What lens(es) would be best for taking pictures for a dating profile/social media?

[jj6]

Looking for a lens(es) that can be used to take a mixture of headshot/upper body photos and fully body photos.

Feel free to suggest more than one lens if one is better for portrait/upper body photos and a different one is better for full body photos

 

[480sparky]

Nifty fifty.

 

[Strodav]

You will get a lot of different opinions on this, but very common lenses for in studio portrait photography are 50mm f/1.4 for full body shots, and 85mm f/1.8 for head and shoulder shots. While there is no fast rule, you get distorted features if you move in too close and some subjects get nervous when the camera gets too close, so these focal lengths avoid those problems and the low f-stops allow you to separate the subject from the background as well as get the desired background blur. For outdoor portraits in good light I often use either a 24-70mm f/2.8 or 70-200mm f/2.8, but I always have my 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.8 close by.

 

[Designer]

Looking for a lens(es) that can be used to take a mixture of headshot/upper body photos and fully body photos.

Feel free to suggest more than one lens if one is better for portrait/upper body photos and a different one is better for full body photos

Most people just use whatever camera and lens they already own, so do you have a camera with interchangeable lenses? What camera, and what lenses?

The more critical variables for good portraiture are; distance from the lens, and good lighting. If you're going to be making self portraits, take a few minutes to learn what "closeness" does to a person's features, and enough about lighting to learn how to set up "modeling light". It will be worth your time.

I usually recommend somewhat longer lenses for portraiture, if possible.

 

[webestang64]

I use a 50mm for full body and 85mm or 105mm for head/shoulder portraits. But I shoot film (FF sensor) so I guess a crop sensor would be different.

 

[mjcmt]

If you are in a tight space the 35mm on full frame camera is the best for everything but super tight head shots.
Lens is often referred to as 'across the table lens' for that working distant all the way to full body showing environment to give perspective for the event. If you want you can combine this w/ a 50mm for close-ups, but I prefer shooting w/ only one prime lens so I choose a 35mm.
The 35mm is my favorite lens for 'people in places' type of photography.
A nice 24-85 zoom will cover all focal lengths but are usually slower and not so good for dim interiors.

 

[Sharpshooterr]

Looking for a lens(es) that can be used to take a mixture of headshot/upper body photos and fully body photos.

Feel free to suggest more than one lens if one is better for portrait/upper body photos and a different one is better for full body photos

For dating always use the softest focus lens you have and shoot with Snap Chat using the strongest filter they have!
A side benefit is that if your friends see your profile, they'll never know it's you if you don't use your real name!!! LoL
SS

 

[Gobae]

As a base I would recommend a 50mm since that is "supposedly" what the human eyes sees. That said, I generally prefer 85mm (f/1.8). I mostly Nikon, but for many lens manufacturers that seems to be "sweet spot" in their prime lens lineup and they tend to be ultra sharp.

 

[LWW]

Something missed is whether, or not the camera used is full fame sensor or crop sensor.

No a full frame, yes a for or an 85 will both do a great job. I prefer a 1.8 aperture over the 1.4 myself because they are usually a gnat sharper, lighter weight and way less expensive ... and the tad faster shutter the 1.4 gives is of little benefit for portraits, assuming you have anything better than craptastic light, and the depth of field background blur is usually not substantial.

I’m a NIKON guy for nearly 50 years so my comments are NIKON specific, but I would assume them to be accurate across brands.

On a crop sensor a 50 would do basically what an 85 would do on a full frame and a 35 on a crop sensor would be a pretty close equivalent to a 50 on a full frame.

I hope this helped.