Best portrait lens focal length

"Richard Knoppow" wrote

The key to this is the viewing distance of the print

.... and the print size. For 'undistorted viewing the subject
should subtend the same angle it did in real life.

But... A telephoto shot enlarged (reduced?) to postage
stamp size and viewed at 'normal' distances so the perspective
is 'correct' defeats the purpose.

The exact same result can be had using a normal lens, making
a normal print and then cutting out the postage-stamp-size
'telephoto view'.

The distorted perspective is what is normally desired from
using a WA or tele lens and is the whole purpose of using
the lens.

An exception would be using a WA lens to make mural size prints
that are viewed from close distances. Unfortunately, I have
never seen this done. Just the opposite seems the norm: to
take a macro pic with a 200mm lens and 35mm camera, blow it
up to 6x9 feet, hang it so the bottom is at baseboard height
and use it as wallpaper in a corridor. The IWICoP (idjits
what in charge of photography) at the Cleveland Botanical
Gardens/Society are deft (daft) hands at this.

If a picture were taken with a 65mm lens and 4x5 camera
(15mm for 35mm), blown up to 6 feet tall and viewed from
3 1/2 feet I think the effect would be striking. The picture
would, of course, have to be hung so the center of the picture is
at eye level. Certainly should relieve corridor claustrophobia.

The effect can be simulated by viewing a pic taken with a very
wide angle lens through a 5" magnifying glass so that it fills
the field of view. All the 'distortion' goes away and you have
the whole panoramic view in front of you.

So back to the original premise: is the distorted perspective of
classical Japanese portrait paintings the reason 300mm lenses
are considered ideal for portraiture in Japan????

Western paintings often have a wide angle perspective. Tromp
d'oeil being the example of the WA corridor photo in old
times.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:T...l_Narbonne.jpg
Unfortunately the photo was taken from the wrong eye-point: the
sidewalk line on the left should be in-line with the painting's
line. Now: what is the shape of the wall(s) on which the painting(s)
is(are) made? Note the perspective of the blue information sign (?)
stuck to the wall at the far left.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com

Jean-David Beyer wrote:
You can
try the others, too, but you will probably not like what 19th century
photographers called "the drawing."


Okay, I'll bite:
What was it that 19th century photographers called "the drawing"?

MangroveRoot wrote:
Jean-David Beyer wrote:
You can
try the others, too, but you will probably not like what 19th century
photographers called "the drawing."


Okay, I'll bite:
What was it that 19th century photographers called "the drawing"?

They were talking about the "distortion" that results from wide-angle
lenses. They wanted the image to look like what was in front of the camera
and viewed from conventional distances. I.e., they wanted a normal
perspective which required very slightly longer lenses.

--
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