Portrait lens

N

Nitro

Guest
Hi everyone:wave:,
I have just bought an Interfit flash kit to take head and full body portrait shots, i am using the standard 18-55 Canon lens at the moment but i want to buy a better lens.
Can anyone recomend a good portrait lens, I have about £200 to spend.(y)
 
Tamron SP f2.8 1:1 90mm.....if you can get one for £200. Better for head shots than full body, unless you have the distance.
 
Depends on how much room you have in you studio. Can you get a full body shot with the kit lens at 55mm. If so then you could go with the 50mm f 1.8. For head shots a slightly longer lens would be ideal, such as an 85mm. Unfortunately I have had a scout round and both the Canon and the Sigma ( 70mm ) lenses are about£ 50- £100 over your budget, unless, you can get a good one secondhand.
 
I would imagine that a 50/1.4 would be the best bet. In a studio environment it's possible to move closer for the 50 but walls might prevent the required retreat for an 85.

Bob
 
Thanks for all your comments so far.
My studio isn't very big 13foot by 9foot. I cant get a full body shot at 55mm with my standard lens. Does this mean that i will have to go for a zoom(24-105) instead of prime if i want to take full body shots?
 
If you need to get full body shots then you may have a problem with the 50mm unless you use it for head and 3/4 shoots.
Have you considered the 28-105 USM II zoom. It's around £180 and would give you the range to work in your studio.

See if you can try it out at a dealer to see if you're happy with the image quality
 
Ok, it looks like i will have to get a zoom. Chappers sugested a 28-105 USM II (y) are there any other zoom good for portrait?
 
slow down, everybody here likes to spend your money for you :D

you've JUST got the studio light kit so how about waiting a while and getting some mileage on it to work out what you NEED.

if you've only got £200 then you can't afford to waste it

24-105 F4 L IS costs £600, so no chance

Zoom will be useful as you have limited space to work in as there's a limit to how far back you can stand to get the composition. So that counts against longer length primes too. Remember you can always make a cheap long lens by walking forwards with a shorter lens ;). A 50mm prime will be good for head and shoulder stuff, and the nifty fifty (50mm f1.8 Mk2) from kerso is a bargain, is really sharp and opens to 1.8 if needed (but best sharpness at f2.5 onwards and the bokeh is of limited appeal because its only got 5 aperture blades and so you get pentagonal blobs from any out of focus bright spots)

For full body shots I wouldn't be surprised if you are already working in the 18-28mm range of your kit lens. 28mm will see you near to pressed with your back against the far wall which limits the compositional flexibility. Remember also that zooms tend to be a bit soft at the extremities of their zoom range, so for quality you dont want to be on a lens' limit.
Have a look at the exif, what lengths are you really shooting at?

also consider, you'll be wanting shallow depth of field capability so you can lose the background, even if it is a plain backdrop, so you need wide apertures and f4 becomes limiting, you may want to consider f2.8 or even better. All lens are relatively soft at full wide open aperture, so for quality again you dont want to be on a lens' limit.

without spending a fortune its tough. If you want perfection start saving for the ef-s 17-55 f2.8 IS at £600

For now, why not just keep going with that kit lens, but make sure you play to its strengths and you should get some good results. Try to work at f5.6 or f8, and try not to wind it all the way out to 18mm but limit yourself to say 22mm at the wide end to avoid it going soft. You've got controlled conditions with your studio so a couple of dozen test shots will nail the best settings.

If you really must spend money to have a "better" lens for full body and head&shoulder portraits, without spending big money, then the new kit 18-55 IS is being reported to be very sharp, or maybe a Tamron 17-50 f2.8 which would give you more scope with big aperture for shallow depth of field. Go have a browse through the reviews, starting at www.photozone.de and the prices are on http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/cat5.html (including sigma & tamron)


anyway why do you think your 18-55 kit lens is bad?

.
 
Hi Wookie, Thanks for your reply, it has given me alot to think about.(y)
 
Thats cracking advise from wookie. To throw in my observations - be aware that wider than a 50mm is likely to introduce distortion to the model. Either facially if in close for a headshot, or in the outer 1/4s of the frame for full body.....
 
For a studio images, your current lens will do just as fine as any expensive lens. Since you'll be shooting in the sweet spot of the lens - aperture of f/8 or smaller, you really don't need a faster or expensive lens. The 18-55mm zoom should give you enough convenience to frame head and full body portraits.

If you really want to see the difference, try to renting out one of those expensive lenses and compare their images. You'll be surprised!

If you have some extra cash, you could certainly add some good quality modifiers like softboxes or maybe some additional lights for hair, strip, etc.

Good luck with your choice.
 
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