Favorite Portrait camera and lens combo***

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Le Cercle Rouge

Sakyamuni le Solitaire,
Dit Sidarta Gautama le Sage,
Dit le Bouddha,
Se saisit d'un morceau
De craie rouge,
Traça un cercle et dit :
« Quand des hommes, même s'ils
L'ignore, doivent se retrouver
Un jour, Tout peut arriver a
Chacun d'entre eux et ils
Peuvent suivre des chemins
Divergents au jour dit,
Inéluctablement, ils seront
Réunis dans le cercle rouge. »
 
depends on who and where...sorry that's a slack answer but the truth, or at the end of the day does it really matter? Adapt to the situation in hand with what you have as you can[t judge for every situation...sorry if that's harsh
 
Currently: Rolleiflex 3.5E Planar.
Past: Leica IIIf with either 50/2 Nikkor or 90/2.8 Travenar. Yashica D. Mamiya 220 with 135. Nikon F with 85/1.8.
 
My favorite portrait was taken with a Minolta X370 with a Jupiter 9 and adapter. My favorite portrait equipement, Pentacon Sixtl with Kalenar 3, 150mm lens.
 
Really depends on what i'm shooting. For spontaneous images either the ZI or Leica MP with anything ranging from a 28mm to a 90mm. Sometimes my F2 and 105 and other times my Canon 1DsII with either the 85 1.2 or 200 1.8. Then there's times I like the Hasselblad 500cm and 50mm or 150mm. It all depends on what, who and where. Oh yes there is 4x5 and 8x10 but some of my best environmental portraits were shot on 5x7 with a 121 super angulon. Actually there's no favorite combo since each have their merits.
 
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Leica M or Zeiss Ikon with an 75-90mm (fast) lens are your best choices
for range finders. 100mm macro for an SLR is probably the best choice.
The only drawback of a 100mm macro is its speed of 2.8. I am looking forward
to the new Zeiss ZF 100mm f2.0 macro. This may yet be the best portrait lens
ever for a 35mm format. Some people prefer 85mm f1.4 but I prefer a 100mm macro.
The reason is that 100mm gives a pleasing look and the macro offers the ability
to take some very close shots not achievable by a non-macro lenses.
Shallow depth of field with macro lenses can also be an asset.
This is just my opinion based on my type of photography
 
There are so many variations of portraits why should you be bound to a given focal length. Look at the work of Arnold Newman. He used from wide to tele for his great images.
 
My personal favorite portrait camera and lens combo are:

6x6cm medium format camera
• 180mm for head and shoulder portraits
• 80mm for full length portraits
• 65mm for group portraits

35mm SLR camera
• 28mm for group portraits
• 50mm for full-length portraits
• 85mm for half-length and head & shoulder portraits
• 105mm for head & shoulder and head shots
• 105mm macro with a soft focus filter for head & shoulder and head shots and close-ups of body parts.
• 180mm with an extension tube for head shots and tight face shots
 
my favorite camera for portraits is a Bronica RF645 with 100mm lens. I did finally get a 135, but I'm still getting to know its quirks, learning where the framelines really are, etc.

my runner-up is an EOS body with Canon's fabulous 85mm f/1.2 lens. The 70-200 does very well as a portrait lens also; the zoom makes it much more versatile, and it's almost the same image quality.
 
I've had pretty good luck shooting with my Canon T90 and 200mm f2.8 lens. I have also used my Hasselblad 500CM with the 80mm planar for full length shots and my Hasselblad SWC for group photos. I want to get a 90mm lens for my Leica IIIf and try that.

Regards
Tom
 
Catch up the thread a lil late but here my 2 cents, I love the rolleicord III because its light, the big neg allow some margin for cropping. So I focus, then I can keep my eyes on the subject wich keep a kind of link between the model and the shooter, then I flip the shutter. That machine is so silent, has tiny lens front glasses wich seems really inoffensive for the model most of the time, it is light but have an excellent tone rendition in black and white and in color. I like it a lot for portrait. For close shots I use rolleinar 2 which permits face closed shots.
 
wisner traditional field 4x5, komura 210 f6.3, polaroid type 55 (rated at 40)

If i'm shooting color, I use the horseman vhr with a super horseman 105 f4.5 and portra 160nc in 6x7.

But really, its the light that makes the portrait.
 
Medium Format:
Kiev 60 with Zeiss Jena Sonnar 2.8/180

35
Vivitar S3000 + K-to-M42 adapter with Jupiter 9

Neither are rangefinders though... Iszat still okay?
 
Leica M3 with an old Elmar 90/4 from 1936. When I want sharper images, I switch to the Canon 7s with Canon black 100/3.5.

Harry
 
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