Best portrait lens

AndyB

AndyB

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Now that my wonderful insurance company have paid up for the stuff I had stolen I am on a shopping spree. I still have a strict budget so I am looking at the most useful lenses to give me a selection.

The one I am stuck on is a good portrait lens. Looking at a prime I think and the length I am not sure of. Will be used mainly on full frame so I am thinking 50mm might be a bit too wide.

So what does eveyone else think - what do you use on full frame?
 
AndyB said:
Now that my wonderful insurance company have paid up for the stuff I had stolen I am on a shopping spree. I still have a strict budget so I am looking at the most useful lenses to give me a selection.

The one I am stuck on is a good portrait lens. Looking at a prime I think and the length I am not sure of. Will be used mainly on full frame so I am thinking 50mm might be a bit too wide.

So what does eveyone else think - what do you use on full frame?
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I like the 24-70 for portraits and the 50mm (which is bang in the middle!) for full frame. What is your budget and to get what?
 
24-70L is just perfect. Any faster and you seriously risk missing focus on the eyes anyway.

And a 135L for when you are stood a little further back.

I only have these two lenses now after having loads and finding these were the two I always used.

Graham
 
Have you lost everything? You had quite a collection in your camera bag previously

Canon EF24-70mm f2.8 L, Canon EF17-40 L, Canon EF70-300mm, Canon EF28-80mm, Super Takuma 55mm f1.8 and Helios 135mm f2.8

What did you think of the 24-70?
 
my personal choice on a FF would be a 135L if going for a prime. - mmmmm creamy bokeh and pin sharp :D
 
I love my tamron 90mm for portraits
 
I lost the 24-70mm which was a nice lens. THe 75-300 I am not worried about. The other lenses were at home luckily.

But I wanted to get a 2.8 70-200mm and as the Canon was just too much I have gone for the Sigma. What I am thinking is I can use the shortest end of the 70-200mm for close up portrait and then get the prime for working further away.

I guess I am looking at between £300 and £400 and I have almost convinced myself to get the Sigma 50mm 1.4. If I need wider I still have the 17-40mm

So then does anyone have experience with the Sigma 50mm?
 
AndyB said:
I lost the 24-70mm which was a nice lens. THe 75-300 I am not worried about. The other lenses were at home luckily.

But I wanted to get a 2.8 70-200mm and as the Canon was just too much I have gone for the Sigma. What I am thinking is I can use the shortest end of the 70-200mm for close up portrait and then get the prime for working further away.

I guess I am looking at between £300 and £400 and I have almost convinced myself to get the Sigma 50mm 1.4. If I need wider I still have the 17-40mm

So then does anyone have experience with the Sigma 50mm?
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Well length wise I really liked using the 50mm on the D200 for portraits so that works out at exactly 70mm! Also the longer length will make candids etc easier.
 
85mm will be the next prime on the list but I am now going to order the Sigma. I'll need to do a quick review once I get it maybe :)
 
I agree. It's more subjective. All depends on the user and the use. What I was trying to get was an idea of other peoples thoughts for me to consider. But as usual I ignored them all and did it my way anyway :)
 
I have the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 macro. It would make an excellent portrait lens on a full frame camera.
 
Now you tell me ;)
 
For portraits (on a FF) 85mm F1.2 is definitely my lens of choice, for out and out street photography 135 f2 (or just head and shoulders shots), and 50mm F1.4 for groups/couples.

You didn't say which sigma, but I hope you chose a fast one, F1.4-F2.8 comes into it's own with these kind of situations, the ability to kick the BG into a blur is priceless.
 
Can't agree with the comment about 2.8 being wide enough. To get nice creamy bokeh and great perspective I'd go for the 85 1.4, or the 100 F2 or 135 F2. Shooting around 1.8/2 will give you plenty of opportunity to stay sharp on the eyes and blur the background. Personally I think 50mm is a tad too wide for traditional portraits (head and shoulders) although it's fab for environmental portraits where you want more of the surroundings in the image. For the price I would think the 85 1.8 would be a great buy - the Nikon version is certainly a bargain for the IQ you get.
 
i was weighing up the canon 50mm 1.4 vs. the 85mm 1.8 and decided on my crop camera 85mm would be a tad long for indoors (as the weather is now getting bad). if i had a FF camera i'd be opting for the 85mm f/1.8 as the reviews and all the pics i can find on flickr look amazing.
 
