Which SLR camera and lens for portraits?

[BillBingham2]

F2 or F3 with a magnifying finder with a older 55/3.5 nikkor.

Swap out the finder for a plain prism and mount an early 105/2.5 or my favorite an 85/1.8 and you are all set.

B2 (;->

 

[Bille]

These recommendation threads never lead anywhere... thirty people, thirty cameras.

 

[radi(c)al_cam]

It's almost January, and everything is blooming right now in Florida :]

I'd like to buy a 35mm camera and take some B&W flower shots, as well as portraits. My preference for IQ is the old Leica 90mm f4 Elmar, but for this use a rangefinder won't work.

Is there a vintage SLR 90-135 lens out there that may image in a similar manner? Since I'm starting from scratch, I can always buy a body to fit the lens. M42 mount would be nice, but I'm open to any mount that might give a similar look. I am fully prepared to hear "nothing", as that is what I suspect, but you never know what others may have used.

If you don't want to buy a Leicaflex, or Minolta SR, then I'd suggest: try a «mirror box» / «reflex housing» for your Leica, see my thread here 🙂

 

[johannielscom]

The Tamron Adaptall 90mm 2,5 Macro is an excellent lens for sharpness in both macro and portrait. It can be made to adapt to a vast array of camera brands.

 

[tunalegs]

These sorts of threads are completely useless without pics. As usual, a photography forum with no photographs.

Here's my suggestion: ISCO f4.5/100

Untitled by Berang Berang, on Flickr

Untitled by Berang Berang, on Flickr

Untitled by Berang Berang, on Flickr

Rather common and cheap long focus triplet. Gives a sort of old fashioned look sort of like that of the Elmar.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Your question gets a couple of questions as the answer;

1, Portraits of people or of flowers or both?

2, My experience of flowers is that the exposure is tricky, so do you want a manual camera and a meter, or what?

BTW, if portraits of people then two lenses usually are needed, depending on the sitter; some like wishy-washy, vague not really sharp prints and some like razor sharp, warts and all prints.

The 90mm f/4 Leitz Elmar lens on an adapter and with some SLR or the other would give you the effect of an extension tube for close-ups of flowers...

Regards, David

 

[Tompas]

FWIW, what I use for classical portraits most of the time:

Pentax SMC-A 1.4/85 on K-3, at apertures 2 to 4.
Pentax SMC-67 2.8/165 on Pentax 67, at 2.8 or 4.
Leitz Elmar-C 4/90 on Fujifilm X-T1, wide open.

 

[Timmyjoe]

As stated above, any Nikon film body with the 105mm f2.5 would be great. Also a big fan of same body and old non-AI 85mm f1.8. And if you want to go exotic, try to find a 135mm f2.0 from Nikon, a superb portrait lens.

If you want to go "old Canon", I've always loved the portrait results from any F-1 and the 85mm f1.2L lens, but be aware that's a pretty heavy combination.

Best,
-Tim

 

[xia_ke]

Another +1 for the Nikon 105mm f/2.5 and a Nikon F/F2/F3.

 

[Nokton48]

I would go for a common SRT Minolta model body like the 101 and the like and the Rokkor MC 100mm f2.5 lens for that German made lens style look to the photos.


https://phillipreeve.net/blog/minolta-mc-tele-rokkor-100mm-12-5-review/

Both camera and lens are relatively inexpensive these days .

I will second this. A good SRT snd the 100mm F2.5 are not expensive and are fantastic tools.

 

[johnf04]

These recommendation threads never lead anywhere... thirty people, thirty cameras.

What this should show the original poster, is that there are many ways of attaining his aim.

 

[tunalegs]

What this should show the original poster, is that there are many ways of attaining his aim.

Except nobody has actually shown anything. Or even paid attention to question in half the replies it seems. There are a few good suggestions up there, but most of them aren't relevant.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

The Tamron Adaptall 90mm 2,5 Macro is an excellent lens for sharpness in both macro and portrait.

If you also need macro for your flower shots the above is an excellent recommendation.
If not and you go Nikon the 105/2.5 Nikkor is a good choice, any manual focus version.

Chris

 

[Bob Michaels]

..................... I'd like to buy a 35mm camera and take some B&W flower shots, as well as portraits. ...........

I think you hobbled yourself right out of the starting gate when you limited yourself to a 35mm camera. This is the area where Medium Format SLR's really shine. Even the cheapest and possibly worst Medium Format SLR will run circles around a 35mm image.

 

[Bill Clark]

It depends.

For 35mm full frame digital or film I usually use an 85. I have a Zeiss 85 f1.4 for my Canon stuff. Love the lens but it's only manual focus. But, for groups, I have a Canon 24 to 70 f2.8 that works great.

For medium format I usually use a 150 lens on one of my Hasselblads.

But I make due with whatever I have on me.

I just made a group portrait of my daughters family using a 50 f1.4 Canon lens on my digital camera. Works with the right distance from subject to camera so things don't look too funny and wackey!

 

[Addy101]

You like a Leica 90mm? Well why not get a 90mm Leica? There are Leica lenses in R-mount and there are R-mount cameras. Why not pick up a Leica R4 or R5 and a 90/2.8 (if you want something slightly faster, the 90/2.0).

If you think those are to expensive, most makes have good 85mm lenses that will do the job. Pick the one that appeals to you - I'm partial to the Minolta system and really like my 85/2 on an XD or X700, but if you prefer a mechanical camera, the SRT's are nice as others have mentioned.

 

[______]

If you are looking for just one camera and lens, an Olympus OM body and Zuiko 90mm f2 macro will handle both portraits and flowers nicely. Lower cost alternative lenses are the Tamron SP 90mm f2.8 macro and the Vivitar Series 1 90mm f2.5 macro.

 

[skopar steve]

The Tamron Adaptall 90mm 2,5 Macro is an excellent lens for sharpness in both macro and portrait. It can be made to adapt to a vast array of camera brands.

This is the lens I would go with. I use it on my OM4T and RTS.

 

[lawrence]

I can recommend the old 85mm f1.8 Nikkor, here it is wide open.

 

[radi(c)al_cam]

If you don't want to buy a Leicaflex, or Minolta SR, then I'd suggest: try a «mirror box» / «reflex housing» for your Leica, see my thread here 🙂

addendum:

You can use your Elmar the way I've shown, see: