What lenses to get for Portrait?

rookies

rookies

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Andrew
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I have a canon 400d with a it stock lens which I hate and never use it and a 17 - 40 L lens.

I am wanting something to take portrait so what should i look for

Cheers
 
I would recommend a 50mm of sorts, are you thinking candid or closeup/staged?
 
I'd be looking for something a little longer. 85mm is a classic focal length for portraiture and you can get some nice lenses at that length.
 
hyakuhei said:
I'd be looking for something a little longer. 85mm is a classic focal length for portraiture and you can get some nice lenses at that length.
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what would you suggest then please which lenses
 
Around £250
 
Sigma 17-70 gets great reviews....

I've just ordered one
;)
 
These are two I can recommend, take the RRP with about a 25% pinch of salt.

UK_Picture_EF85mm%20f-1%2E8L%20USM_200_tcm14-69776.gif

http://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/pro.../fixed_focal_length/ef_85mm_f18_usm/index.asp

EF%2085mm%20f1%2E2L%20II%20USM%20w200_tcm14-27047.gif

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Pro...ed_Focal_Length/EF_85mm_f12L_II_USM/index.asp

That said, the best thing I ever did was buying my 24-105L I use it for studio work, including portraits and also as a walkabout lens. Fantastic
 
Smiffy said:
Sigma 17-70 gets great reviews....

I've just ordered one
;)
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A friend of mine got one of these recently, I'm not a fan of the double trombone *but* its a great lens, no doubt!:clap:
 
Sigma i like them got the 18-125mm HSM OS great lens for portraits as well as zoom.
 
But I would of though getting a lens as low as 1.4 would give a nice blur back ground etc..... I would love a 24 - 105 L but it only goes down to 4.0 does it?
 
blur -----PShop ... lens 28-105 great, multipurpose master at everything it does.

Regards Mark.
 
I find my nifty fifty (1.8mm) ideal for portraits and great value for money - anything longer would cause a problem when using my home studio set-up at one end of my lounge.

BTW, is there an optimum focal length for portraits? (I'm using a 400d with 1.6crop sensor)
 
nfulcher said:
I find my nifty fifty (1.8mm) ideal for portraits and great value for money - anything longer would cause a problem when using my home studio set-up at one end of my lounge.

BTW, is there an optimum focal length for portraits? (I'm using a 400d with 1.6crop sensor)
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Have a look herei like my nifty fifty and if your doing a shoot round kids it won't break the bank if it gets hurt.

Regards Mark.
 
mercmanuk said:
Sigma i like them got the 18-125mm HSM OS great lens for portraits as well as zoom.
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this was my last lens very good imo..


rookies said:
But I would of though getting a lens as low as 1.4 would give a nice blur back ground etc..... I would love a 24 - 105 L but it only goes down to 4.0 does it?
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f/4 yes but most portraits are shot around f/8

you only need the 2.8 's and lower for specalized work. imo

all my shots " nearly" are taken with a 24 -105

md

ps any idea what sort of room you will have from you to subject to b/g this could make a big difference..
 
rookies said:
I have a canon 400d with a it stock lens which I hate and never use it and a 17 - 40 L lens.

I am wanting something to take portrait so what should i look for

Cheers
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How much room do you have to work in and how close to do you like to be to your subject?

You can reckon on around ~10 feet away for an upper body shot using an 85mm on a crop camera. If you like to be closer then a 50mm f/1.4 would do a nice job though my preference as an all rounder for head and upper body shots would be a 60mm f/2.8 Macro and use the 17-40 at the long end with flash when necessary for the full length shots.
 
Will I would be taking quite a few in quite a dark or dull room too
 
the 50mm will end up being 80ish mm crop anyhow on a dx frame so surely the 85mm isn't going to be as practical at 100+?

the 24-105 f4 is good, nae cheep though
 
this it's a bit more but could be worht the investment, get it from jessops if you don't like it take it back...no probs these are great as well 30mm gives 48mm on a crop.and around your price range.

Regards Mark
 
..MD.. said:
this was my last lens very good imo..





f/4 yes but most portraits are shot around f/8

you only need the 2.8 's and lower for specalized work. imo

all my shots " nearly" are taken with a 24 -105

md

ps any idea what sort of room you will have from you to subject to b/g this could make a big difference..
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I think portraits should be taken at whatever aperture looks best to the photographer. Just as some feel that generally portraits should be taken at f/8 others go to f/11+ while others will shoot at f/2.8 or even wider. All of the sitter will be within the DOF well before f/8, especially on a crop camera and so IMO all you're doing by predominantly shooting at f/8 is making it more difficult for yourself to lose any unwanted details in the background.
 
Can't go wrong with a nifty fifty!
 
mercmanuk said:
Have a look herei like my nifty fifty and if your doing a shoot round kids it won't break the bank if it gets hurt.

Regards Mark.
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Thanks for the link - very useful - I had assumed that focal length affected perspective but according to this article, it is all about distance to subject.

Learn something new every day.
 
The longer the focal length the better.... that's the important thing.

I use the 70-200 f/4L and a 85 f/1.2L as my preferred weapons of choice and the nifty for when space is tight.
 
Smiffy said:
Sigma 17-70 gets great reviews....

I've just ordered one
;)
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Another vote here for the 17-70

Great lens, sharp as anything! I'd say you need a 70mm length for portrait.
 
You can use ANY lens as a portrait lens - you could even use a 300mm telephoto if you have room:LOL:

You need a lens with a reasonably wide aperture, to control depth of field, if you need to, and you really need one longer than 40mm to control distortion, but you could take portrates with a 40mm lens.

A 'nifty fifty' would be good, as would almost any midrange zoom.

The question is, will you use it often?? If you buy a spiffy short telephoto for £alotofmoney, to use as a portrait lens, and not use it much, then you've got an expensive short telephoto, that's not a lot of use.

Look at the advice in the posts above, it's good advice, but try to figure out how often you might use it as a portrait lens. You could end up wasting money.

My favourite portrait lens is an 80 - 200 f2.8 Nikkor. Magic:)
 
Just my two penneth but if you've got other ranges covered in your current kit bag, then go for a fast fifty. The new Sigma 1.4 50mm (80mm+ cropped) HSM is getting some great reviews (although Sigma do have a couple of quality issues on some bad examples).

Sure enough, for studio shots you will shoot at f8+ but shooting at 1.4/1.8 outside will turn any background into a lovely portrait with super smooth bokeh. (If you like that kind of thing).

Got a Nikon fit one on order, but the Canons are available now.
 
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