[Todd Adamson]

Great shot

Thanks!

[paperbag846]

My ideal would be the 55 1.4, in a non WR package.

[freewheeler]

Voigtlander Nokton 58/1.4
No need for AF in taking portraits.
Distance to subject just right.
If it has to be more versatile a Tamron 28-75/2.8
For environmental portrats 28mm/30mm is ideal for me.

[Marc Sabatella]

well it's not entirely true that 77mm on ff is equivalent to 50mm on crop......50mm is still 50mm, just cropped, so its angle of view is similar to 77. besides than - nothing in common

Perhaps so, but angle of view is the one and only reason why specific focal lengths have particular uses for portraiture. Any particular 50mmk lens might not replace the other aspects of any particular 77mm lens (yes, I know, there is only one), but as focal lengths go, 50 does indeed stand in for 77 perfectly. No 77mm lens gains any special qualities by mere virtue of being a 77mm lens that would cause a 50 cropped to not duplicate it.

[dreamfoto]

I would expect - ALL of those (... put your favorite lens here... ... ) to be EASILY outperformed by the mighty Samyang 85/f1.4

which costs 300 EUR... New! and is a specialized.... po? po?

yes! - PORTRAIT lens

[KLSMpls]

Unless you need a fast lens, the 50 - 135 is stellar and offers the flexibility of a zoom. It is what I use for all my portrait work. Love it!

[jstevewhite]

The examples you gave are, most probably, done with full-frame cameras. Just to be clear. That said, if you control the environment, you can alter your subject's relationship with the background, and the relative distance to the background, and use longer lenses. A 50-135 will give excellent separation at the long end.

Here's a portrait of my daughter that I did with the 50-135, experimenting with the "Brenizer Method" or "Bokeh Panorama":

[SpecialK]

Do you want a sharp lens, or one that will make older women look good?

[LenWick]

Thanks for posting examples - I looked through a little of Jasmine Star's work and she appears to me to be all over the map in terms of focal length (lucky girl!) - some likely out in the 200 range - if you are looking for standout portfolio stuff, and can control your scene well (as mentioned earlier) then try for the 50-135 - f2.8 is plenty fast to mimick the work you like - most which appears to be shot between 2.8 and 4.5 anyway. Try manually focusing your fast 50 on your k-x before jumping into the manual lenses referenced - I have no reason to believe that they are not wonderful, but manual focus through the kx viewfinder would be hard for me to pull off. If the 50-135 is out of budget then I would go for a used copy of the 77mm -

Here's a shot from the 77 at f2, showing off some 'pop'

[axl]

From the discused and not discused lenses I've tried following that I would consider good portrait lenses:
43ltd, K50/1.2, A50/1.4, FA501.4, K50/1.4, F50/1.7, A50/1.7, DA*55/1.4, K55/1.8, FA77ltd, M85/2, FA100/2.8, FA135/2.8, DA*50-135, Tamron 70-200. Out of all of those I kept the DA*55 only. I think that says enough on it's own.

I have to add, it all depends on how intimate/far you like being from your subjects. For me anything over 55 is too long working distance for comfort.

[GibbyTheMole]

It depends on the situation, but for most portraits I use either my SMC Pentax M 50mm F1.4 prime for low-light conditions. (It's fast & I like the image quality from it.)

... or my SMC Pentax-A 35-105mm F3.5 zoom. (Slower, but great IQ, and the zoom is in a range well suited for portraits.)

But lens choice varies from person to person, so...

[jstevewhite]

It depends on the situation, but for most portraits I use either my SMC Pentax M 50mm F1.4 prime for low-light conditions. (It's fast & I like the image quality from it.)

... or my SMC Pentax-A 35-105mm F3.5 zoom. (Slower, but great IQ, and the zoom is in a range well suited for portraits.)

But lens choice varies from person to person, so...

Oh, man I miss my F 35-105 f3.5-4.0 zoom. Wish I'd never sold that beast.

[Winder]

well it's not entirely true that 77mm on ff is equivalent to 50mm on crop......50mm is still 50mm, just cropped, so its angle of view is similar to 77. besides than - nothing in common

Working distance is one of the most important factors in selecting a lens and from that stand point 50mm is going to get you to 75mm.

As far as how a 50mm renders compared to a 77mm..... there is very little difference as far as distortion and compression.

[RioRico]

M42 Sears-Tokina 55-135/3.5

[Winder]

Do you want a sharp lens, or one that will make older women look good?

I can soften the look up in post very quickly. I want sharp glass.