Need help! Whats the best **medium format** Camera + Lens for portrait Photography

The attached picture was taken with a Pentacon Six TL and a 120mm Biometar lens.

You may want to have a look at Kievcamera on ebay and then go to their "store". The Kiev-88 CM can be bought new for $300 or the TTL model for $419. Do your research though because opinions about the Kiev cameras are sometimes extreme.

The Mamiya 645 is, IMO, an excellent choice for your purpose.

Choices, choices...... they can be agony at times! 🙂

Walker
 
I've used a Hasselblad 500 cm and Bronica etrs , I like the bronica system, ,with a 150, I've played around with 3 different Kiev bodies,, I'd stay away from the Keiv . In my gallery the Test 1 and 2 photo's are with the Bronica 645 and a 150 mm . Bronica stuff is easy to find and reasonable to buy and easy to get fixed. IMHO .
 
Benjamin Marks said:
If I recall, the P67 and 165 will not let you fill the frame with a face, unless you use a short extension tube. Otherwise you are looking at head and shoulders.
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Ben, that's correct! The 165 f/2.8 focuses down to 1.6m, and at that distance you get head and shoulders. My old 200mm goes to 2.5m for the same situation. The newer 200mm focuses closer, so that might be a better choice for faces. In any case, the extension tubes come in 3 sizes, feature auto-diaphragm linkage, and are readily available.
 
http://araxfoto.com/cameras/arax-645mlu/ $299
Kaleinar-3, 2.8/150 long-focus. $199

$600 new, ARAX 6X4.5 mirror lock up. other lenes available at good prices [no problems with light leaks from the removable backs of the Kiev 88s]

When these cameras are tweaked they perform the way they should have from the factory

they also make a good weapon if needed 😀
 
Mamiya RZ67 with a portrait lens (around $600-800). Nothing is better for the purpose . . . unless you do alot of hand held shooting, in which case their 645 cameras are next in line within your price range.

The Mamiyas offer lots of accessories, lots of lenses, and good quality for a decent price.

If you can, find a Pentax 645n or 645nII (probably around $800-1000) - that is a 6x4.5 AF camera that I used to use for my portrait work, and it was fantastic. The mamiyas simply offer better image quality, bellows focusing, and a more studio friendly design.

If you want to keep it real simple, look at the Mamiya 645E and a 150mm lens. That will easily fall below $600.

You really want MF though, no 35mm, portraits demand tonality and croppability and grainlessness (wow, two new words).

For a MF RF, you really don't have any choices since you need to shoot headshots and no one offers a camera that can pull that off reasonably. The Mamiya 6 or 7 with the 150mm or 210mm would be the best you'd find, and that would be hugely less useful to you than one of the SLRs mentioned above.
 
Taking the budget into account, and ease of finding such a combination for sale, I recommend a Mamiya 645 plus Zeiss Jens 180mm/2.8 lens. This combo should not be more expenisve than $500, leaving you $150 for film and developing. Another alternative is a user Tele Rolleiflex with horrible cosmetics but clean lens.
 
I've used a Salyut S with a 250mm Russian lens, a Pentacon Sixtl with a 150mm Russian-Kalenar-lens, a Mamyia Sekor C330f with a 135mm lens (there is a 180mm) and found success with each of them. The Pentacon has been modified to correct the advance problems that sometimes occurs. The Russian 150 is a bit longer than the Carl Zeiss Jena Biometar 120, but that is a fine lens too. Many on another forum rave about the Carl Zeiss Jena 180 and have the images to support it. If you choose this path it would be less expensive but you should buy from a trusted source or be prepared to pay for service.
My 2 Cents
 
Big Spenders

Big Spenders

flipflop said:
Hi,
Just wondering what the best portrait camera and lens are....Say the budget is 650.00

Im thinking mostly head shots or maybe head and shoulders.
Thanks
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It seems that a lot of folks are very generous with your budget - many of the recommended Hasselblad kits will run at least 2X your budget. I guess it's easier to spend someone else's money!

