what lens for portrait

[zapman29]

what do you guys recommend for shooting a portraits? I have been using my little 50mm prime 1.8 and really like it. my sig box has what i currently own. since i have my little studio set up i am curious what you guys are using. I know their are some great L lens out their. but being just a novice i am not ready to fork out that kind of money yet.. Once i start shooting for money i might be interested in the future. Let me know..

 

[AmericanJesus]

Sigma 105 EX DG Macro. Its fixed, but it makes an awesome portrait lens. Lots of detail. Will run you about 450 dollars, but it also doesn macro really well.

Some Shots i used the lens for.

 

[davebmck]

My daughter does portraits and she used the Canon 85mm f1.8 USM. It's about $350. The Canon 100mm macro also is a nice portrait lens although not quite as fast.

 

[tirediron]

what do you guys recommend for shooting a portraits? I have been using my little 50mm prime 1.8 and really like it. my sig box has what i currently own. since i have my little studio set up i am curious what you guys are using. I know their are some great L lens out their. but being just a novice i am not ready to fork out that kind of money yet.. Once i start shooting for money i might be interested in the future. Let me know..

Of the lenses you own, the 1.8/50 is the best choice.

 

[JerryPH]

Yes, for most of us amateurs, the 50mm F/1.(anything) is nice, but when you are this close to someone looking to do portraiture, you accentuate the cheeks and noses a lot. The "gerble cheek" look is controlled/eliminated by increasing distance between you and your subjects.

Traditionally, for indoor portraiture, the 105mm ranges were preferred and the outdoor people needed a little more flexibility, so they went the 70-200 route. I have all focal lengths between 10 to 200, and my best results are always at 85mm or greater. Also, in North America, our circle of personal space is about 3-4 feet around, and "invading" that area with a camera tends to make the subjects uncomfortable.

 

[Christie Photo]

Yes, for most of us amateurs, the 50mm F/1.(anything) is nice, .... best results are always at 85mm or greater.

There you have it. You'll get lots of folks telling you to use a normal lens (50mm), but any seasoned pro will advise you to use a short telephoto lens. At this point, I recommed a 85mm lens.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=152&modelid=7311

-Pete

 

[Iron Flatline]

...which on a 1.6x sensor is what happens to a 50mm lens.

But I agree with Pete, typically the 80 - 85mm range is great.

I've shot some of my best portraits with the Canon 100mm macro lens.

 

[Early]

One of my favorite portraits was taken with a 50mm f1.7 and a cheapie 2X converter used wide open.

 

[Soonershooter]

It seems strange that this conversation is about which focal length to use for portraits. I think we're really talking about controlling the perspective of the photo, such as the relative size of a person's nose and face. For reasonable distances, this perspective is determined by the distance from the camera to the subject. We should really be discussing what subject distance we like to use. Having said that, there seems to be rough agreement that people look best when photographed from a distance of about 6 feet, more or less. This distance also prevents invading the subject's "personal space" that JerryPH mentioned.

Therefore, for portraits, I say you should typically stand about 6 feet away and use whatever focal length will give you the framing that you want. It might be a 80 mm lens on a 35 mm camera or a 50 mm lens on a digital camera with a 1.6 crop factor. If you've got more than one person in the frame, you might need a wider lens.

 

[John_Olexa]

It seems strange that this conversation is about which focal length to use for portraits. I think we're really talking about controlling the perspective of the photo, such as the relative size of a person's nose and face. For reasonable distances, this perspective is determined by the distance from the camera to the subject.

Agreed! Shoot a close up with a wide angle lens & your model might not be to happy with you LOL "The dog nose affect"

But I have read where some say, 100mm/105mm is the Ideal portrait lens

 

[Bifurcator]

Me too. 80~85mm (in 35mm equiv.).

 

[Don Kondra]

Two shots, you decide which one makes my nose look bigger :mrgreen:

50mm f 2 @ f 2

18-180mm @ 86mm @ f 8

Cheers, Don

 

[epp_b]

Your expression is better in the second one, but the colours and details are better in the first. Maybe try it at f/2.8 so that your shoulders don't get blurred.

 

[Don Kondra]

Should have mentioned, these were test shots of continuous lights and f values ...

Just showing the difference in lenses...

Actually I think somewhere in the middle would be best

Cheers, Don

 

[Iron Flatline]

One important thing that rarely gets mentioned on this forum: every lens "draws" differently. People often assume the difference between two 50mm lenses is only the f-stop, but that's not the case. Every lens has different types of sharpness, contrast, color, and the way it handles OOF areas. There are a large number of variables that people don't talk about - number of elements, number of aperture blades, and the type of glass and coatings.

There are HUGE differences between Canon's current 50mm lenses, not just the f-stop. And that difference is even bigger if you also enter Sigma, Tamron or Leica lenses in the 50mm shoot-out - and that's just for the EF mount.

Same goes for 80 or 85mm lenses from various manufacturers. And of course for every other focal length. Every lens is different. This also matters in what lens is sharp (or pleasantly out of focus) at different focal depths and apertures.

These differences really make a big difference.