choice of lense size for portraiture
Jan 6, 2014 10:09:59 #
amehta
Loc: Boston
Anandnra wrote:
An excellent dissertation Anand ... you are very knowledgable!
Your namesake.
Your namesake.
Thanks, and welcome, newbie! (I was here 5 days before you!!! ;-) )
Jan 6, 2014 10:15:30 #
I have Canon cropped and FF bodies. I use a Canon 100mm Macro prime for my portraits and headshots and am very pleased with the results. I also have the 24-105mm which is a good all around lens and I believe you can get the M3 with the 24-105 as a bundle. The main point is portraits should be 80-100mm with a fast lens. This gives you sharp facial features and blurs the background nicely.
Jan 6, 2014 10:25:51 #
Jan 6, 2014 10:37:41 #
Canon, as a prime on full frame, 100 F2 or 135 soft focus for the fussy advanced portraits. As mentioned, the 70-200 2.8 is OK and versatile - but you will not want to hand hold it for very long - if at all. Portraiture, like most close photography, is more about the out of focus areas.
Jan 6, 2014 10:42:44 #
CTphotogGuy wrote:
...Okay...to my question. If I am going to do portrait photography, can I do it with a zoom lens such as a 24-105, or a 24-70....
Any lens can be used for portraits if you don't get too close or too far from your subject. Between about 7 and 15 feet is a good distance to avoid distorting or flattening the features.
If your subject does not fill enough of the frame, use a longer focal length. If you want a full or half body shot, a shorter focal length is OK. Anyone who advocates a specific focal length is just letting the lens tell them how close to get.
Zoom lenses are fine for potraits. Ladies may not want you to use the sharpest lens, old men may not object and kids could care less.
Jan 6, 2014 11:25:38 #
Portraits often have simple backgrounds so emphasis is on the person, but complex backgrounds such as with candid photos can be made simple with a very fast lens with a wide open aperture . Moderate telephoto will also reduce the depth of field allowing for a blurred background without the haze you might see with a long telephoto. I agree with others who mentioned 105mm Nikkor....wish I had still one.
Jan 6, 2014 11:33:08 #
Joe Zeltsman--who certainly was one of the greatest ever (I'll change these to 35mm lengths) would use a 50mm for groups, and a 105mm for individuals. That said, Scott Kelby (buy and read his book "Shoot it, Retouch it") uses a 75-200 for most everything. Stan uses a 85mm on groups and a 105 defocus or the 85 on individuals--a zoom would work just as well. There are things "out to get you"--and unless you are using a tripod, good lens shade, a cable release, and color balancing your raw images you are tossing out about 20% of your picture quality.
Stan
Stan
Jan 6, 2014 11:47:22 #
AntonioReyna wrote:
You can go either way. "Purists" will say that you have to have a prime lens, but I have gotten amazing results with Canon 24-105 on full frame body. Whether full frame or crop sensor, 80-100, with good composition, gives you a very nice portrait. I also like the Canon 85/1.8 lens for portraits. I used to have the Canon 135/2.8 soft focus lens which was very sharp and super for portraits.
I agree with the 24-105 or 85 mm. Antonio mentions purchasing a full frame camera. This pick would be nice for portraiture.
:thumbup: :thumbup:
Jan 6, 2014 12:01:36 #
Keep in mind that after about 10 years of age, a softer, less precise lens is preferred, especially for adults - the older the adult, the softer the lens. For 35mm portraits I often used an ancient lens swiped from a Kodak #3 folder and adapted to the Canon. I also used my 50mm lens wide open with a 2x telextender to make a softer 100mm portrait lens, kind of thing ...
Jan 6, 2014 12:02:49 #
Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I'm experimenting with portrait photography, myself, and this thread alone has been VERY helpful to me.
Jan 6, 2014 12:04:51 #
The decision to use a prime lens versus a zoom lens is unrelated to the type of photography you're doing; portrait, landscape, still life, etc.
Traditionally, prime lenses have always been thought of as being of higher quality, image wise, than zooms, but I would be surprised to learn that any difference can be detected between a quality zoom and a prime lens. Also, unless you are willing to go completely nuts in this regard, just by good quality and be happy.
Finally, your choice of focal length is relatively important, but again don't go crazy in this regard. Portrait length lenses are generally in the 85-135mm length, for a 35mm format, adjusted for sensor size.
Traditionally, prime lenses have always been thought of as being of higher quality, image wise, than zooms, but I would be surprised to learn that any difference can be detected between a quality zoom and a prime lens. Also, unless you are willing to go completely nuts in this regard, just by good quality and be happy.
Finally, your choice of focal length is relatively important, but again don't go crazy in this regard. Portrait length lenses are generally in the 85-135mm length, for a 35mm format, adjusted for sensor size.
Jan 6, 2014 12:10:50 #
If you look at portrait courses, they will recommend 80 to 100 as ideal portrait focal length, but so many go as high as 150+ in their courses, as I have with great results. Blur your background with a wide aperture. But if you have a black or white uniform background there is nothing to blur and you can then get great results at any aperture. So you don't need a special prime lens ( a fixed focal length lens). I use my 24-105 most of the time.
I have a canon 50mm 1.2 and use it to blur background when needed, but it is certainly not a necessity to have such a lens. Also u need to get close to model which is not always good. If you go to a super shallow depth of field u run the risk of having part of the face out of focus , like one eye out of focus during a side portrait shot.
Welcome to this site, it's great as you said and not too much BS! Lol cheers from Louis in Canada
I have a canon 50mm 1.2 and use it to blur background when needed, but it is certainly not a necessity to have such a lens. Also u need to get close to model which is not always good. If you go to a super shallow depth of field u run the risk of having part of the face out of focus , like one eye out of focus during a side portrait shot.
Welcome to this site, it's great as you said and not too much BS! Lol cheers from Louis in Canada
Jan 6, 2014 12:13:00 #
amehta
Loc: Boston
Dds82 wrote:
Welcome to this site, it's great as you said and not too much BS!
Do you get a special Canadian version of the site for that? :-)
Jan 6, 2014 12:14:26 #
Not sure, I just joined last week and really like the multiple topics that come up. I needed a forum like this where I can ask questions.
Jan 6, 2014 12:24:32 #
amehta
Loc: Boston
Dds82 wrote:
Not sure, I just joined last week and really like the multiple topics that come up. I needed a forum like this where I can ask questions.
I was just kidding. There is some BS here, but hopefully it stays at a minimum. :-)
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