Portrait lenses on L-mount

[Scelo45]

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Portrait done with the SL2-S and the SL APO Summicron 90 mm F2.0

For me the best portrait lens under all the modern lenses 🙂

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[Olaf_ZG]

Goran, SL2 & SLlux, plus one strobe 

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[Paul K]

On 9/24/2024 at 7:29 AM, Scelo45 said:

Portrait done with the SL2-S and the SL APO Summicron 90 mm F2.0

For me the best portrait lens under all the modern lenses 🙂

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Finally tested the 90 on my SL2-S this weekend, and I couldn't agree more.

 

[Olaf_ZG]

As usual, SL2, SL lux, one strobe.

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[Si Knight]

SL2-S and 50 APO. I have only just started shooting Leica (formerly with Fujifilm) and am totally in love with the output. 

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[LocalHero1953]

4 minutes ago, Si Knight said:

SL2-S and 50 APO. I have only just started shooting Leica (formerly with Fujifilm) and am totally in love with the output. 

Welcome to the forum, Si! Looking forward to seeing more of your portraits!

Edited October 20, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[3D-Kraft.com]

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Not a scientific comparison, but i may give a little hint as well:

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Leica Noctilux 75/1.25 on a Sony A7R2 (42MP Sensor)

 

Sigma DG DN 85/1.4 Art on Sony A1 (50 MP sensor)

 

It's not exactly from the same position and different sensor generations but for the bokeh, you can see that the Noctilux 75 has an individual character whereas the Sigma renders the out-of-focus areas extremely smooth and neutral without any distraction from the subject in the foreground. If you click on the image, you can zoom into actual pixels. Here you see, that the Sigma renders with more sharpness and mirocontrast in the focus area (eyes) and the Noctilux shows some CAs and bokeh fringing (although significantly less than any 50mm Noctilux).

So in my opinion, the Sigma delivers technically more perfect (and with autofocus) than the Noctilux at 1/14 of the price. But the Noctilux has it's own magic and for the M-system it is my first choice anyway.

Leica Noctilux 75/1.25 ASPH on Sony A7R2

 

Sigma DG DN 85/1.4 Art on Sony A1 (vignette added in post)

 

Sorry for posting the Sigma + Sony images for comparison but as we are talking about lenses, I think the E-mount version has same design and performs similar to the L-mount version.

Edited November 3, 2024 by 3D-Kraft.com

[LocalHero1953]

Thank you for posting these @3D-Kraft.com. Although the Noctilux 75 has been in my dreams for several years, I actually prefer the Sigma here for its smoother OOF areas. I fully take your point about the character of the Noctilux and in other scenarios I might feel differently. 

[Olaf_ZG]

Despite all your efforts, I still can’t make up my mind for a 2nd portraitlens…

[Cobram]

@Olaf_ZGYou posted many portraits made with SL 50 Lux which helped me a lot when deciding to not add this lens in my collection. Eventually I "meditated" enough 😅to realize I'm not very keen on perfection (sold APO SL 35) and too thin (to me) dof. But I'm really interested in 21mm option. Maybe this can be the perfect lens for my hiking trips in Alps.

on wide angle side I like perfection (sharpness, contrast,...) but between 50 and 90mm I prefer lenses with some imperfection (charm?). 

Maybe we all need to look a little bit more to "cheap" Panasonic primes. I plan to test 20-60 zoom for hiking needs and 50 as well as 85 primes (Pana and Sigma) for fast AF low light situations (older daughter singing in low light halls, younger daughter climbing events,...).

At the and I think it all boils down to the application. No lens is significantly better than other, it is just that some are better for specific application.

My task is to rethink in detail applications. Thank you all for contribution. @LocalHero1953Very interesting thread

[LocalHero1953]

A couple taken yesterday.
SL2-S + Summilux-SL 50

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[Eoin]

Strange that Leica chose a 75 & 90 over a classic 85 & 135 range.

The Canon 85 L and 135 L were my favourites when I was shooting that platform.
The Zeiss ZA (Sony DSLR) 135 f1.8 was also stunning yet I hated the output from the 85 ZA.
I never quite liked the 85GM on the Sony A7 either but loved an old Contax 100 planar f2. 

Since getting a SL2 recently, I dusted off the 100mm Contax and horror there was some degradation of the balsam in the rear group.
It's back now after some work so I hope to evaluate the results and see if I need to invest in the SL 90 or make do with the Summilux SL 50 & Noctilux 75.

