What would be the best camera and lens for head shots?

I'm not a photographer and I know absolutely nothing about cameras. One thing I do know is that my iPhone camera is quite rubbish for taking head shots.

I was reading this:
http://stepheneastwood.com/tutorials/lensdistortion/strippage.htm

and realised my photos always come out like 35mm, 24mm, 19mm. They change the shape of my face and exaggerate my features.

I'd like to start out taking head shots then move out to full body shots later on with a different camera. But for I'd like to buy a camera and lens to start out with. I want to make up for the lack of photos I've taken in the last few years.

If you could provide different options that would be great. Also would a camera that also record video mean a sacrifice in quality in regards to photos? Just wondering if I need to go for a camera that takes photos only. Looking spend under £500 as this would be my first camera.

From the article i read I gathered that 135mm lens would be the best to go for.

I personally prefer Pentax cameras… Although Nikon has some really tempting offers… The Nikon D5100 can be had for a really good price and it's a great camera to start out with… Try and see if you can pick one up with the 18-105mm lens and you will have money left over to spend on a tripod or backpack etc…

For bang for buck the D5100 deals can't be beat… There are better cameras though and something else might suit you better… You might not even like the D5100 when you 'handle' it… It really is worth your while doing a lot of research and then visiting a camera store to get a feel for the camera just to make sure that it's the right one… I have the D5100 and the quality is impressive… I highly recommend it.

Just to finish your question off… Any of the cameras offered by Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony will give you great results and years of enjoyment… To get good images though you really need to learn and develop a technique that works.

Hasselblad HD-4 with a 80mm lens. Can't be beat.

For head shots you could use anything above 50mm, really. The higher the focal length the further away the camera will be, and if you're in a room that's not well lit you'll need a decent flash.

What are the headshots for?

If you're taking photos of yourself with a camera other than what's on a mobile phone you'll need a tripod to put the camera on because your arms won't be long enough to hold the camera, and then you use the 10s delay so you can press the shutter button and you've got 10 seconds to sit down in front of the camera, assuming you've got the spot marked where you have to sit so you head is in the middle of the frame.

For your purposes a bridge camera with zoom lens will be more than suitable and you can keep it for head and body shots. No point buying 2 cameras.

Something like the Fuji Finepix HS30EXR, link, should cover your needs for many years. There are plenty of other cameras. The cheaper you go the less capable they generally are.

You could get a DSLR, but that's probably far beyond what you need.

A Nikon D800E and Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.4 is the best combination of a portraiture camera you can buy.

It looks like you could combine a D5100 body
http://www.amazon.co.uk/...004U4UHRI/
and 18-105mm lens
http://www.amazon.co.uk/...001EO6W8K/
and you would have a good combo for general photography use that includes a good focal length for portraits. With a DX sensor, zooming to 90mm gives you the 135 equivalent of 135mm.

That would fit your £500 budget for camera and lens. Now I hope you have another budget for flash and tripod.

A dSLR with a normal/standard to short telephoto lens or this.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...ilver.html

The X5 can do video too and best of all is the price!