rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

I am not a "pro" either; I don't pay my bills with photography, but, I've been into photography for a really long time and you don't have to be a PRO to own and use PRO grade gear.

If your interest is in portraiture, then the 135mm is probably not the best advice you got. You probably already know this but, the T3i has what is called a crop frame image sensor (technical designation is APS-C) which means the image sensor is smaller than a standard 35mm equivalent image sensor which is just about the same size as a frame of 35mm file, and is called full frame. The image sensor in your Canon has a 1.6 crop factor vs a full frame sensor. That means you take the focal length of the lens and multiply it by 1.6 giving you the 35mm equivalent focal length of the lens. A 135mm lens times crop factor of 1.6 gives you a 216mm equivalent and that's a bit long for most portraiture photography.

On the other hand, the 85mm will give you a 136mm equivalent and this is more realistic when it comes to portraits.

I have no idea of how much money you want to or can spend, the T3i was a nice starter DSLR that's been out of production for a couple years now, you may want to consider looking into a used or refurbished 60D, the T3i's big brother, or 70D, both of which have crop frame sensors or a 6D which is full frame.

Another option to consider is the EF 24-105 f/4L IS lens which on a crop frame body gives you the equivalent of 38-168mm and since it has image stabilization, you can hand hold it at some pretty slow shutter speeds and still get good results. It's a nice general purpose and portrait lens, a good one to have.

In my original response I was referring to a lens Canon came out with years ago and will soon be releasing the third version of the lens. It is one of the best, if not the best, portrait lenses Canon makes, not to mention one of the sharpest lenses Canon makes and for a non super telephoto prime, one of the most expensive. That's why mine is an original version of the lens, optically as good as the ones they make today but a whole lot less expensive, plus I've had it for a long time. They also make an EF 85 f/1.8 that's not an L series lens but is a darn good portrait lens and costs about 1/5 what the f/1.2L costs new.

JPL

No.

asiafish Loc: Bakersfield, CA

I shoot full frame (Leica and canon) and tend to use 35mm, 50mm and 85-100mm lenses for the vast majority of my photography. For portraits, I like them all. I prefer the 35mm for group portraits or when I want to capture a person in his or her environment. A 50mm is my all-around and the 85mm is the beauty lens.

Keep in mind that on crop sensor, your 50mm acts like my 85mm does on full frame. I'd use the hell out of what you have and only buy another one when you find your 50mm can't give you the image you see in your mind.

Mike 27613 Loc: Raleigh, NC, USA

I read the help. I wanted to attach a file. Do I have to pass some hurdle to be able to do so? I don't seem to have the attach file option.

Mike 27613 Loc: Raleigh, NC, USA

I routinely use 31, 50, and 77. If I had to pick one I would pick the 50 even though the 31 and 77 are 6 times more expensive and 10 times better. The 50 is just easy to use.

Gifted One Loc: S. E. Idaho

I have 50mm/1.8, 85mm/1.2, 100mm/2.8 BlakMac and all work very well. I have 60D crop and 6D FF. Each has it's own characteristics. Make sure that you have enough room if shooting in doors. I have a four car studio.

J. R.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Consider this....with a 50mm you will have to get much closer to your subject and that might make the person uncomfortable. With an 85/90/100 you would be able to back out of their personal space.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

The main drawback to using a 50mm for portraits is you have to be right in your subjects face for a good close-up
The standard when shooting 35mm film cameras was 90mm -100mm.
So can you do it with a 50mm yes

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

FF or Dx makes a difference with relationships. Also with distortion. I would suggest that if you have a FF camera with a FF lens then 50mm is not what the eye sees. Take your camera and look at the scene and notice the perspective difference. You eye sees at around 80mm. But if you have a FF lens on a Dx camera the multiplication factor is 1.5 for Nikon but a little different with Canon. 75mm which is close with a 50mm FF lens with Nikon Dx. And that all depends on if shooting full body portraits or head shots.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Of course you don't need it, but it would be nice to have, right? Consider used and refurbished.

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Canon 85 1.8 is a great lens for the money. Nice Bokah, very fast auto focus, manual focus override. I use it on my apc-h camera which gives a FOV of about 110mm lens.
I like it for indoor sports too, provided you can get court side.

Best,
Todd Ferguson
Harrisburg, NC

O2Ra

For the crop sensor you might want to look at the Sigma 50-100 f1.8 Art series. One lens that can be carried instead of 3 with prime quality or better. Heavy but handy and it'll give you more control over your DOF and low light performance. F1.8 will let in a lot of light when needed. I'm getting this lens within the next year to complement my Sigma 8-16 and 18-35. Guess I'll have the Sigma Holy trinity of apsc. Wish Sigma would do an art version update of the 8-16 with a lower F/stop. I'm not a lens designer and don't know how hard it is to do. I do a lot of event portraits with the 8-16. You have to be very careful about the composition. The 18-35 also is a great environmental and children's portrait lens. At f1.8 almost nothing is in focus so it can create a soft n dreamy look. Just thought I'd give you some ideas, have fun shooting.

OviedoPhotos

Are these headshots or groups?

Carl D Loc: Albemarle, NC.

I prefer the 85mm for portraits. Ther are also quite a few general shooting situations that I use it for as well.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

http://www.thephoblographer.com/2014/09/23/field-test-comparing-85mm-50mm-lens-portraits/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0kbXyOwP4U
--Bob