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Which lens?
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Hi there,
Wondering if you can help? I need to buy a lens for portraiture work. I was thinking about th canon 50mm 1.2 but then I read somewhere recommending a 70 & 80mm.
My question is…is there a definitive range you should use or is it just down to personal choice?
Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Caroline
Hi Caroline – It would depend on what type of camera ( full frame or APS-C) – your budget – and whether you want a zoom or prime.
In order of preference – for me – for a full frame would be ~
Canon 85mm f/1.2
Canon 24-70 f/2.8For a APS-C
Canon 17-55 f/2.8
Canon 50mm 1.4There is a Canon 85mm f/1.8 and a Canon 50mm f/1.8…at much more afforable prices. (€250 and €100)
This is the definitive canon gear review site for more info and research.
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-85mm-f-1.8-USM-Lens-Review.aspx
Hope this helps – but there are probable many other non canon options too.
bren
Thanks Brendan,
I have a canon 7d and have a 17- 85mm lens so looking for a prime lens.
Thanks for your advice, very helpful.
Caroline
Generally, portrait lenses are longer lenses, for two reasons:
a) unlike wide angles, they compress the image, meaning that e.g. noses and ears don’t become exaggerated, something most subject appreciate :)
b) faster standard and tele lenses make it comparatively easy to isolate the subject from any background. The longer the lens and the wider the aperture, the more pronounced that effect is. (You know the drill: Focus on the subjects eyes and everything else can be out of focus if necessary.)
Personally, I would not go for the 50mm f1.2. Even on a crop-sensor camera it is not exactly long and has that shallow depth of field wide open that is becomes hard to get anything in focus.It also isn’t one of Canon’s better lenses optically and is rather soft.
If you can deal with manually focussing, think about getting e.g. a Samyang 85mm f1.4.
Most pros would use the 70-200mm f2.8 80% of the time for portraits. It is very versatile.
I can think of another couple of lenses….but its a start. :)Thanks for that much appreciated! I had been heading in the direction of 50mm 1.2. That’s the second time I’ve heard it’s difficult to use. Will look at the longer focal lengths. I’ve heard that its best to use a prime rather then zoom, is this to do with getting higher quality enlargements?
Nothing wrong with primes. but no, the higher quality enlargement myth has mostly to do with folklore left over from the 70s and 80s when many awful zooms were produced. (It perhaps also stems from purists liking to poo-poo newfangled things, as by their nature they prefer a masochistic approach, which teaches you discipline and vision. It actually is a good way to learn the basics, but more often than not seems to become an end onto itself, a philosophy, rather than producing unique images). – I did start out with one fixed focal length and camera myself and that was a valuable experience. However, over the years I’ve used more lenses and cameras (of all formats up to 5×7″) than you can poke a stick at, spent uncounted hours in darkrooms and in front of high-end scanners, done scientific imaging, exhibited and made murals and believe me, it really ain’t so, one can’t generalize primes being better than zooms all else being equal.
The theory is/was that because primes have to undergo fewer optical compromises, they simply have to be better.
That generally used to be the case, but the argument is totally out of the window with some amazing lens design these days.
Primes (in general) do have advantages in three areas though: 1) size, 2) speed, 3) (perhaps) cost.
Coming from Nikon cameras, I used a 105/2.5 and a 180/2.8 for a while. Both these lenses together were still lighter (and cheaper) than my 80-200, 2.8. I also traveled with e.g. a 20/2.8 and a 35/2; once these were replaced by my 17-35/2.8 I used little else. All these lenses have very good reputations. However, I noticed that optically I couldn’t critically see the touted advantages of those primes and in the end logic/equally-superb-image-quality/workflow/convenience/getting-the-shot (!) won. There are a few, expensive and specialised application exceptions of course.
