Which lenses for portrait/ landscape pictures?

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robert_unknown

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Aug 7, 2006
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Hi...

I am owning a ContaxIIa, the Universal Viewfinder, and 2 lenses,
one Zeiss Opton Biogon 1:2,8 f=35mm and one Opton, Sonar1:1,5 f=50mm.

As I am new to "analog fotography", my questions are concerning the lenses.

Where do i use those?

I want to start with black and white portraits and later landscape and am wondering wether the Biogon is a good choise for this or not.

Thanks for your advice :)
 
hi,

50 mm with 1.5 must be a great lens for portraits. I use a russian Jupiter 3 50/1.5 and like it a lot. 35mm is not normally considered a portrait lens, because it will distort the faces a little bit, but it doesnt mean it cant be used to photograph people and their environment. I dont know much about landscape photography but I think a 35mm or wider will suit it the best.
 
35mm is great for portraits ... as long as you keep distance.
don't approach closer than 1 - 2 meters (3 -7 feet). don't try to picture only the face with a 35mm lens (--> the already mentioned distortions).

the 35's specialty is to show the context, so best is to use it that way.

but, in general, just do what you feel is pleasant to yourself. don't hesitate to try out something unusual. maybe keep some (written) notes of what you did and why, this sounds tedious, but it helps to speed up the learning :)

cheers
sebastian
 
Hi Robert,
until last month I owned only a 50mm and i used it both for portraits and landscapes without really feeling the need of a short tele for portraits.
Imho a 35mm is good for street shooting but it shoud also fit very well for environmental portraits.
About landscape I remember I read, here on rff a thread, about using 50mm or longer lens instead of wide lenses and it was really interesting, so I'll try to find it and post a link.
Hope you'll have fun with your kit and don't forget to share some pics!
bye
nico
 
thanks for the effort.
i will try it out the next days, and if there comes something out, that is worth
sharing, i will definitely scan it and post it here :)
 
The Sonnar is optimal as a portait lens, as long as you don`t want a very tight crop. My avatar is shot with such a lens at minimum focussing distance. So, no "face-only" portaits unless you crop later.
The Biogon is a very nice all-purpose lens, which of course includes people photography. Heck, I even use the 21mm Biogon for some portaits, and I like the results. Both will do nicely as landscape lenses.
You have two top performers there!
 
robert_unknown said:
sry for asking: what do you mean with "crop" (english is not my first language) ?
Click to expand...

To crop is to cut the photo to another size.

"Cropping out" all of the image that you do not want in the final image.
 
I use the 50mm often for landscape photos and I also use it for full body portraits of people. It is a very versatile focal length.

Raid
 
Robert_Now_Known, you're likely to soon get an 85mm, not just for portraits but also for some landscapes. I am descended from a long line of future tellers, and experience backs lineage.
 
35mm for lanscape scenes
85 Zeiss/Ru/Nikon (the Nikon needs to be one for the Contax rangefinder registration instead of a Nikon rangefinder, they are rare but not impossible to find) for portraits with nice perspective.
12mm cv ( contac adapter - not in production) landscapes
15mm cv ditto
21mm cv (in contax mount not in production) landscapes - some still available new
25mm cv ditto
28mm cv ditto

Lots of nice lens some new production from CV.

Noel
 
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