The Sig 1.4 sits betweent the Canon 1.4 and 1.2 in terms of price and quality. I can't justify the 1.2 and I am not really too bothered about using any of them wide open in any case. I'm more interest in the IQ and the Sigma has some good reviews.
 
AndyB said:
The Sig 1.4 sits betweent the Canon 1.4 and 1.2 in terms of price and quality. I can't justify the 1.2 and I am not really too bothered about using any of them wide open in any case. I'm more interest in the IQ and the Sigma has some good reviews.
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Sure - the Sigma 50 does appear to be a cracker but on FF I think something longer would be more suitable for portraits.
 
If it was my only lens I would agree Ryanyboy. However I already have the 70-200mm that I will be using where I need a longer lens for portrait. I wanted a nice prime that could be used for studio work and other stuff and the 50mm fits - for body shots it should be good. I also have a crop DSLR used as a backup so on that one it will work well.
 
85mm 1.8 and 70-200mm f2.8 IMO. Both have amazing AF and really, really nice bokeh.
 
You won't be disappointed with either the canon or the siggy 50 f1.4.
If you say you won't be shooting wide open much I would say go for the canon, it is a little softer wide open compared to the sigma but once stopped down to say f2 it is actually sharper.
 
Canon 50mm f1.4 is a good choice. A great indoor portrait lens for most professional and family photography. And most important thing is that the price is reasonable. The only thing you need to adapt with this lens is always put yourself in a correct position.

But there is no 'BEST' lens. The 'BEST' lens would be the ones behind the camera and the brain behind your 'lens'.

Just talk more about the occasion where you need the lens.
 
AndyB said:
If it was my only lens I would agree Ryanyboy. However I already have the 70-200mm that I will be using where I need a longer lens for portrait. I wanted a nice prime that could be used for studio work and other stuff and the 50mm fits - for body shots it should be good. I also have a crop DSLR used as a backup so on that one it will work well.
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Got you - didn't realise you had the 70-200. That would ceretainly do the job and when swapping out your lens isn't convenient the 70-200 is the kiddie. But Primes are obviously the "best portrait" (to answer your question) lenses and then it's just a case of preferred focal length/size of sensor/max aperture to consider.

Hope this is helping :eek:
 
It all helps - everyone works differently but it's good to pick up new ideas. Personally I am looking forward to working with the prime when it arrives. Previously the only primes I have used are old manual lenses I've been picking up now and then which are great fun to play with but IQ doesn't often match modern lenses in terms or colour and contrast.
 
cowasaki said:
Well length wise I really liked using the 50mm on the D200 for portraits so that works out at exactly 70mm! Also the longer length will make candids etc easier.
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Exactly 70mm? The usual crop factor for Nikons is quoted as 1.5 which gives a 50mm the FoV of a 75mm.

I'll agree that a 50mm on a crop is a good portrait lens, although if space isn't a problem any of the other suggestions are equally valid.
 
current setup is nikon d90 + 18-105vr (i think the kit lens is pretty good)
can't decide on:
- tamron 28-75 f2.8
or
- 50mm f1.8d
 
For Canon, on FF, best portrait lens is pretty even split between 85/1.2 and the 135L 2.0.

They are both amazing, depending what kind of portrait you like, half body or shoulder and above. (depending on how much room you have of course)

Pick your poison, they are both amazing.
 
I guess this just goes to show there is no best portrait lens. A lot of my studio work is full length and I think the 50mm will be good for that. I can add an 85mm later :)
 
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS in natural light indoors is just so sweet, I just love this lens and in 20 odd years I rate this one of the best optics I have ever used, it cover so much so well.

But you may find it a little long ???
 
Well I have a booking next Sunday with a few families so I'll be able to try the 70-200 and the 50mm and see what works.

By the way Biggreyhorse - love the pictures on you website. Some of those are quite inspiring.
 
AndyB said:
Well I have a booking next Sunday with a few families so I'll be able to try the 70-200 and the 50mm and see what works.

By the way Biggreyhorse - love the pictures on you website. Some of those are quite inspiring.
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many thanks

Im sure you will find the lens that makes you happy, I love shooting without a flash, thats what rocks my boat.

Hope you have a good test :-)
 
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