suggestions for a portrait lens

knb25965

knb25965

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as stated in title, looking for suggestions for a decent wide angle lens for a portrait lens, my 18-70 is not wide enough for full length, its ok for head shots.. thanks for any help you guys can give a newbie....:thinking:
 
How can an 18 NOT be wide enough? Take one step backwards and save your money!

As stated above, you are going ot get barrel distortion in your portarits - try going further away and use something in your 70mm end.

A standard portarit lens is a 90mm (on 35mm frame).......so there is your starting point.
 
You can't go wider for portraits otherwise you'll get strange distortions - try taking a few steps back.....
 
I have a new Sigma 50mm 1.4 HSM on pre-order for my D80 for my portrait work. eq 80mm on the 1.6x sensor. Bit pricey for a fifty though @ £330 but so far it's comparing very well with the older primes that seem to suffer in one way or another (i.e. wide open lens flare, weak contrast etc..).

Check it out.
 
I'm lucky in that the owner of an 85mm f/1.2L II will lend this to me if I ask nicely ;)

I'm very new to photography and don't really know what I'm talking about but this lens produces wonderful portraits for me every time :thumbs:

It's a pricey one though and that's a fact. It's also very heavy, weighing in at a kilo or thereabouts.
 
nifty fifty is probably your best bet imo... certainly for the dosh anyway. Not much is better without spending loads more anyway.

My favorite lens for my portraits is my 58mm voigtlander nokton 1.4 which is MF only but can be got for about £200.
 
I heard that 135mm (in old money!) was a great length lens for portraits... which would make it about 100mm on a dslr.

Ive found both my Canon 50mm 1.8 and Sigma 105mm macro great.
 
I love the nifty for portraits, it's such a delight to use.
 
There is no ideal 'portrait' lens. There used to be a notion that focal legnths of around 80mm-135mm gave the most flattering images, but portraiture has moved on so far since then. I've just won a comp taken with a 20mm lens, I also use my 200mm for portraiture.

Fast lens are often used for portraiture because of the ability to keep the depth of field on the subject and blur any distracting background. A 50 prime with either 1.2, 1.4, or 1.8 max aperture will allow you to focus on one eye and have the other soft if that's the look you want but the fixed focal legnth can be restrictive. One lens I would recommend is the Sigma 50mm-150mm f:2.8. I've had mine coming up to a month now and it's a great lens for portraiture and only cost me a little over £300. That's not much good if you're wanting a full length lens though so you'd be best looking at the f:2.8 wide/standard zooms for that.
 
Can't imagine many people wanting fish-eye portraits though :)

As I gather anything from 50mm-150mm seems like they make good focal lengths for portraits... I usually read that 85mm is a favourite and because being further away from your subject means that things like noses appear more compressed/less exaggerated (and more flattering). Depends what style you're going for but I guess most people have replied with classic portraiture in mind.
 
thanks for all your suggestions, general consesus look like a nifty fifty... now just got to get the funds together and find one,,

really appreciate all your comments

thanks
kevin
 
woops should of read the OP, 18 is wide enough, unless you want curvy people. If you cant fit full length at 18mm dont both at all. My advice would be stand further back
 
See the siggy (below)....

85 f1.4 gets rave reviews ;)

Alan
 
Hooky said:
See the siggy (below)....

85 f1.4 gets rave reviews ;)

Alan
Click to expand...

cant see your siggy? but yeah - a wonderfully expensive lens that! I'd love one... aka the cream machine :)
 
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