>> I was wondering if anyone could provide an opinion on this Tamron >> lens being used as a portrait lens? I'm thinking of taking the >> plunge on a serious portrait lens (AF) for about $400.
> I presume you're talking about the 90/2.8 1:1 AF Macro? [snip] Its > a superb all round lens, sharp as a tack, and with excellent Bokeh > (to my poorly trained eye!). Now that would be interesting. I've never tried this particular macro lens, although I am familiar with quite a few other Pentax and 3rd-party (VS1, AT-X) macro lenses, but I've found that macro lenses - in general - just don't seem to have very good bokeh (they're usually a little harsh for their bokeh). If one really wants a "serious" portrait lens (and I personally do like sharp portrait lenses, so a fast 100-ish macro lens might otherwise seem attractive), I wouldn't ordinarily recommend any macro lens for that purpose. It seems to me that using a macro lens as a portrait lens is a compromise (sort of like using a portrait lens with a close-up lens attachment as a macro lens). Again, though, I've never tried this particular macro lens... Fred
