[Leica] Headshot lens

[Craig Semetko <csemetko@earthlink.net>]

Hello All,

 I am considering doing headshots for actors as I live in LA and am an actor
myself. I currently have an M6TTL am considering using my skinny 90
tele-elmarit 2.8. I am not totally confident in it's ability to do this
well. I also have an R7 and the 80-200 zoom F4. I have a few questions. How
wide does the f-stop have to be to get the eyes in focus and the ears
slightly blurry and the shoulders a little blurrier, but still discernable?
I would attempt to do shots like that of the blonde woman in the second
picture at this web address:

http://hometown.aol.com/mjrgold/index.html

A friend of mine recently had his shots done by this photographer and the
contact sheets looked very good. Evidently, the photographer shoots in front
of his open garage in natural light with a single reflector pointed up at
the eyes. The eyes are in focus, we start to lose it at the ears and the
contents of the garage are completely shapeless.

More questions:

Will the tely at 2.8 accomplish this look? Will the 80-200 at 4 accomplish
this look, and if so, better and easier than the tely? Would the current
Elmarit at 2.8 be a better choice? It's considerably cheaper and somewhat
smaller than the APO and would probably go with me more often on travel
shoots, or should I bite the bullet and get the 90 APO? What about a 100 APO
macro? An f2 180 is out of the question because of cost and weight, but a
used 180 f2.8 might be doable.  Are the APO's or new Elmarit going to be too
sharp for actors headshots? I am finding my general use photography does not
use long lenses so I would prefer sticking to the M, but if the R will be
easier and more appropriate then I would consider keeping it and the zoom or
trading in the zoom for a fixed portrait.

While I'm at it, does the color on the current 90 elmarit match the other
aspheric lenses?

Thanks in advance for your help. If you can only get through one or two
answers I'd still appreciate it.

Cheers,

Craig