i am getting the pentax 67 body friends birthday and i want to get one decent lens for it. he does mostly people in cityscapes: documentary/observational photography. i am getting it second hand. what would you recommend? I am thinking of the 75/4.5.

also is there a good lens for studio photography for the same camera, ie for photographing brochures/visiting cards with short focal length?

-- J Jenkins (parisimmma@yahoo.co.uk), February 01, 2002

Answers

Cityscapes and people in one lens is pushing things a little bit- conventional wisdom is that for portraits you generally want a long-ish lens, supposedly it makes for more pleasing proportions. For landscpaes and cityscapes a wide lens is nice, though the wider you go, the more likely you'll notice distortion, especially with buildings (linear objects) in the shot. A perfect set-up IMO would be the 55-100 zoom, the new 100-180 zoom and the 75-shift. Yikes, serious $$, especially if it's a gift! Both of the zooms are expensive, but personally I'd go for one or the other of those. I have the 55-100 and love it and I'm seriously coveting the long zoom. If your friend leans more toward the cityscapes I'd go for the wider one, if it's more toward people/portraits go for the 100-180.

-- Tom Gorman (honeychrom@aol.com), February 01, 2002.

J,

Those zooms are terrifically expensive. I shoot a lot of people in the city (I mean, with my camera . . .) and I just love the 165 mm lens. It is very fast (f2.8), has outstanding bokeh, and lets you get a little ways away from the subject -- you don't have to go poking your camera in people's faces.

Also, it works very well as a portrait lens. That would be my pick. But you are going to have to decide, wide or long. Each lens is limiting in its ways. The 75 is a good choice, too. They are all outstanding lenses, you just need to pick the right focal length. If I were you, I'd probably ask him, or buy the lens from a shop where he can return it for another if he prefers.

-- Erik Ryberg (ryberg@seanet.com), February 01, 2002.

just to clarify, when i say people, i mean within the built environment, not close up portraits. budget is pretty much for one lens, and not the most exp!

thanks very much for your contributions.

jj

-- j jenkins (parisimmma@yahoo.co.uk), February 02, 2002.