lens for portrait with Canon 50d

quietandy

quietandy

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Hello. I have been asked to do a photo shoot for a friend and her young kid. Now i have never done any photography which involves humans never mind a human child as i mainly shoot landscapes. I need advice on lens selection.

I have been looking at both the Sigma and Canon 24-70 f2.8 and also a sigma 17-50mm f2.8.

Which would you suggest.

Your input would be much appreciated and any other suggestions would be great to consider.

Thanks in advance
 
85mm 1.8. Its a prime but its beautiful. I have the 24-70 and its a good workhorse but expensive. I shoot most of my portraits with the 85mm. Very sharp and a good price second hand.
 
I have never considered a prime as i think they are not that versitial (spelling?). I am not talking for use in a controlled environment as in a studio so would a zoom not be better suited?
 
I did a studio shoot course a few weeks ago and he told us to use a 70-200 if we had one.

So I agree the 85mm gets excellent reviews but I also think a zoom in more versatile so its up to you as to what you shoot most.
 
I think the 85mm 1.8 would be great in a controlled environment but as it's not going to be in a studio you could well want the versatility of a zoom. I don't know what your setting/environment would be but the 70-200 could prove to be too long on the 50d, again it could be great in a studio but from what I gather that's not what you're going to be doing and you need something wider ?

I normally use my 24-70 2.8 when taking photo's of the kids at home, whether using my 5d2 or previously my 7d. I've also tried a 50mm 1.8 (nifty fifty) which was OK and a 100L but the 100mm was just too long on my 5d2 for the rooms it was being used in.
 
I like primes myself but to be honest they only offer advantages over zooms in certain specific instances.

The offer wider apertures but if you're shooting stopped down that advantage may not matter, they may be macro but macro isn't required for portraits and they may have nicer bokeh but what's better is quite subjective.
 
Something fast and long and take them out to the woods or local park

(I presume you are not hiring a studio, in which case just make sure it is big and very well equipped). Most importantly though you need to know what you are doing
 
The bad news:
There's no such thing as 'an ideal lens for portraits'


The good news:
There's no such thing as 'an ideal lens for portraits'.

Bad because - there's no instruction or formula that'll create a great picture for you.

Good because it's purely up to your imagination.

What do you want to achieve?

environmental, capturing natural interaction in a natural environment? A standard lens is perfect for this, if you're going to low light then you might consider a std or slightly wider prime 24mm or 30mm.

If you want to compress perspective, blur an untidy background etc, then a fast telephoto will do, whether a prime or zoom. The 85mm 1.8 is awesome for this the 70-200 is more versatile but costs a lot more.

More than all of this is the people skills and an appreciation of lighting.
 
Surely an 85mm is too long for portraiture on a crop sensor. What about a 50mm, and perhaps a 430mkii and a yongnu remote and trigger?
 
Lostgear said:
]Surely an 85mm is too long for portraiture on a crop sensor[/B]. What about a 50mm, and perhaps a 430mkii and a yongnu remote and trigger?
Click to expand...

I was writing something complicated, but I'm settling for No!;)
 
Woah! suddenly all this negativity towards primes?

Take a step closer or a step back for your zoom options. For £200 odd pounds, you get a super sharp lens, relatively light in weight and more compact, also faster aperture.

Although 70-200 is nice, but they are expensive and heavy.

To be honest, most of the times I'd just use my 24-105mm for portraits as I find even the 85mm is heavier than I'd liked. Set around 70-105mm f4, with the sun to the side and use a fill flash.

For crop sensor, perhaps a 50mm f1.4 is the answer? The plastic-fantastic is a good starting point, see how it fairs and then decide whether you want a heavy f2.8 monster.
 
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