I know you are new and I promise this isn't meant to be mean in any way. http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/search.php?searchid=2861860 Use the search feature...there are a ton of these threads.
As usual, this is another of those "it depends". Depends on what brand of system you already have. Depends on your budget. Depends on what type of portraits you do. Depends on each person's point of view. In general though, you would probably want a short-to-medium-length telephoto, with excellent optics, and a good range of aperture. Please do a search because the topic comes up often and there are many threads here.
My best portrait lens was 6 lenses. One lens can't do all the portrait types there are: groups, environmental, studio, on location, children, fashion, corporate, model/actor, and more. 24 mm f/1.4 50 mm f/1.4 85 mm f/1.4 105 mm f/2 w/de-focus control 135 mm f/2 w/de-focus control and 200 mm f/2
As mentioned, there is no best portrait lens. It depends on what result you are looking for and the budget.
Yes, I agree with what has been said already and your shooting style. I prefer to shoot tight and my favorite lens is the 135, but I am sure it would never be listed on the top portrait lens list. The 50 is always a good, inexpensive way to start.
Thank you to everyone who answered. I understand it varies upon personal needs and preference. I already have a 50mm, I am looking at a 28-75 as my next. I know I can go ahead and search and in fact if you google the same thing you also get a million and one different answers. That's kind of why I asked what you would consider. Maybe I should re word my question. I get that many of you are tiered of answering the same question, especially when there is no written in stone answer so I apologize for that. What is your favorite portrait lens and why?
I have the 50mm 1.8 the cheap one. I bought it to see if I like it before investing in a more expensive one. I do like it, but I don't love it. I have decided I love having the 1.8 aperture although I rarely use it any wider than 2.5. It is very useful in poor lighting like indoors. What I do not love is the fixed focal length. While it's not difficult to walk around while holding the camera, it's a bit more of a problem when my camera is on a tripod.
