Portrait lens recommendation and where to buy


ayuready

New Member
Apr 7, 2010
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Dear All,

I am relatively new to DSLR and got myself a K-X. Had the dual kit lens version (18-55,50-200mm)

I am looking for recommendation on lens for taking portrait.

Think it will be only the 1 non-kit lens that i will be purchasing so i do not mind paying more for something.

Mostly taking pictures of my gf. haha any recommendations.

Tried looking thru the threads but seems alot of lens are no longer available now, so looking for lens recommendation which are easily available.

thanks alot for the help!
 

M-50mm f1.2
M-50mm f1.4
M-50mm f1.7
M-50mm f2
A-50mm f1.2
A-50mm f1.4
A-50mm f1.7
A-50mm f2
FA 50mm f1.4

And more.Only the FA 50mm f1.4 can be bought brand new from the usual recommended shops:)
 

Dear All,

I am relatively new to DSLR and got myself a K-X. Had the dual kit lens version (18-55,50-200mm)

I am looking for recommendation on lens for taking portrait.

Think it will be only the 1 non-kit lens that i will be purchasing so i do not mind paying more for something.

Mostly taking pictures of my gf. haha any recommendations.

Tried looking thru the threads but seems alot of lens are no longer available now, so looking for lens recommendation which are easily available.

thanks alot for the help!

Budget?

FA 77 if you don't have any restriction on budget. :)
but probably would fire up LBA. :sweat:

50 mm would be the best bet here. get a cheap manual one for learning and see how you progress.
 

hi friends,

thanks for the prompt replies!

FA 50mm 1.4 sounds good how much is it?

I dun really have a budget maybe 1k?
 

Budget?

FA 77 if you don't have any restriction on budget. :)
but probably would fire up LBA. :sweat:

50 mm would be the best bet here. get a cheap manual one for learning and see how you progress.



boss, what is LBA?
 

I think the 50-135 would also be quite good haha
 

I think the 50-135 would also be quite good haha



I realised i seldom used my 50-200mm so i thought perhapes most of my usage will be in the lower mm range.

any suggestions if i further streamline my choices to:
which is the most bang for buck or most suitable for my usage, portrait and walk around purpose.

Thank you to all the gurus here.

FA 50mm 1.4
DA 35mm F2.8 Macro Limited
DA 40mm F2.8 Limited
 

I realised i seldom used my 50-200mm so i thought perhapes most of my usage will be in the lower mm range.

any suggestions if i further streamline my choices to:
which is the most bang for buck or most suitable for my usage, portrait and walk around purpose.

Thank you to all the gurus here.

FA 50mm 1.4
DA 35mm F2.8 Macro Limited
DA 40mm F2.8 Limited

Only you yourself will know which one will suit yourself best.Go down to the usual stores and ask for all 3 lenses and try try lor...
 

You can try the Tamron 17-50mm F2.8?
 

Dear All,

I am relatively new to DSLR and got myself a K-X. Had the dual kit lens version (18-55,50-200mm)

I am looking for recommendation on lens for taking portrait.

Think it will be only the 1 non-kit lens that i will be purchasing so i do not mind paying more for something.

Mostly taking pictures of my gf. haha any recommendations.

Tried looking thru the threads but seems alot of lens are no longer available now, so looking for lens recommendation which are easily available.

thanks alot for the help!

I was in the lookout for a portrait lens when i first started out and since you mentioned that you are relatively new, I would not suggest dumping $1k on an expensive lens as you might not have discovered the focal length that you like to shoot in portraiture. And a $1k budget might allow you own more lens to discover the wide spectrum of photography rather than portraiture alone.

One good thing about the Pentax system is that all the K-mount manual lens are useable for the k-x and they are relatively cheap as compared to the auto-focus ones. I would recommend you to get a A 50 f1.7 or f2.0 to try out first before you decide which focal length you like to shoot into. If you find 50 too narrow, you can then decide to look for the FA35 f2.0 which is a very nice lens for portraiture. If you find the 50mm it too wide then you can get either the FA77 if you can stretch your budget or the DA70 f2.8 which is a very sleek and nice lens for the same purpose, albeit 1.5 stops slower.

You might want to know why I do not recommend the M50, one reason is the lack of the "A" in the aperture which greatly assist you to get a right metering w/o the need to using the green button. And also the "A" ring will allow you to use the body to adjust the aperture which in turn be written into your exif file which you can vet through your photo to see which aperture you use the most frequent which will help you to choose your next lens.

Hope my advice is not too lengthy and confusing and I hope you get to find what you wanted.
 

Sound advice from Brianskivvy, get a cheap 50mm to experience what a prime lens is like, from there you can better decide what will suit your needs. But like they always say, its the photographer and not the gear, reading up and practising your skills will improve your photographs more than any gear will.
 

I was in the lookout for a portrait lens when i first started out and since you mentioned that you are relatively new, I would not suggest dumping $1k on an expensive lens as you might not have discovered the focal length that you like to shoot in portraiture. And a $1k budget might allow you own more lens to discover the wide spectrum of photography rather than portraiture alone.

