[roentarre]

I love Fa 43mm ltd for protrait. It provides a good focal length for protraits and the lens itself is not so intimidating.

[barendvl]

I've been running around with a DA70 for portraiture. As roentarre mentions, since the Limiteds are small they are less intrusive then a big zoom.

It all comes down to shooting distance and what kind of portrait you're after. This decides your field of view required.

So if you require headshots and shoot from 2-5 meters, the DA70 would be great. If you require head+shoulders at the same distance, a 50mm works better.

If you require full-body portraits at the same distance you go wider, but as has been said, watch your lens distortion.

Shooting at 10+ meters distance, having that 135-200mm F2.8ish can really help out!

[tlfaust]

My experience is with barendvl's. I use the 70 and 35 LTD more and more. The 35 LTD is just too useful as a walk about lens, as well...

Regrads

[pentaxdude]

Why not give the tamron 24-75 f2.8 lens a try.Its a super sharp lens and one of my favourites.

[NaClH2O]

For a little less money than the 31mm ltd, check out the FA 20mm F2.0. Great bokeh and pretty good DOF. And sharp enough to cut.

NaCl(wide is good)H2O

[k100d]

For a little less money than the 31mm ltd, check out the FA 20mm F2.0. Great bokeh and pretty good DOF. And sharp enough to cut.

NaCl(wide is good)H2O

i think you mean FA35; can be found under $300 used and is a terrific bargain.

i have the DA21, FA31 and FA43 and had the FA35.

although the DA21 does have the width, the slower aperture limits you in some situations where you would like to avoid using the flash. the FA43 i'm starting to get to grips with now but but is probably too close to the 50 in terms of field of view. i sold my FA35 because i like limited build quality too much but technically is actually sharper than the FA31.

The FA31 is perfect for this and what i use for all group shots. if at dinner, i can get both of my parents from the other side of the table and if i slide back a bit i can capture three people. you can also consider the DA35 macro as well, but it is "relatively" slow. perhaps you can try taking a zoom lens and seeing which focal length would suit you best.

[Grimlock]

Most of the time, I have to use my 50-200mm DA lens for portraits, primarily because my usual subjects (my co-workers) are in too much of a rush to let me use one of my MF lenses. But on those rare occasions where I can take my time, or when I can convince them of the quality of such-and-such lens, I'll use either my 50mm f1.4 K lens or my Tamron Adaptall2 70-210mm F3.5 for far superior sharpness & DOF compared to the DA. Hopefully after my K20d finally arrives tomorrow I'll be able to use the latter 2 lenses more frequently (the bigger, brighter viewfinder will help with my $@#$%! astigmatism).