The other day I took a couple of portraits in my home studio with a Schneider 210 Apo Symmar hooked up to an Alien Bees strobe/softbox. The problem is 210 seems too short, I got close to the subject but that introduced the typical wide angle distortions..big hands and kneees compared to the face.
Whats considered a good focal length for Studio portraits ? Any good inexpensive choices out there ?
Thanks.
300mm is a much better length for portraits. You wouldnt think that it would make much of a difference, but in use it seems like a much longer lens.
What's the format?
my picture blog
ejwoodbury.blogspot.com
4x5.
Is the Nikkor 300/9 too dim to be using indoors ? Mine's a ground glass screen on a Shen Hao.
If you had a sturdier camera I'd look for a 5.6 Symmar or Sironar, which are a good all around lenses. However, these lenses are in Copal 3s, which may stress your Shen Hao. A good compromise is an older 270/5.5 Tele-Arton or Rotelar, which come in Compur 1 shutters (like a Copal 1) and aren't too heavy - also having the advantage of not needing long bellows extentsions. Nice quality for portraits, but with small image circles however. Only $250 or so used too.
Of course you can use any FL that you like, but the old rule of thumb for portraits is that the FL should equal the sum of the two sides of the format. For 4x5, that would be 4"+5"=9", or 225mm, so a 210mm lens would be a good choice, with many options.
It really depends on your prefered perspective, Tim, and the amount of available bellows on your camera. With the limited bellows draw on your Shen Hao, you might want to consider a telephoto lens, like the Nikkor T or Fuji tele designs. You'll need some supplemental lighting to focus (the modeling lights probably won't quite be bright enough), but you'll get much more pleasing perspective with the longer lens.
But remember that all these little f/8 and f/9 process lenses that landscape photographers favor don't do you any favors for ground glass brightness or for shooting wide open, both of which are good things to have for portraits. At least the older tele designs by Schneider and Rodenstock are a stop or more faster than the (admittedly sharper) Fuji and Nikkor teles.
You should damn the torpedoes and find a f4.5 24cm Heliar. A fine portrait lens on 4X5. Heavy but you can't have your cake and eat it too now can you. Even in barrel it seems you could remove a lens cap in semi darkness, pop the flashes, and put lens cap back on in a very smooth manner. A 30cm 4.5 is all the better but now we're talking really large.
A 9" Verito is an option, as well. Smooth as silk.
Jay
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