Hello. I'm a fan of using MakeHuman for prototyping and creating quick armatures for use in ZBrush on my personal projects.
I was playing around with the tool just now and wondered why there is no perspective mode, then I came across this explanation.
As one of those professionals, I can tell you this is the opposite of correct for character design. You should never model without perspective, and no other professional working in the industry would do so.
In life we simply don't see things in an orthogonal view, and unless you're taking your own reference photos with a telescope, you've likely never seen a human being anywhere close to orthogonally (Even a telephoto lens will have some perspective.). With that in mind, when modeling in an orthographic environment, novices will often subconsciously incorporate perspective into their designs. This comes from either "knowing" what a person looks like, or trying to match a reference which has perspective. In turn, this causes proportions to be over exaggerated once perspective is flipped on.
The correct procedure would to match your software's perspective and distance to subject with your reference material (Even if that reference was shot at 350mm). This might mean changing these settings throughout the modeling phase to match various references. When working in general (not trying to match a specific reference), it's advised to work close to the focal length of the human eye, which is about 35mm, though some people claim as high as 50mm is more natural. This can also depend on how close your view is to the model. Orthographic view is best used for checking alignments. That's really about it.
Anyway, I know I'm just some random guy, so I understand you can't just take my word for it. I implore you to do some research on the subject. Ask around some professional circles like the CGSociety. Cheers!
P.S. I'm not much interested in getting involved in another community. If I don't respond back to any replies, I'm not trying to be rude. I really just created an account here to offer my opinion.