I still think a fast 135 is missing from the Leica SL lens lineup ... Anyone use the Leica APO Telyt 135 f3.4 on the SL with good results?.

[BernardC]

2 hours ago, Eoin said:

Strange that Leica chose a 75 & 90 over a classic 85 & 135 range.

75, 90, and 135 are traditional Leica focal lengths in that range. They made one 85/1.5 lens for screw-mount bodies, but it's very rare. I don't think there's a lot of real-world difference between an 85 and a 90.

I agree with you that a 135 would be good, but we probably won't get one from Leica. Sigma might be working on a replacement for their old SLR 135, so there's hope. I much prefer a fast 135 to a bigger/slower 70-200(+) zoom, but I am in the minority.

[Dr. G]

3 hours ago, BernardC said:

75, 90, and 135 are traditional Leica focal lengths in that range. They made one 85/1.5 lens for screw-mount bodies, but it's very rare. I don't think there's a lot of real-world difference between an 85 and a 90.

I agree with you that a 135 would be good, but we probably won't get one from Leica. Sigma might be working on a replacement for their old SLR 135, so there's hope. I much prefer a fast 135 to a bigger/slower 70-200(+) zoom, but I am in the minority.

If Sigma made a new DG DN version of the 105 1.4 I'd grab it in a second.  The rendering of the current version is phenomenal, but the lens is "slightly" large.  I've never loved the working distance of a 135.  

[Eoin]

19 hours ago, BernardC said:

75, 90, and 135 are traditional Leica focal lengths in that range. They made one 85/1.5 lens for screw-mount bodies, but it's very rare. I don't think there's a lot of real-world difference between an 85 and a 90.

I agree with you that a 135 would be good, but we probably won't get one from Leica. Sigma might be working on a replacement for their old SLR 135, so there's hope. I much prefer a fast 135 to a bigger/slower 70-200(+) zoom, but I am in the minority.

Was it not 80, 90 & 135 that were the generally available for the R mount. The 75 Elcan f2 is very rare. I’ve no idea about screw mount other than the Summarex 85 which I owned many moons ago.

My point was, given a clean design sheet for SL, they chose 75 & 90 rather than an almost industry standard 85 & 135.

[BernardC]

9 minutes ago, Eoin said:

My point was, given a clean design sheet for SL, they chose 75 & 90 rather than an almost industry standard 85 & 135.

85 + 100/105 was the Japanese standard. I don't think there's an industry standard, just a lot of companies that copied Nikon's F-mount lineup. Leica started offering a 90mm in the 1930s, so they've stuck with that. The 75mm was added as a "New York lens," because NYC studio space was more cramped, so photographers needed a shorter portrait lens.

That was back in the 1970's, when models were expected to starve themselves. Nowadays the 75 is considered more flattering for models who follow a healthy diet, and longer portrait lenses have fallen out of favour. You never hear of fashion shooters using a 180 or 300 anymore. On the other hand you see a lot of shots done with normal or even wide lenses.

 

All this to say that Leica follows their own rules. They don't need to crib off Nikon's old brochures.

 

[HeinzX]

Last year I saw a professional and well known photograph using a VE 24/90 for portraits on a SL2 in Austria. And it seems, that this is his standard lens for this purpose. By the way he is very famous for portraits  - esp. for that of clebreties.

Another lens which could be nice for portraits is the Sigma 50 mm f 1,2. Could be worth a try.

[Geoff C. Bassett]

34 minutes ago, HeinzX said:

Last year I saw a professional and well known photograph using a VE 24/90 for portraits on a SL2 in Austria. And it seems, that this is his standard lens for this purpose. By the way he is very famous for portraits  - esp. for that of clebreties.

Another lens which could be nice for portraits is the Sigma 50 mm f 1,2. Could be worth a try.

Gave the Sigma 50mm 1.2 a try at Hunts. Was very impressed from what I saw. May pick it up soon.

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[Virob]

14 hours ago, Eoin said:

Was it not 80, 90 & 135 that were the generally available for the R mount. The 75 Elcan f2 is very rare. I’ve no idea about screw mount other than the Summarex 85 which I owned many moons ago.

My point was, given a clean design sheet for SL, they chose 75 & 90 rather than an almost industry standard 85 & 135.

I think the reason Leica went with 75/ 90 and not 85/135 is more mundane. A 135/2 would not fit into the physical and optical constraints of the apo f2.0  series without making all of them significantly larger. 

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[jrp]

There is the 100mm Panasonic, of course