You need to decide if you want a studio camera, such as the Mamiya RZ, or something to carry about, such as a 645 or Hasselblad. I carry, so I bought a Mamiya 645. If money were no object, I'd either buy a Hasselblad or a Contax 645. But my oldest son will be a college freshman in a mere 10 years! So my money is going into a 529 plan.

Robert

Robert
 
darkkavenger said:
the best lens ever is the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180/2.8, without a doubt. for the camera, my favorite is a Pentacon Six, though you could go for an Exakta-66 or a Kiev-88.
Click to expand...

The Mamiya 645 has a better reputation for quality control than a Pentacon Six or Exacta 66.
 
Overall, there is NOTHING out there that will be better than an RZ67, nothing, not a hassy, not a kiev (by a long shot) . . . nothing. THe revolving back, the bellows focusing, the massive list of accessories, it all matters.

If you are using a hand held meter and all that, hasselblad with a sonnar and a prism finder would be good, but less versatile than the newer mamiyas with TTL metering.

I repeat myself, but only because i feel very strongly that the RZ or RB cameras are the only real option.

In my experience, the Mamiya glass is peerless in the portrait world, and relatively low cost.

Don't even bother with other cameras, none of them compare.
 
I agree with Shutterflower; when I take portraits in the studio, I always use the RZ67. It's a fantastic system and the results are always unbelievably good; they make everything else look bad.

Having said this, you can get OUTSTANDING potraits with a TLR. A used Rolleiflex is great, and you don't really have to pay through the nose for one. If you can get one with a #1 Rolleinar close-up lens that's even better.
 
shutterflower said:
Overall, there is NOTHING out there that will be better than an RZ67, nothing, not a hassy, not a kiev (by a long shot) . . . nothing. THe revolving back, the bellows focusing, the massive list of accessories, it all matters.
...
I repeat myself, but only because i feel very strongly that the RZ or RB cameras are the only real option.

In my experience, the Mamiya glass is peerless in the portrait world, and relatively low cost.

Don't even bother with other cameras, none of them compare.
Click to expand...
Wow, I appreciate a strongly-held opinion. 😀 But, oddly enough, there are other alternatives that knowledgeable people have preferred. I tried an RB back in 1974 and was impressed with the results, but eventually chose a different system that I still have and enjoy.

Personal preferences and different kinds of usage need to be considered; for instance studio use wasn't important to me. Do we know if FlipFlop intends to use the gear in studio or elsewhere? That will make a difference as to what is better for his $650 budget. It would also be reasonable to look at a 4x5 for the studio, and that could even make the budget.
 
Doug said:
Wow, I appreciate a strongly-held opinion. 😀 But, oddly enough, there are other alternatives that knowledgeable people have preferred. I tried an RB back in 1974 and was impressed with the results, but eventually chose a different system that I still have and enjoy.

Personal preferences and different kinds of usage need to be considered; for instance studio use wasn't important to me. Do we know if FlipFlop intends to use the gear in studio or elsewhere? That will make a difference as to what is better for his $650 budget. It would also be reasonable to look at a 4x5 for the studio, and that could even make the budget.
Click to expand...

well, yeah, these comments are all opinions, as everything knows.

For studio portrait work, if you want Manual focus, the RZ67 Pro II is the best possible choice . . . .from my perspective. AF, then the H1, and if handheld, then it gets complicated - but still the H1.

I say the Mamiya because you can get great lenses for decent prices, there are lots of cheap accessories on Ebay, and the bellows focusing is reall really useful in the studio and out. ANd hte revolving back too.

When I say "don't even bother with other cameras" because they won't compare - that is clearly a personal opinon. I tried the 4x5 for portrait work, much too slow. But some people are much better (most are) than I am with the LF gear.

Really, the RZ is the best choice according to many photographers out there, but I would choose something AF because I hate working on a tripod, in the studio, etc. Hasselblad H1 all the way.

Manual focus, in the studio : RZ67 with a portrait lens, maybe a soft focus lens

AF in the studio or out : Hasselblad H1 (but for your budget, try to find a Pentax 645N)

Manual focus out of hte studio : Hasselblads, Mamiya 645s. Mostly the Mamiyas for cost reasons, and because of the HUGE range of gear for the 645s.
 
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