What is the best Pentax lens for portrait photography?
Posted by admin | Under Pentax K20D Digital SLR Monday Jun 15, 2009I am planning to purchase the Pentax k20D body only, which means I'll be in need of a lens. My focus will be portrait photography so I'm looking into what would be the best lens for that. So far I've read that the Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 Lens is great for portrait photography because it gives great blur and minimizes distortion pretty well. I also looked into the Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL II Lens for Pentax and Samsung Digital SLR Cameras for its low price. I like the variety in the zoom of this lengths, but its aperture is obviously not in comparison to the SMCP-FA.
I'm looking for a lens that is great for head shots, can also take great pictures at body length, and great pictures when trying to incorporate background with model.. Any suggestions?
The consesus among photographers is that the best portrait lenses are between 85-105mm on a 35mm camera (full frame dslr)
The 50mm on a 35mm camera is the one which is closest to the human eye in terms of field of view.
Anything under 50mm is liable to "distort" portraits especially when you are close to the subject.
An 85mm would give you good head shots and you would be able to get full length shots in easy enough by moving a little.
Get the fastest lens you can (lowest f number) so that you are able to throw the background out of focus.
a
The traditional answer is something along the lines of this:
105mm 2.8 prime lens.
And that's the answer for a reason. You'll get great results with a lens like that. Short lenses introduce distortion. See this video, you'll get some ideas for what you need.
References :
http://www.layersmagazine.com/photographing-portraits-with-zoom-lenses.html
The consesus among photographers is that the best portrait lenses are between 85-105mm on a 35mm camera (full frame dslr)
The 50mm on a 35mm camera is the one which is closest to the human eye in terms of field of view.
Anything under 50mm is liable to "distort" portraits especially when you are close to the subject.
An 85mm would give you good head shots and you would be able to get full length shots in easy enough by moving a little.
Get the fastest lens you can (lowest f number) so that you are able to throw the background out of focus.
a
References :
I suggest buying the 50mm f1.4 and saving for a better zoom. The f1.4 aperture will give you more capability if you want to shoot in low-light without a flash.
Since I have a bias against variable aperture zooms, I think you should look at the Tamron AF70-200mm f2.8 Di LD (IF) and the SMC Pentax DA Star 16-50mm f2.8 ED AL (IF) SDM. This would be, in my opinion, an excellent 3 lens kit.
Also, keep in mind that every Pentax K-mount lens made since 1975 can be used on your K20D. Yes, there are some limitations with the older manual focus lenses but they can be used.
References :
37+ years of learning about and enjoying photography.
The Pentax kit lens – the 18-55mm is not bad for portraits.
I have the earlier version of the lens and it is quite good in the center, but soft around the edges- poor for landscape but good for portraits.
However I recently purchased the Pentax DA* 50-135mm f2.8 SDM lens and one of the intended uses is for portraits.
With the Pentax crop factor of 1.5 this makes the lens equivalent to a 70-200 mm zoom on film or full frame digital SLRs.
The * indicates it is one of Pentax's premium quality lenses.
References :
http://www.aviewfinderdarkly.com
50mm on a K20D is the equivalent of a 75mm lens of 35mm. A tiny bit short for portraiture, but pretty good.
The all-time best Pentax lens for portraits was the 85mm f/2. Perfect on 35mm, equivalent to 125mm on a K20D and has a K-mount so can be used despite being about 25 years old. May be difficult to find, even in the digital age, because they are prized by their owners.
References :
Hi kiksumazz,
The best Pentax lens for portrait photography is the new premium Pentax portrait lens — the DA* 55mm f/1.4.
http://www.pentaximaging.com/camera-lenses/smc_PENTAX_DA_Star_55mm_F1.4_SDM/
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/594340-USA/Pentax_21790_55mm_f_1_4_DA_SDM.html
The DA* 55mm f/1.4 replaces the old 85mm f/1.4 portrait lens. 55mm on Pentax digital cameras is about the same field of view as 85mm on film. The focal length multiplier for the K20D is 1.5385. 55mm x 1.5385 = 84.6mm, and focal lengths on most lenses are rounded.
The FA 50mm f/1.4 is also a fine choice for portraits, and I use it for that. The bokeh (blur of out-of-focus areas) is beautiful, though probably not up to the 55/1.4.
The new "II" version of the 18-55 kit lens is generally excellent for a kit lens and a great value, and not a bad lens to have for general shooting when you want to travel light. But it won't allow throwing the background as much out of focus (f/5.6 at 55mm compared to f/1.4), and it's bokeh won't be as pretty.
If you want a medium zoom to double as a portrait lens, I would look at:
— Pentax DA* 16-50mm f/2.8
— Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8
— Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8
— Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8
— Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8
However, don't expect the best bokeh from any such zoom. I have the highly regarded Tamron 17-50/2.8, and I like it very much for a medium take-everywhere zoom, though I had to send it to Tamron for warranty service (it had a bad case of front-focus). But on difficult bokeh such as trees and bushes, it doesn't look as pretty as the 50/1.4. It's fine with easier bokeh such as large, rounded shapes.
Good luck and have fun!
Greg
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