Portrait lens recommendations

[Biomech]

Bonjour all.

I have been, somewhat, coerced into turning my dining room into a studio and setting up chargeable photoshoots. I lack confidence in my work but the mrs is very keen and already has 5 jobs booked and a number of weddings :P

I currently have a Sony a200 with the Sony 18-55mm and 75-300mm kit lenses and an additional 30mm 2.8 prime macro. Having experienced the effects of the prime on clarity I'm pretty keen on purchasing another prime for portrait shoots. I'm thinking around 50mm 1.8.

I don't really have the funds to go all out on a £500 lens, so am looking for something around the £200-£250 mark (bearing in mind I bought the camera 18 months ago on ebay for around 250). There is a Sony lens well within the price bracket, but it's similar to the 30mm - it's plasticy and noisey (SAM).

I have no qualms with buying second hand, and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on good portrait lenses - maybe Tamron or Sigma?

As always, you're help is very much appreciated.

[DonSchap]

Originally Posted by Biomech

I have no qualms with buying second hand, and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on good portrait lenses - maybe Tamron or Sigma?

Back in 2005, one of the things that left us all wondering was, what is going to replace the Minolta digital camera for all these Minolta A-mount lenses we have? Well, it turned out to be SONY, in 2006, buying the fractionalized remains of the Minolta Camera Division.

To this day, there are scores of Minolta lenses available for your a200 camera. I would do a search on ebay for a Minolta RS 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.7 lens. This should provide a sharp looking shot for around $125, if you can find one. Cameta Camera (<- click here) also has a "used" gear department, where you can also find this lenses.

If you are not afraid of manually focusing your portrait lens, then I would seriously consider the Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 (<- click on this link) available from Cameta Camera. This lens can deliver a beautiful looking shot and since your need to constantly autofocus is not really strained with doing portraits, this can be an excellent and affordable solution.

Give it a peek.

[jlansley1]

With not much money I decided to go for the Sony 50mm 1.4 over the Minolta 50mm 1.8.

I bought it from Hong Kong on Ebay, in total I paid 250 pounds (got a kick in the wallet by import charges a week after receiving it).

It is the first 'new' piece of camera equipment I have bought, I usually go second hand.

I paid the extra 100, and it was really worth it, it's an amazing lens.

I justified it by the thought that it might last longer and be worth more when/if I resell.

Shop around for it on ebay.

j.

[bono]

The 50mm Minolta or Sony could be a little to short even on an APS-C body. Usually lenses for portraits are recommended between 85 and 135mm on a fullframe body. These prime lenses are usually quite good for portraits.

If you are on a budget I would buy the old minolta AF 50 f/1,7. This should be around 100 Euro/USD. If you want to spend a little more money you could have a look at the Tamron 90mm f/2,8 Macro lenses. You will have to pay about 250 Euro/USD for a used one but they are known for a very nice bokeh. Just have a look at Minolta Sony alpha lens database - Dyxum.com

Don't go for the old Minolta Macros or for the Tamron 90mm f/2,5 because they tend to have some sensor reflections in the centre of the picture which are not very nice.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by bono

The 50mm Minolta or Sony could be a little to short even on an APS-C body. Usually lenses for portraits are recommended between 85 and 135mm on a fullframe body. These prime lenses are usually quite good for portraits.

The problem with this is that th eOP mentioned he was shooting indoors in a smallish room: anything longer than 50 might be too long for most shooting.