lens for portrait

[bamboox]

i am very new to this. want to know is canon 24-70 f/2.8 L enough for portrait pictures or i should buy 135 f/2 L ?

 

[bamboox]

ps. my camera is 350D.

 

[ShutteredEye]

Since you are shooting digital w/ 1.6x crop, 135 might be a tad long for portraits, esp. if you are shooting more than one person.

I use 50mm 1.8 for portraits, but 50mm 1.4 would be a great lense too. 85mm 1.8 is a good option too.

 

[Digital Matt]

The 24-70L would work great. If you want to save money, I'd also recommend a 50mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8, like Robert mentioned. I have both, and use them regularly, although I tend to favor the 50mm.

 

[danalec99]

another vote for 50 and the 85mm!

 

[bamboox]

Since you are shooting digital w/ 1.6x crop, 135 might be a tad long for portraits, esp. if you are shooting more than one person.

I use 50mm 1.8 for portraits, but 50mm 1.4 would be a great lense too. 85mm 1.8 is a good option too.

got it, thanks!

 

[highbred3d]

From what I have read, fixed focal length lenses will generally give you better results than a zoom. The 50mm more closely represents how the eye sees, and either would be a nice fast lens @ 1.4 or 1.8!

 

[orangetree]

I use a 50mm for 99% of portrait work and i have the same camera you do... the zoom would be nice so you dont have to move as much but, i still prefer the 50mm

 

[markc]

The 50mm more closely represents how the eye sees

Not so much on a digital. It will be either a 75mm or 80mm when compared to a film camera. 35mm focal length would be considered "normal".

But for portraits, that's great. And the 85mm becomes a 135mm on the Canon. 80mm and 135mm are great portrait lengths.
The 135L is like a 215mm, which I think is a bit much for most portraits.

 

[Don Allison]

I've tried several, but because of the 1.5 factor my favorite is the 55/1.8. There's also a 100 mm I use, but nothing longer.

 

[Christie Photo]

I always suggest the first choice to be "twice normal" for a good starting point for portraits. In other words, with 35mm start with something like a 105mm.

This will do two important things: 1) A "flattening" effect,preserving the shape of important elements in the image, especially facial features. 2) Provide shallower DoF, giving separation from the background.

I hope this helps.

Pete