One good thing about the Pentax system is that all the K-mount manual lens are useable for the k-x and they are relatively cheap as compared to the auto-focus ones. I would recommend you to get a A 50 f1.7 or f2.0 to try out first before you decide which focal length you like to shoot into. If you find 50 too narrow, you can then decide to look for the FA35 f2.0 which is a very nice lens for portraiture. If you find the 50mm it too wide then you can get either the FA77 if you can stretch your budget or the DA70 f2.8 which is a very sleek and nice lens for the same purpose, albeit 1.5 stops slower.

You might want to know why I do not recommend the M50, one reason is the lack of the "A" in the aperture which greatly assist you to get a right metering w/o the need to using the green button. And also the "A" ring will allow you to use the body to adjust the aperture which in turn be written into your exif file which you can vet through your photo to see which aperture you use the most frequent which will help you to choose your next lens.

Hope my advice is not too lengthy and confusing and I hope you get to find what you wanted.

Dear Brian,

Thanks for the very valuable advice. haha basically i tried using sticking to various FL on my 18-55 during me and my gf's trip to botanica garden.

I inclined to think that 35mm suits my purpose more at the moment.


DA 35mm F2.8 Macro Limited => Most likely will get this lens to try out as well as to explore macro photography...

problem now is where to get it at good price... try seeing online site seems daunting after adding shipping/ gst and watnot:dunno:
 

Dear Brian,

Thanks for the very valuable advice. haha basically i tried using sticking to various FL on my 18-55 during me and my gf's trip to botanica garden.

I inclined to think that 35mm suits my purpose more at the moment.


DA 35mm F2.8 Macro Limited => Most likely will get this lens to try out as well as to explore macro photography...

problem now is where to get it at good price... try seeing online site seems daunting after adding shipping/ gst and watnot:dunno:

Haha seems like you landed to what I was looking for :bsmilie: SGis selling at quite a good price for this lens, I got mine from slr revolution.

Btw, just sent you a pm for some lead for this lens. ;p
 

Haha seems like you landed to what I was looking for :bsmilie: SGis selling at quite a good price for this lens, I got mine from slr revolution.

Btw, just sent you a pm for some lead for this lens. ;p

Hehe, what is SGis???

thanks alot for your help
 

Hehe, what is SGis???

thanks alot for your help

Sorry for not being clear, I was meant to say Singapore is selling at a good price compared to the States.
 

Good advice by Brian,

i second that you get a manual lens to play with first if you dont have a big budget.

For options below 100 dollars:
an A 50mm F2.0 will cost around 70-80 dollars.
I once had a M 50mm F1.7, but i sold it because I found that it was not as convenient when i couldnt control the aperture through the camera.

for options between 400-500.
Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 is an excellent choice for protrait shots.
A constant aperture of F2.8 ensures that you have a nice bokeh at the tele end while giving you the flexibility of zooming.
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...mron-28-75mm-f/2.8-XR-Di-Lens-Sample-Pictures.

for options over 500
Pentax 35mm F2.8 Macro is a great option. The bokeh is swee! probably cost around 700+ new.
you can grab a second hand one at around 600+

i have personally used the above 3 lenses and they are pretty good candidates for portrait shoots.

by the way, i wont advise buying new lenses when you do not know which focal length you prefer.
it will save you money in the long run, when u decide to change lenses.
 

Good advice by Brian,

i second that you get a manual lens to play with first if you dont have a big budget.

For options below 100 dollars:
an A 50mm F2.0 will cost around 70-80 dollars.
I once had a M 50mm F1.7, but i sold it because I found that it was not as convenient when i couldnt control the aperture through the camera.

for options between 400-500.
Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 is an excellent choice for protrait shots.
A constant aperture of F2.8 ensures that you have a nice bokeh at the tele end while giving you the flexibility of zooming.
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...mron-28-75mm-f/2.8-XR-Di-Lens-Sample-Pictures.

for options over 500
Pentax 35mm F2.8 Macro is a great option. The bokeh is swee! probably cost around 700+ new.
you can grab a second hand one at around 600+

i have personally used the above 3 lenses and they are pretty good candidates for portrait shoots.

by the way, i wont advise buying new lenses when you do not know which focal length you prefer.
it will save you money in the long run, when u decide to change lenses.

Thank you boss, for kind advice!
somehow my heart is sold to 35mm macro....

Will buy it when i getting my wedding band to do some macro shots ! hiak hiak
 

Thank you boss, for kind advice!
somehow my heart is sold to 35mm macro....

Will buy it when i getting my wedding band to do some macro shots ! hiak hiak

:thumbsup: choice.

In the older film days people used to say that the 50mm is the only lens they need to bring to travel the world, makes sense to get a 35mm for our apsc sensor which equates to 52.5mm.

Good luck in getting a copy soon.

And btw, congrats!