[Syb]

Just told my three year old daughter about her fate. "Do they have ice creams in Slavery?"

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Last edited by Syb; 07-31-2008 at 09:43 AM. Reason: Typo fix

[Unlocker]

Hit the London motor show on Sunday, and decided for a change not to go in 'paparazzi' mode, but go out of my 'comfort zone' and instead just use the K20D & 31mm Limited.

Was a really good exercise, really made us think about composition, settings etc. and it was a shock to have to zoom with our feet! The OH was doing the same with the K10D and 50mm 1.4, and we both enjoyed it very much.

Compared to the last show I went to (Autosport International in Jan), I probably took about a 3rd of the amount of shots, with a lot more 'keepers' so I think I have been putting in some practice with the skills I have learned here, and these are some of my favourites!

[Gooshin]

That was funny.

Noup...I just have some limited amount of money in my pocket right now.

Would Ltd 31mm be much better lens for potrait photography than my FA* 85mm?
Or would it be much better walk around lens than my FA* 28-70mm? At least it's most likely much, much sharper lens than that zoom even if using f7 - f10?

are you insane?

the FA*85 is a much better portrait lens, because you have to be further away from the subject, resulting in a flatter image

[beaumont]

I've got the 31 which I keep on the camera most of the time. (I also have an 18-250 which certainly makes the 31 weightless.) Love both the lenses, but for different reasons. One thing I would say though is that I'm in the process of either buying a 70 or a 77 as they are more appropriate for the "portraits" that I find myself taking. (One of the reasons that I love my 31 is the 1.8 speed. But having said that, you can pick up a faster 1.4 50 for one quarter of the price of the 31.)
So in a nutshell, don't buy it simply because it's often considered the most desireable. Buy the best lens, that best suits your desired focal length...
Hope this helps.

[YJD]

Nice job! Love the angles you choose.

Do you have the name/model name for the cars you are showing us here?

[Harmonica]

So 31mm would not give me any real new options or better images? Ok, I can live with that, and put the money in save. I will then use this sum (partly) to buy a new camera body 2009 (or when ever this pro body really comes out). Better AF and more ftps is really something which I want (K20D is just not the camera which I want to upgrade).

Damnnn....I bought too good lenses in film camera time season.

[devisor]

really like how you choose to frame the images.. interesting

love the last car hehe..

This lens combo with k20d looks awsome..

[Edvinas]

Would Ltd 31mm be much better lens for potrait photography than my FA* 85mm?

Definitely no. 31mm is too short to be a good portrait lens.

[Syb]

Nice shots! I like most compositions, but nrs 1, 2 and 6 stand out. You managed to bring in almost all relevant car brand logos in your shots somewhere. Well done!

[Syb]

Maybe this thread helps? It's funny, but threads like this one pop up every now and then, and mostly about the Ltd lenses. So there should be something about them.

[rparmar]

are you insane?

Please play nice.

the FA*85 is a much better portrait lens, because you have to be further away from the subject, resulting in a flatter image

The FA31 would make a superlative portrait lens. After all, people used 50mm on film for portraits and this is close to that field of view. Even if 85mm was the perfect focal length in film days (debatable) you should be using a fast 50 now to get a similar field of view. Ever wondered why Pentax is creating a DA*55? Because they want an 85mm equivalent lens in their lineup.

But FOV is not the whole story. The FA31 has excellent rendering, lovely bokeh, great build and handling, and is fast as heck. Wish I could afford one. But my FA43 is pretty darned nice as well.

Sure is FF suitable, but ....
(1) it's so heavy you can't really walk around with it

Say what now? The FA31 is only 345g which can hardly be considered a burden. I regularly walk around with my Vivitar Series 1 105mm and it's 656g.

[Gooshin]

Please play nice.

seriously dude, its just silly banter used for hyperbolic emphasis, if you (or anyone) is seriously offended.....:ugh:

The FA31 would make a superlative portrait lens. After all, people used 50mm on film for portraits and this is close to that field of view. Even if 85mm was the perfect focal length in film days (debatable) you should be using a fast 50 now to get a similar field of view. Ever wondered why Pentax is creating a DA*55? Because they want an 85mm equivalent lens in their lineup.

you can take a portrait with any lens

the question was asked "would i get better portrait shots from a 31ltd", my answer to that is "no", proper portraits made from longer focal lengths results in better pictures, on average.

if you feel that portaits should be done with a normal lens, well, thats your style.

[jsherman999]

I can't think of a single reason for not buying it if you can afford it.
For that matter, if you can't afford it, you should choose your child you like the least, sell it into slavery and use the funds to buy a 31mm lens.
In fact, if you have no children, you should have one, sell it into slavery, and use the funds to buy that lens.

I keep telling people, you only need one kidney.

The only real problem is... Do it now, wait for the DA* 30 to sell your kidney? because you can't do it twice.

I wonder if there's a market for spleens.....


.

[Harmonica]

''the question was asked "would i get better portrait shots from a 31ltd", my answer to that is "no", proper portraits made from longer focal lengths results in better pictures, on average''

One stupid question more (mainly because english is no my native language)...does the portrait photography only mean to take photos from people faces or also to take the whole body photos? If it means the last one too then I have seen very good photos by taking with 31mm...and that was what I tried to ask.

[Gooshin]

''the question was asked "would i get better portrait shots from a 31ltd", my answer to that is "no", proper portraits made from longer focal lengths results in better pictures, on average''

One stupid question more (mainly because english is no my native language)...does the portrait photography only mean to take photos from people faces or also to take the whole body photos? If it means the last one too then I have seen very good photos by taking with 31mm...and that was what I tried to ask.

well people will argue over the definition of "portrait".

personaly i consider a "portrait" a head or head + upper body image, other people would consider anything with a person in it a portrait.

having said that, using a larger focal length over a shorter focal length will result in flatter (geometricaly) images, that means the least amount of distortion of both the image (no barrel or stretching) and as a result the persons features are not distorted.


most people are however accutomed to seeing portraits and what not with normal lenses, but if you go out and shoot more telephoto stuff you will realize how the perspective has an effect on the feel of the photo

a portrait taken at 200mm really takes you out of the picture and creates a sense of individual space, because you really are standing like 50 feet away.


most often the problem is simply raw space, ie, you dont have it, taking a full body shot of someone in a small studio with a 85mm lens is hard, let alone 135 or 200.



but again, this is just my take on the matter. the 31 is a sharp lens that delivers in every aspect, but again if you are after portraits, you already have a very very very good lens for that sort of thing.