I find though that people get too hung up on gear, often as a substitute for actually making a statement with their images instead :).So, I don’t know what your portrait mission is (long term/course work/personal interest/wedding occasion/pro-use, etc….?) but I guess if you want to start not too expensive and with one dedicated portrait lens, I go along with Brendan’s latter choices, e.g. the Canon 85mm f/1.8 or 50mm f/1.8 or 1.4, (the reason I don’t like the 1.2 is the cost/benefit ratio not being there), but really, any fast-ish, long-ish lens should be a great way into quality portraiture, accompanied by that very nice 7D. I’m sure you know that for successful portraiture you do have a few other things on your plate anyway though, such about e.g. knowing how to get the light right :) Fast glass, too, helps of course in dimly lit environments….All the best!!!
Wow, what a fantastic answear! Clearly many years of experience there, along with blood, sweet and tears!
Mainly want to get the best lens for doing portraits of my children and friends. A hobby I’m just returning to after a few years away from it. My creative spark has kicked in again and looking forward to covering my walls with shots I can be proud of!
Thanks again for taking the time with that fine answear.
Caroline
Thanks, Caroline,
Just to qualify my previous rant, for your purpose:
The extra stop, or two that a prime lens often offers (there are almost no zooms that open wider than f2.8) can make a difference in isolating your subject form fore and background and in low light settings and primes are thus well liked in many studios in particular.
A few primes, such as the odd (modern) Zeiss and Leitz offerings (but not all of them); some other exotic lenses made by e.g. Cooke, Schneider, Rodenstock, or Fuji are at the pinnacle of lens resolution and performance and would at larger magnification and for certain f-stops and subjects show visible differences to their lesser equivalents. (But the same is true for some zooms by some of the big manufacturers.)
But a reminder that “sharpness” is actually not always the critical criterion in portrait photography and indeed to a degree often undesired. Hence the best portrait lenses tend to be not clinical, but “smooth”, particularly when used wide open and in their out-of-focus rendering.Right, so stupid question alert! Can I use other brand lenses on my 7d? For example, you mentioned Zeiss and Leitz along with other equally sounding Germanic names.
So can I use these on my camera? Sorry, told you it was a stupid question!
each camera brand and type basically has their own proprietary mount. Hovvever, some manufacturers only make lenses these days and those may be available for a variety of mounts. (Tokina, Sigma, Zeiss etc make lenses for Canon. Other manufacturers’ lenses can often be used on another type of camera via an adapter. Nikon lenses are often used on Canon cameras. You usually do lose some functionality though, such as AF or IS. So you should have a compelling reason for fitting something via an adapter instead of just buying a dedicated lens in the first place. Leica lenses won’t fit as the “registration distance” (i,e, the distance from the lens flange to the sensor, or “thickness” of the body) of your prospective lens needs to be greater than that of your camera’s bayonet mount. Nikon has a slightly longer registration distance than Canon, so there is space for an adapter. If you do buy a lens that comes in a variety of mounts, you need to specify which one you want (e.g. should you decide you want that 85mm f1.4 Samyang, or Zeiss, ask for the Canon EF version)
If you want cheap fun, get an onld screw mount lens (M42 thread) and a cheap adapter; in that case you have to stop down manually )or shoot without closing the aperture, but there are nice and cheap lenses out there…..Hi Caroline,
Samyang was mentioned previously, they are also branded as Vivitar, Rokinon, Bower, Polar and Pro-optic but it’s all the same Samyang Glass. If autofocus is not needed and the subjects aren’t moving around to quickly then they are a fantastic value alternative. The 35mm f1,4 and the 85mm f1.4 would probably be what your after. They sell for around the €300 to €450 euro mark I believe and many reviews seem favourable. I’m shortly going to buy a 14mm f2.8 for night and ultrawide landscape photography. Here is a few links to their respective flickr group pages with 7D as the search term within the groups.
35mm f1.4 : http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?q=7d&m=pool&w=1642450%40N25&s=rec
85mm f1.4 : http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?q=7d&m=pool&w=1010496%40N20&s=recHope this helps :)
Adam Porter
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