Old Question - What lens do you use in the studio

donkeymusic

donkeymusic

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Morning,

I know this an unanswerable question that gets asked all too often.

But thinking i might need to invest in a new lens, so looking for some advice on what lens you would prefer to use it the studio.

I do portrait work and a lot with children so having the zoom allows me to follow them around and pick off shots.

However im looking to improve the quality of the shots and think a better lens would assist in this matter.

I have a Sony 50mm f1.4 AF Lens and a Sigma 18-125 f3.8-5.6 lens already.

Just wondering what everyone else uses, i may consider a prime.

Any Advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
 
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Any lens with a greater focal length of 50mm tend to make good quality portrait lens, if your up close and using a wide angle you will distort your subject
 
what sort of portrait?

H&S full body, 3/4

How big is the studio
 
With small children & decent space, the 70-200 is a good start.
 
In that environment I find a 24-105 (Canon) or 24-120 (Nikon) works really well. At f/8-10 they are both fast to focus and sharp and it'll cope with full-length to head shots on one lens.

The 70-200 tends to struggle as little ones run around closing in on your and for full-length and you end up with a 24-70mm on a second body.

I honestly don't know what Sony have in that range but for me it is ideal.
 
Another vote for the 70-200, if you can get back far enough. Also helps when the kids move around to feel the whole backdrop in shot. I find even with nearly 3m width backdrop it helps. Saves extra pp. I love my 85 1.2 as well but need kids to stay quite still for that one!
 
meonshore said:
In that environment I find a 24-105 (Canon) or 24-120 (Nikon) works really well. At f/8-10 they are both fast to focus and sharp and it'll cope with full-length to head shots on one lens.

The 70-200 tends to struggle as little ones run around closing in on your and for full-length and you end up with a 24-70mm on a second body.

I honestly don't know what Sony have in that range but for me it is ideal.
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i have an 18- 135 so not far off that, this does give me everything i need to cover for headshots to full length, was just considering a prime lens say around 80mm (dont know if that is available) as i thought this would give me a better lens rather than zoom lens
 
My 70-200 is glued to my D3, I use it for all my studio work. Big groups, single portraits, kids, babies etc... :)
 
Mank said:
My 70-200 is glued to my D3, I use it for all my studio work. Big groups, single portraits, kids, babies etc... :)
Click to expand...

I guess your stood quite a bit back using that lens, so your not in anyones face when shooting? what size studio do you shoot in?

thanks
 
Depends if I want a close up shot or a full length shot really :lol:

I have about 5 maybe 6 metres to go back from my subject I think?
 
donkeymusic said:
i have an 18- 135 so not far off that, this does give me everything i need to cover for headshots to full length, was just considering a prime lens say around 80mm (dont know if that is available) as i thought this would give me a better lens rather than zoom lens
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As I said I don't know the Sony range of lenses at all - but *most* modern zoom lenses stopped down to their optimum f5.6 - f/11 would perform pretty closely to a standard quality zoom in a studio environment.

Now if you wanted to shoot at f1.4-1.8 in the studio you might *need* the prime but otherwise you might find that you have what you need.

With small children I never shot a prime, preferring a zoom every time - if you shoot them at eye level (as I do) which means you are sitting/kneeling/lying down, and they are toddling/running around then you can never move as quickly as they do to appropriately fill the frame with a prime.
 
150mm on medium format ;)

I've seen some shocking pictures taken at 18mm. (E.g. the intro to the last series of Dragons' Den - what were they thinking?).

For really small spaces with young kids I'll use 24-70 but try to get it as close to 70 as possible.
 
JonathanRyan said:
150mm on medium format ;)

I've seen some shocking pictures taken at 18mm. (E.g. the intro to the last series of Dragons' Den - what were they thinking?).

For really small spaces with young kids I'll use 24-70 but try to get it as close to 70 as possible.
Click to expand...

i never go down to 18mm, more about 50mm i think. but sometimes feel im too in teh face of the child so looking to get further back
 
JonathanRyan said:
I've seen some shocking pictures taken at 18mm. (E.g. the intro to the last series of Dragons' Den - what were they thinking?).
Click to expand...
Haha that is so true, first time I saw that intro I was suprised they were approved, especially the one of Hilary Devey which is shocking.

As for the original question, I've been using a 24-105 for all sizes of studio portraits and find it ideal tbh.
 
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