MF portrait focal lengths

Kev M

Kev M

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What's a good focal length for portraits on a Bronica SQA. Bit of a newb question, which had it been in the digital forum would have got up my nose . My options are the rare 105mm or a slightly less rare 150mm? I feel a shopping spree coming on!
 
Probably the 150mm would give the better portrait perspective of the two Kev, but bear in mind that if you'll be working indoors you'll need the room to use it.
 
150mm on 6x6 has a similar AOV as 90mm on 35mm. For head and shoulders shots it will be difficult to beat.

Good wedding set on Meduim format would be 40-50mm wide angle for groups, 75-90 standard and 140-180 short telephoto for portraits. (low numbers for 6x4.5, higher numbers for 6x7 somewhere in the middle for 6x6.
 
cherryrig said:
I'm looking to get a 150mm lens but I thought your Bronny already had this lens with it??
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Nah, came with the standard 80mm lens but with a 105-150mm how which doesn't latch on properly!

EdBray said:
150mm on 6x6 has a similar AOV as 90mm on 35mm. For head and shoulders shots it will be difficult to beat.

Good wedding set on Meduim format would be 40-50mm wide angle for groups, 75-90 standard and 140-180 short telephoto for portraits. (low numbers for 6x4.5, higher numbers for 6x7 somewhere in the middle for 6x6.
Click to expand...

Cheers Ed. Normally I wouldn't ask such questions and would work things out for myself but seeing as I've only got a 220 back and nothing to inspire me. If 150mm is perfect for head and shoulder is the 80mm okay for full length or is it going to do funny things?
 
No funny things, 80mm on 6x6 will be ideal for full length portraits, a lot of wedding pros use this length lens on a Hassie body for almost all shots (need a bit of room for groups though hence the wide angle inclusion), and if you have a fixed lens MF camera (some TLRs), that is the only lens you would have.
 
The bronny 150 is a lovely lens to use and will feel great for portrait work. Was my fave landscape lens on the SQ too, for the little that's worth. :LOL:
 
80mm is the 50mm lens of the 6x6 world really so just think of that lens a 50mm and think of all the shots you would normally take with a 50mm..........those can be taken on the 80mm

Then the 150mm is just like a short telephoto lens at 85mm

Hope that helps
 
Chers for all the help chaps, much appreciated.
 
On 6x6 80mm is great for full length, 110mm for 1/2 or seated, and 140 or longer for head and shoulders.

That said, I've done all of the above with a 110mm lens with acceptable results. I think I'll pick up a 140mm for my RZ67 though.
 
I can't remember where I found the link but I was looking into this again the other day and I read that the min focussing distance on the 150mm lens on an SQ is so long that it's hard take a tight head and sholders shot because you can't focus it. Has anyone found this to be true or is it bull? The author recommended using a close up lens on the front of the 150mm to reduce the min focusing distance.
 
Not sure, I have seen images around taken on the 150 portrait which look ok and no mention of croping, but looking at the old Tamron website and info on the lens it says the min focusing distance is 4.9 feet.

http://www.tamron.com/bronica/prod/sq150.asp
 
I wish I knew more about the SQ series, the more I read about them the less like the previous S series they seem to be.
My EC focussed down to inches.
My Bronnie buds say (about the SQ and filling a frame with face) that the 135 and 180 give closer focussing for head portraits, or you can add an extension tube to that 150 of about 15-20mm, but you might have to compensate for exposure, or close-up diopter.
This is something that irritates me a bit about my Mamiya 6, doesn't focus close enough, but then its not designed to take that type of shot being a rangefinder.
I was used to using the EC, and reading up a little, apparently its the closest focussing of any 6x6 slr, nothing else can touch it, not a Hassy, Rollei, Kowa, nothing....:shrug:

I gotta say, it was fairly stretched out at the far focussing end, like the first 6 feet was all within a half turn, then it didn't seem to do an awful lot for the rest (full turn after the half turn).
 
Between the 80mm and the 150mm you will have it pretty much covered for portraiture. I had the 105mm for a while but had so little use for it that I part exchanged it towards the 35mm which was a ridiculous indulgance but got more use.

Depending on how much space you have you can use the either the 80mm or the 150mm for half-body shots. Creative decision here as to how much you want to separate subject from background and how close the subject will put up with you getting with the shorter lens. 150mm is ideal for head and shoulders and 80mm for full length as has already been said.

I used to shoot weddings on the SQA with just the 80mm and the 50mm for the groups.

One of the nice things about MF slr for portraits is that using the WLF allows for much better interaction with the subject than using something with a prism.
 
did you ever shoot cars with th 50mm? I'm interested in seeing how much one distorts a car when it's filling the frame but can't find any examples on flickr. Would like to see the difference between the 40mm and 50mm given the difference in price.
 
Never did 6x6 shots of cars per se - just normal "people arriving" and "bride & groom leaving" ones.

Short of digging out some 20+ year old notebooks to confirm this I don't recall off the top of my head any shots illustrating distortion with the wider lenses.

The only one which does stick in my mind was of a beautifully restored mk 1 Jag which I shot on 5"x4". I used an ancient 2 1/2" lens and got some extreme distortion there but that doesn't help you.
 
No wories I thought it might be a long shot. Cheers for your help with this.
Kev
 
Try Photosig, its a bit of a rigmarole but it's searchable by camera type or lens type.

40mm........doesn't say which Bronica but it might in the text that accompanies each image.

50mm.......ditto ^

Wait for the list to load, and run down the B's to SQ/SQA/SQB there's a lot of images taken with this camera, some may or may not mention the lens :shrug:
 
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