[rodh]

Looking at starting to focus more on portraiture. I currently have a K50 and the kit lens(18-55), a 100 to 300 zoom, an older 28-80 zoom and a 50 mm. Wondering about a good all around portrait lens that is mid range price wise.
Thanks.

[Kaisas]

If you ok with manual focus you can check it out rokinon 85mm

[rodh]

will do thanks.

[Kaisas]

Another alternatives: pentax 100mm macro , tamron 70-200f2.8 , if you have tight budget tamron 28-75 f2.8 you may consider about it.

[Just1MoreDave]

I think about portraits like this: how do I want to engage with my subject? That tells me how far away I want to be. Then what do I want in the shot. Together those suggest a focal length or range. With a focal length I can figure out what depth of field is useful. Then what lens would work for that, and whether I can afford really beautiful rendering or more ordinary.

You can get a lot of suggestions of great portrait lenses that have nothing wrong, but won't necessarily work for you. My current favorite is the DA* 55mm f1.4 but it's slow to focus. So using it for kids would be frustrating, no matter how fabulous the out of focus microcontrast 9 blade color profile blah blah blah. A nice zippy F50/1.7 would have gotten more shots.

[skierd]

Any of the Pentax 50's are a good place to start. I also really liked my DA40 limited for portraits.

[Wheatfield]

Looking at starting to focus more on portraiture. I currently have a K50 and the kit lens(18-55), a 100 to 300 zoom, an older 28-80 zoom and a 50 mm. Wondering about a good all around portrait lens that is mid range price wise.
Thanks.

Any 50mm lens will do just fine. An A series or later will be easier to use.

[pschlute]

Some good advice here. Portrait can mean with a subject in a studio set-up with three or more flashguns, or outside in say a market where you are following your subject around and taking more "candid" shots. The latter will be best served with a faster and an autofocus lens.

You already have lenses in the range 50-100 which on aps-c format will do well for portraits, so which FL are you finding most useful so far and for what kind of portraiture ? Establish that before you shell out your cash.

With portraits, like most types of photography, the lighting is more important than the lens on the camera.

[hcc]

On portrait, the tricks are the photographer and the lens.

First whatever camera or lens, it is the photographer's skills that is most important. Know your skills, consider whether you would be more comfortable with MF or AF, what focal length would work best for you: 50mm for relatively close, 70-85mm for medium distance, longer if you wish to be further away.

Second, get the right lens. Pentax has one of the best, probably the best portrait lens: the FA77mm f1.8 Ltd. This is the best lens selected by PF users, its is regarded as the best AF prime lens "that money can buy" across all brands, and the users' reviews add more.... Simply the colour rendering of the FA77mm is outstanding especially for portrait. In addition the lens is AF, FF and fast (f1.8). The AF is particularly snappy IMHO, likely because it is small lens. Second-hand ones an be found from $500 to $700. (There is currently one on the PF marketplace for $625.)

If the FA77mm Ltd is above your budget, consider the "plastic fantastic" DA50mm f1.8. A great value for money with excellent reviews.

My 5 cents.

[Saltwater Images]

Wheatfield summed it up nicely. A fast 50 preferably with AF is a good start. I sold my FA 50 f1.4 when upgrading to Limited's. These days I use the HD DA 70 and 40 for Portraits however I focus more on lighting with multiple strobes. The 40 is an exceptional piece of glass. Mine is razor sharp wide open. The 70 has more pixie dust than the 40. All that being said I will probably reintroduce a fast 50 to my camera bag soon. I do miss the stunning warmth and superb colours of the FA 50 and wider aperture periodically. 50 on a crop sensor is a great focal length (75 mm equalivency) for portraits.

[Madaboutpix]

Basically, as already suggested by others:

DA50 - modern budget AF
HD70 - mid-range with Limited rendering
DFA100 WR - can do both portraiture and macro, still affordable

Sample shot with the plastic-fantastic DA50 - it also works with human models.

[rodh]

As usual this place rocks. Many awesome ideas and pointers and such an awesome group to belong to. Thanks to everyone.

[KDD]

I rink FA 77mm f1.8 LTD better for Portrait.

[Saltwater Images]

On a crop sensor the 100 WR can be a little long. I've had the D FA 100 for 2 years and seldom use it for portraits and then only outdoors. The HD DA 70 is amazing for portraits when you have the working distance.

[swanlefitte]

I have several choices and i wonder evert time which to use. Last time was intimate at night and i chose 50a 1.4 but i shot at f3.6? It was actually too long. Space and light were at premium. My favorite portraits were at 135 with lots of light and space.