Portrait Lenses - Which one is the best?? - New Article

[jason324]

I get this question all the time So I new it was time to write up an article on portrait lenses and recommendations and I've been working on this for a few weeks now. I'll go over depth of field as it relates to focal length, aperture, distance to the subject, and crop factor. Why some glass is better than others, and for what reason? What distance is optimal and at what focal lengths? Recommended Glass!

• Distance to subject and perspective
• Focal length and perspective
• Distortion
• Aperture
• Sharpness
• Bokeh
• Cost
• Image stabilization

http://jhpvideotutorials.com/2011/04/25/portrait-lenses-which-one-is-the-best/http://jhpvideotutorials.com/?p=4180

Best,
Jay

 

[jason324]

Updated broken link.

 

[flea77]

No offense but it's hard for me to take an article seriously that talks about the best portrait lenses but leaves out the Nikon 85mm lenses, possibly the most used portrait lenses out there, and of course the DC series of lenses which were manufacturer specifically for portraits.

Allan

 

[Josh66]

No offense but it's hard for me to take an article seriously that talks about the best portrait lenses but leaves out the Nikon 85mm lenses, possibly the most used portrait lenses out there, and of course the DC series of lenses which were manufacturer specifically for portraits.

Allan

Not that surprising when you consider that there is not a single prime lens in the lineup...

You would think that someone who is concerned with "why some glass is better than others" would have tested at least one prime...

 

[Boyun]

If you are using the word portrait in the traditional sense, as define in the dictionary, not a snapshot. The subject, the person in the picture, is going to be some what in a fixed location. Then you have to ask yourself, how you are going to communicate with your subject. If this person is going to be comfortable with the super-wide angle less than a meter in front of her face. If you are using a super-telephoto, do you have a loud speaker with you. Nowadays, many use zoom lenses that make the choices easier. For the same lenses, I can also switch between a crop sensor (APS sensor) body and full frame body.

The best portraits are not made by best camera equipment but by the people in front and behind them. I would start with a 50mm on a APS sensor body, or a 85mm on a full frame body.

 

[Josh66]

I would start with a 50mm on a APS sensor body, or a 85mm on a full frame body.

Agreed. Though I may step it up a notch and say 85mm on the crop body and 135mm on the full frame.

 

[jason324]

No offense but it's hard for me to take an article seriously that talks about the best portrait lenses but leaves out the Nikon 85mm lenses, possibly the most used portrait lenses out there, and of course the DC series of lenses which were manufacturer specifically for portraits.

Allan

Not that surprising when you consider that there is not a single prime lens in the lineup...

You would think that someone who is concerned with "why some glass is better than others" would have tested at least one prime...

Thanks for the comments and feedback guys. I'm not sure what article you were reading Flea77, but there are several primes in the article!!

If you are using the word portrait in the traditional sense, as define in the dictionary, not a snapshot. The subject, the person in the picture, is going to be some what in a fixed location. Then you have to ask yourself, how you are going to communicate with your subject. If this person is going to be comfortable with the super-wide angle less than a meter in front of her face. If you are using a super-telephoto, do you have a loud speaker with you. Nowadays, many use zoom lenses that make the choices easier. For the same lenses, I can also switch between a crop sensor (APS sensor) body and full frame body.

The best portraits are not made by best camera equipment but by the people in front and behind them. I would start with a 50mm on a APS sensor body, or a 85mm on a full frame body.

Excellent! Very well said and great advice

Best,
Jay

 

[flea77]

I'm not sure what article you were reading Flea77, but there are several primes in the article!!

You may have missed that I was not the one who said there were no primes, I said there were no Nikon 85mms which are massively popular as portrait lenses, and no DC series lenses which are specifically designed/built/marketed as portrait lenses. Unless of course I missed something.

Allan

 

[ghache]

After trying a nikon 135 DC, i might sell my mother to buy one it is trully the best portrait lens. the boken/sharpness wide open on that thing is just sick

 

[outdoors]

Nice article. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

 

[jason324]

After trying a nikon 135 DC, i might sell my mother to buy one it is trully the best portrait lens. the boken/sharpness wide open on that thing is just sick

Oh yeah 135mm rules!

Nice article. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

Your very welcome, and thanks for the comments!

Best,
Jay