Which lens is best for studio portraits?

Personally, I'd say the 24-105 f4 L has it just about covered (although I don't have one :crying:).

Other than that, a 24-70, and a 70-200. The other consideration is the 85mm prime, the f1.8 is good, the f1.2 is outstanding (but very expensive!)

Steve
 
Depends where you are standing :)

That sounds like a glib answer but it's honestly true. You can use anything from 10mm to 200mm or more. It all depends what you want the image to look like.
 
Studio stuff, with a reasonably still (read: not kids) model/s you could consider the nifty 50, or the 1.4 version. I shot a model with that lens yesterday, and found it excellent. Sadly, I've dropped the memory card somewhere so I've got no shots :bang:

Aside from that, the 24-105 is a great shout, or a 24-70. The 85 might be a bit long for a prime on a crop body, unless you've got a reasonably large space to work in (or are just doing head shots of course)

:)
 
Dare I say the standard 50mm will give around 75mm on APS-C and are pretty cheap to boot.
Just done some portraits and that was all I used.
 
Agree with Matt. A prime lens will enable you to concentrate on framing the shot correctly. The 50 1.4 is stunning - I had it on the D3 and loved it.

For a 40D - I'd highly recommend it.

The 24-105 another tog was shooting with last night - and thats an amazing piece of kit!
 
same here 50mm 1.4, and got some great results

uploadisl.jpg
 
Hi

I use a Sigma 28-70 f2.8 DG on my Canon 400D. Constant F2.8 throughout the range.

Paul
 
Both canon 50f1.4 and 85f1.8 are superb lenses for portraits but it all depends on how much room you have.
 
I wouldnt say you'd really need to shoot wide open in the studio. Generally you're shooting f8/f11 - where the lens is generally at its best anyway - so then again it would just depend on the length you want to use. I use, for studio portraits an 18-70mm [on a nikon] and a lot of it depends on the size of the studio also!
 
dellipher said:
I wouldnt say you'd really need to shoot wide open in the studio. Generally you're shooting f8/f11 - where the lens is generally at its best anyway - so then again it would just depend on the length you want to use. I use, for studio portraits an 18-70mm [on a nikon] and a lot of it depends on the size of the studio also!
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soooo true. ISL STUDIO ive just visited is a large area to shoot in and i had not trouble moving around geting to where i wanted to be, which must be a good thing, even with my 50mm(y)
 
melevo said:
soooo true. ISL STUDIO ive just visited is a large area to shoot in and i had not trouble moving around geting to where i wanted to be, which must be a good thing, even with my 50mm(y)
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Exactly, the studio we use is fairly small, and we use the 18-70, and we shoot kids, so it needs to be something "quick" hence a short telephoto rather than a prime is better. :)
 
dellipher said:
I wouldnt say you'd really need to shoot wide open in the studio. Generally you're shooting f8/f11 - where the lens is generally at its best anyway - so then again it would just depend on the length you want to use. I use, for studio portraits an 18-70mm [on a nikon] and a lot of it depends on the size of the studio also!
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Have to agree with the above.... To me, the whole point of shooting in a studio is that you have a controlled environment, so why shoot at 2.8 when you can shoot at the lens' sweet spot ?

You may well find that the even the 50mm is a bit long for full length shots on the 40D (hence the suggestion of the 24-105). Anything below 25mm is going to start looking a bit distorted, even on a crop body. Most of the studio work on my Flickr site are either on a 24-105 or a 24-70 on a 40D if you want a reference (although some of the latest work was on a 10-20 just for the sake of it).

Steve
 
Yeah Steve, I know people comment about the images being "distorted" at under 25mm but I do occasionally shoot at 18mm for certain shots in the studio with the kids. Even sometimes we make it a feature and shoot from above, so they look a little strange - but its fun! :) All the stuff from the studio on the website is shot either by me, or by DiddyDave with the 18-70 lens. :)
 
Jelster said:
Have to agree with the above.... To me, the whole point of shooting in a studio is that you have a controlled environment, so why shoot at 2.8 when you can shoot at the lens' sweet spot ?
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[picky git] for a creative effect [/picky git]

:D

Under normal circumstances I agree with you 100% :)
 
mattyh said:
[picky git] for a creative effect [/picky git]

:D

Under normal circumstances I agree with you 100% :)
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OK, so you want a really short DoF, that I can understand, but it's not like you want to through the BG out of focus is it (I mean, how out of focus can you throw a plain paper background ? :LOL: )

Steve
 
mattyh said:
:LOL: I was just being picky... although if you're using some of the muslin backdrops, you can get them a bit oof for a creative effect :)

http://www.karlu.com/product_info.php?cPath=769_780&products_id=9932 for example :)
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Unless the background is pretty close to the model, I would think it will be out of focus anyway. I have a little software program on my Palm that calculates depth of field. With a 50mm lens focused at 1.0m (probably not far off where you'd be with a 50mm if you're doing a head & shoulders type shot), the near focus is 1.33 and the far is 1.87 - So about 0.5m of DOF.

With a 90mm focused at 2m at f11, the DOF is 2.31 - 2.71m.

Maybe it's just me, but I think those muslin airbrushed backgrounds are hideous. Personally, I much prefer a plain background. But don't let me put you off buying them if that's what you and your subjects like!
 
24 - 105 over here all the way...

that said i will be trying the 70-200 soon but thats on a FF body..


md(y)
 
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