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Portraits with the 35/1.4 G

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liquid stereo

liquid stereo

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Between the Minolta 85/1.4G and 35/1.4 G, I believe A-mounters have the best portraiture lenses available. And then there are the 135 STF and 135/1.8 CZ.

Please post your portraits taken with the 35/1.4 G.

Cheers!

--
Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

Lenses: Mostly primes, a few zooms, several Gs, one CZ and a TC.
Camera: A700, 800si, and an M1
 
Shot indoors in a banquet hall (ISO 640 and f2)



Shot outdoors in a park while listening to music (ISO 800 and f2)



--
Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

Lenses: Mostly primes, a few zooms, several Gs, one CZ and a TC.
Camera: A700, 800si, and an M1
 
liquid stereo said:
Please post your portraits taken with the 35/1.4 G.
Click to expand...
liquid stereo, I am interested in the type of response you get to your request "portraits taken with the 35/1.4".

I thought portraits were best taken with 85mm - 135mm because those focal lengths provided a more true image w/o distortion. I thought a wide angle (i.e. 35mm) would distort an image of a face or body if taken from a close distance.

I guess I have used a 35mm to photograph people when I wanted to creatively make an impact (but not necessarily produce a portrait).

Yeah, it will be interesting (and fun) to see who shoots portraits w/35mm.



--
Portraits: http://wdcgraphic.com/portrait2.htm

http://wdcgraphic.com http://curtindale.blogspot.com http://picasaweb.google.com/BillCurtindale
 
using it for portraits is much more practical on aps-c format than ff

shots with a100:













since upgrading to a900, i prefer 58/1.2 & 85/1.4 for portraits.

a900+35/1.4



a900+58/1.2



a900+85/1.4

 
I prefer the 35/1.4G on FF for full body shots.

1/100s F2.0 at 35mm iso800



1/200s F2.2 at 35mm iso800



1/80s F2.0 at 35mm iso800



--
You can see larger versions of my pictures at http://www.dennismullen.com .

“Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” - Ben Franklin.
 
The 35 is very good for close shots. On APS-C its equivalent field of view is roughly 52mm. A friend who shoots with a Canon 40D uses a 17-40 for his portraits... different strokes.

I find the 35mm to be the low end in terms of FOV. But the 1.4 G is pure wonder when shooting people. I can't share more only because the other shots I have are either professional jobs or more personal and I don't feel comfortable sharing those online. Here is a 50mm (1.7) taken on an old 500si. This is only to suggest that its quite workable.



--
Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

Lenses: Mostly primes, a few zooms, several Gs, one CZ and a TC.
Camera: A700, 800si, and an M1
 
This one was shot the day after I bought the lens. I was doing a "shoot-out" between the 28-70/2.8 G and the 35/1.4G.

A700, 35/1.4 G at f2



--
Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

Lenses: Mostly primes, a few zooms, several Gs, one CZ and a TC.
Camera: A700, 800si, and an M1
 
--
Agman
 
nice. although it seems like there's a giant reflector in front of her, perhaps a tad too much light.
 
William Curtindale said:
liquid stereo said:
Please post your portraits taken with the 35/1.4 G.
Click to expand...
liquid stereo, I am interested in the type of response you get to
your request "portraits taken with the 35/1.4".

I thought portraits were best taken with 85mm - 135mm because those
focal lengths provided a more true image w/o distortion. I thought a
wide angle (i.e. 35mm) would distort an image of a face or body if
taken from a close distance.

I guess I have used a 35mm to photograph people when I wanted to
creatively make an impact (but not necessarily produce a portrait).

Yeah, it will be interesting (and fun) to see who shoots portraits
w/35mm.



--
Portraits: http://wdcgraphic.com/portrait2.htm
http://wdcgraphic.com http://curtindale.blogspot.com
http://picasaweb.google.com/BillCurtindale
Click to expand...
William, esp. on APS-C (but on A900/film as well), taking say a full-height or even a waist-up portrait of somebody with a 100 or 135mm lens calls for an impractically long subject distance to fit the person in the frame. I understand the "100/135mm for portraits" rule of thumb to which you are referring is intended for closely cropped head and shoulders portraits.

The distortion you mention happens at any distance - it has nothing to do with the lens, but with the simple fact that things (incl. body parts) that are relatively closer to the camera will be projected relatively larger onto the sensor. The shorter the overall subject distance, the greater the % by which a given person's ear or nose or cheekbone is closer to the camera, ergo the larger the distortion. But on the flip side if you are 20ft away, or more, from your subject, unless you are doing candids, this is not a very workable dynamic for interaction between the photographer and the model/subject. You'd have to yell at them to relax the face, look that way, straighten the back and get comfortable in their seat for a better posture. Plus in any urban setting people will start walking between you in the subject.
 
Definitely.

We were walking through the main library in Saint Paul (MN), looking for areas to test/evaluate the wide-open performance. We came to this room which was a bit of an atrium with a large skylight. Initially she stood in the shadows/corners. I snapped this image as she walked out.

The look on her face is one of mild annoyance because I kept shooting :)

Cheers!
JimU said:
nice. although it seems like there's a giant reflector in front of her, perhaps a tad too much light.
Click to expand...
--
Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

Lenses: Mostly primes, a few zooms, several Gs, one CZ and a TC.
Camera: A700, 800si, and an M1
 
liquid stereo said:
Between the Minolta 85/1.4G and 35/1.4 G, I believe A-mounters have
the best portraiture lenses available. And then there are the 135 STF
and 135/1.8 CZ.
Click to expand...
plus old good 135/2.8 oh and 50/1.7 and 1.4 are not too shabby ;)
liquid stereo said:
Please post your portraits taken with the 35/1.4 G.

Cheers!

--
Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

Lenses: Mostly primes, a few zooms, several Gs, one CZ and a TC.
Camera: A700, 800si, and an M1
Click to expand...
 
... lately. But every time someone post shots with it, they are just damned good. These are yet one more example. Good job of showing how to use it!
--
From the original Pheanix:
'Shoot first (pictures that is); ask questions later'
Keith (me) - the original pheanix
 
The faces are pretty good.
Cheers!

--
Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

Lenses: Mostly primes, a few zooms, several Gs, one CZ and a TC.
Camera: A700, 800si, and an M1
 
--
Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

Lenses: Mostly primes, a few zooms, several Gs, one CZ and a TC.
Camera: A700, 800si, and an M1
 
Thinking back to 2005-2006 its pretty sad that so many talented folks left the Minolta/A-mount fold.

He is, in my opinion, unrivaled.

Cheers!

--
Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

Lenses: Mostly primes, a few zooms, several Gs, one CZ and a TC.
Camera: A700, 800si, and an M1
 
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