BIG ROB Loc: Princeton, NJ 08540

If you compare, three photographic images, all shot on a Nikon DX Crop Body DSLR, taken of a pretty woman, who has a "large" nose, and "very strong" jaw; and those images are shot, using lenses, having three different Focal Lengths, one of them, a 50 mm, one an
85 mm, and the last a 200 mm lens.

The DX body, having a Crop Factor of 1.5 X, would yield 35 mm "effective focal lengths," of: 50=75 mm, 85=127.5 mm, &
200=300 mm.

Which of those three lenses, would provide, the most, FLATTERING image, of that woman's face?

Which of those three lenses, would provide, the most ACCURATE image of that woman's face?

Why would this be so, for those two lenses?

I thank you very much...Rob.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Telephoto lenses tend to compress the scene therefore the 200mm would be most flattering if shot straight on de-emphasizing the noise and jaw.

Also, assuming enough room the distance would allow more comfort between subject and photographer. Many people get nervous in such situations.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Rob, I can't actually answer your question and Joer has stated the more flattering lens.
But maybe I can shed some light on the why.
If you park two cars side by side, but one ten feet in front of the other. Then move 20 feet in front of them you can easily see that one is ten feet in front of the other. Now back up another thousand feet and it's pretty hard to tell which is in front of the other and by how much, if at all! Now compress that 1000 feet into 200 feet as a long tele would do and it gets even harder to tell(the tip of the nose from the face)!
I'm not where I can post anything but I recently posted a very good example of the compression effect of a tele lens.
Go back to page 6 and half way down is a post by Mogul, titled "Capturing Fast Action". About 1/2 way down the first page is a baseball shot I posted. It's a perfect example of big lens compression. Can you tell how far the batter is from the ball/pitcher?! The nose thing you mentioned is the same thing on a smaller scale!!
I'm sure many others will fill you in with the exact details of your question. ;-)
SS

tinplater Loc: Scottsdale, AZ

Also important is attention to lighting, particularly shadows and flattering posing.

BigBear Loc: Northern CT

The distance that your subject is from the focal plane and lighting has more to do with image quality than which lens you are using.

BIG ROB Loc: Princeton, NJ 08540

I knew that this would hold true, for a 200 mm lens, on a full frame body, where it was effectively, 200 mm, but was not sure, if it would still hold true, when carried to the extreme, of the effective 300 mm, of the crop bodied DX camera's focal length.

Also, although the (200 mm)/"300 mm" would be the Most Flattering Lens, due it's characteristic, of compressing the image. I believe, that the 50 mm lens, would be the one to portray the face, the most Accurately, to that which it appears to be, in real life. As it has, the least, compression (distortion). What do you, think?

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Well..here's a great head to head comparison that you can evaluate. Sharpshooter is right. It's the DISTANCE that does it. (stretch or compress)

http://photoandcoffee.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/focal-length-and-portraits/

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Great link!

Tracy B. Loc: Indiana

Perfect link for this subject.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

:thumbup: best answer...

We choose longer lenses *so we MUST back up* to keep the same composition we would get with a shorter lens. BTW, a 200 mm lens produces the exact same degree of facial foreshortening --- at the same distance --- on ANY sensor format. Only the field of view (crop) changes. The changing crop causes us to back up, and it's the increase in distance that increases foreshortening.

jimbrown3 Loc: Naples, FL

Foe a single person I used a 105 on a full frame body for years, professionally, as a full time pro.

jimbrown3 Loc: Naples, FL

Foe a single person I used a 105 on a full frame body for years, professionally, as a full time pro. So, 85mm on your crop will be the the best if a prime.

jimbrown3 Loc: Naples, FL

P.S. I also used a mild diffuser for "older" (wrinkles) subjects. They loved it.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Many top end pros use 300 2.8's on full frame.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

There are other links that are even more dramatic and go out as far as 200mm.