your eye nonetheless (the 35mm Summicron M ASPH and its R sibling are very good at that). These things are subtle but I find them essential. The 24-90 does both, pop and dimensionality. It’s a superb zoom. If I needed a zoom, I’d buy it again without further thoughts. 

[LocalHero1953]

You don't say what you mean by family portrait: groups or individuals. For groups, a lens with a wide aperture would be a waste, as I can't get people at different distances in focus. For an individual, a wide aperture lens can make a lovely flattering image, drawing attention to the eyes and the lips. 

Again, for groups, I would need a wider angle lens. It depends on how big a space you're shooting in. I had to take a large family group in a small living room once, and could only do it with the wide end of the 16-35SL - and that meant a lot of work afterwards in PS to straighten out the distortion at the lateral edges (pushing it to the top and bottom). If you can get far enough back, you can shoot a large group with a 90mm, but of course you then lack engagement with the human. For individuals, I prefer a longer, classical portrait lens: 75-90. If I use shorter, too often I am tempted to move in, making leading shoulders or noses rather large, and ears tiny.

All in all, for a single lens solution for range of posed family shots, I would pick the 24-90 every time: wide and long, nice bokeh, fast focusing - just versatile.

For portraits of individuals I currently have several primes, which all have their value: Summilux-SL50 (good for environmental portraits, but too wide for me for headshots, and a bit slow to focus), Summilux-M 75 (my favourite for beautiful images, but manual focus), Sigma 85 f/1.4 (lovely bokeh, but I'm still learning its strengths and weaknesses) and Apo-Summicron-SL 75 (bleeding edge sharp perfection, though I prefer the Sigma for larger aperture and bokeh). I have had others in the past, and no doubt I will continue to fiddle with portrait lenses in future.

Edited May 4, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[Coral Palm]

hansvons—totally agree the 24-90 and 90-280 best zooms I have ever had over the years. Yes the 24-90 is a beast but sometimes that extra reach is well worth the extra weight/cost from a 24-70. Yet in the end all a trade-off whatever the individual really wants or needs.

This was shot with original SL and the 24-90. I do not have access to metadata at the moment but very sure was 90mm or very close as there were many people in front of her and the extra range proved its worth.

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[hansvons]

3 hours ago, Coral Palm said:

I do not have access to metadata at the moment but very sure was 90mm or very close

Looks like approx 90mm. The 24-90 is a tad soft at the long end (all zooms have their weak FL, better at the end than in the middle), but that makes it all the more suitable for portraits. Nice picture!

[hansvons]

3 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

, Sigma 85 f/1.4 (lovely bokeh, but I'm still learning its strengths and weaknesses) and Apo-Summicron-SL 75 (bleeding edge sharp perfection, though I prefer the Sigma for larger aperture and bokeh).

I find that most of the modern super-sharp high-speed lenses suffer from abrupt focus roll-offs at full aperture exhibiting a cut-out look similar to a mediocre green screen composit. But my experience is limited to Canon glass. 

[costa43]

3 hours ago, hansvons said:

I find that most of the modern super-sharp high-speed lenses suffer from abrupt focus roll-offs at full aperture exhibiting a cut-out look similar to a mediocre green screen composit. But my experience is limited to Canon glass. 

I agree, I’m not keen on this look. I find it’s even more evident when modern lenses are paired with the higher megapixel sensors.

[Hanno]

SL-75mm if you are looking for AF and absolute sharpness. Perfect if you want one lens / one camera only. You zoom in/out with the feet. The Summilux-M 75mm 1.4 is phenomenal for portrait / skin tones though. So easy to handle and M-focus on a SL.

The SL-90mm is even better for the compression and works so beautifully. Magical. Ideal if you can pair it with another lens (50mm for me), but it’s more practical in a 2-camera body territory. The 50mm opens up for groups or environmental/lifestyle while remaining engaged with the subject. SL-50mm has a 35cm min MFD which is quite unique, but the SL-Summilux 50mm 1.4 has that special Summilux rendering (that for me justifies the encumbrance). The AF is no issue when the subject is engaging with you.

And of course you can go SL-28mm for its 28cm min MFD with the subject right in the center.

So 75mm if you want one lens / one camera only, otherwise you may have to look at a couple of primes and 2 body cameras potentially (and the weight, encumbrance and price it would mean), which is why you probably were thinking about a zoom…

Edited May 5, 2024 by Hanno

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