One L Lens for a potrait picture taking

[grewal]

I own a Canon 10D and few zoom and a prime lens.
I would like to add a L lens to my collection.
I mostly take protraits of my grand children.
Can the Gurus speak out, what I should get.
Keep me out of the poor house guys!

[Belmondo]

The EF 85mm f/1.2L is a wonderful lens. It's pricey, but it's almost legendary in its ability to give precise depth of field with exceptional bokeh.

[Olegis]

The AF of the 85mm f/1.2 may be slow for catching fast moving grand children :) You may want to consider the 135F2.0L (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40700).

[spearce6]

I wouldn't go for either of these as they will be a bit of a long focal length with the 10D's 1.6x factor.

I would stay with a 50mm - the 1.4 allegedly has nicer bokeh. This will give you a classic 80mm portrait focal length on the 10D.

I would'nt bother spending the money for an L series prime. Although it is the ultimate, I doubt you will see the difference unless you intent to make lots of poster size prints. If you are set on L-series glass, I would go for an L-series zoom. This will give you a much better chance of keeping up with grandchildren rushing around and will give you a better chance of framing them nicely! For the price of a prime L series lens, you could get an L series zoom and a standard 50mm prime!

Just my opinion!

Steve
http://www.steve-pearce-photography.com

[Olegis]

I would stay with a 50mm - the 1.4 allegedly has nicer bokeh. This will give you a classic 80mm portrait focal length on the 10D.

The 50mm perspective will stay the same regardless of the body. From my experience the close-up portraits with 50mm and 10D look a little bit distorted - big nose mostly. The x1.6 crop is just that - a crop of FOV, not "focal multiplier".

I would go with longer focal lenghts for tight head-shots - 85mm is the minimum, IMHO. 50mm is fine with torso / full body shots.

[CyberDyneSystems]

In your thread titel you say "1 L lens"

This being the case I would recomend the 24-70mm f/2.8L to give you the most flexible "L" portrait lens.

[DocFrankenstein]

The 50mm perspective will stay the same regardless of the body. From my experience the close-up portraits with 50mm and 10D look a little bit distorted - big nose mostly. The x1.6 crop is just that - a crop of FOV, not "focal multiplier".
That's not correct. The perspective depends on how far the camera is from the subject. If you place your subject 10 m away from the camera and shoot it with a 35 mm prime, you're gonna get the same perspective at shooting him with 100 mm prime from 10 meters. It's just there's gonna be more detail.

If you put 50 mm on a full frame sensor and will fill the frame with the subject's face, you're gonna get the face distorted cause the camera is too close.

If you put 50mm lens on a 10D, the camera will have to be 1.6 times further away from the subject. That's why it's not gonna be distorted as much.

[CyberDyneSystems]

There's about thirty threads in this forum that discuss "X Factor" and perspective and maginfication and "crop" etc...

Can we not restart that discussion here.. all he wants is a portrait lens :)


What a load of Crop :lol:

[SDK^]

In your thread titel you say "1 L lens"

This being the case I would recomend the 24-70mm f/2.8L to give you the most flexible "L" portrait lens.

^ I would also recommend the 24-70L F/2.8.

[Adam Hicks]

Or save some money and get the 85mm 1.8. Seems like a perfect lens with a much faster focus than the 1.2, and it's relatively cheap for a portrait lens that bright.

That's my next lens as I don't think I'd use it enough to justify the 1.2. I save the big money for the telephoto L glass (bring on the 200mm 1.8!)

Adam

[Pekka]

There's about thirty threads in this forum that discuss "X Factor" and perspective and maginfication and "crop" etc...

Can we not restart that discussion here.. all he wants is a portrait lens :)

"all he wants is a portrait lens" needs a some counter-questions: "what kind of portrait" (closeups, half, full), "what kind of subject(s)" (groups, single, pairs, event, candid) then "in what kind of light" (flash, non-flash, indoors, outdoors, studio) and even "what kind of enlargements are needed?". I've taken portraits with lenses spanning from 17 to 200mm. All focal lenghts have worked just fine for the image I've seeked. Bottom line is use what works best for the current need.

To me it sounds that 50/1.4 would be a good general choice as children move a lot, you are usually quite close and you'll need fast focus. Other good choices would be 85/1.8 or 100/2. I prefer most of the time 85/1.2 or 70-200/2.8 (70-200 if I need fast AF, 85 for extrashallow still shots) with Mark II. I've even used a Lensbaby!

[scottbergerphoto]

A classic portrait lens is about 105mm. On a 10D the 24-70 f/2.8 or 50 f/1.4 work well. They are a little short on a Mark II. I have gone to using the 70-200 f/2.8 or the 85 f/1.8 on the Mark II.

http://www.pbase.com/scottbergerphoto/image/33228438.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/scottbergerphoto/image/33228464.jpg

Regards,
Scott

[slejhamer]

I've even used a Lensbaby!

: GASP! :

:shock:



:lol:

[Andy_T]

I've even used a Lensbaby!

: GASP! :

:shock:
:lol:

No kidding ... do you have some sample shots?

Grewal

... it might help if you told us what zoom and prime lenses you have.

Also, why you specifically want to get a Canon L lens (sharpness? color rendition? flare? build quality? weather sealing? resale value...?)
There are pros, cons and alternatives, depending on what your motivation is.

Best regards,
Andy

[billfranklin]

If you can afford it, I vote for the 24-70 L 2.8. This is the lens I have been using on a Mark II and you can see some of what I have been doing here: http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewalbum.html?alb=92893
Not the best web site in the world, but it will give you an idea of what you can do. For head and shoulder I would really like a longer lens, but if you don't have one, the 24-70 does fine.

Bill F.

[agentm]

Go to the following site and then view the photos they have. You can filter the photos to ONLY view a specific lens that was used....e.g the 85mm F1.8 L.

This will give you an idea of the quality the lens will produce...more or less.

www.photosig.com

[Mike H]

I suggest the 70-200/4L for portraits, especially if the kids are small. It's under $600, including the lens hood, and has that exceptional image and build quality for which L lenses are known.

I've used that lens to get some really memorable closeups of small children. It's so long, especially on a camera with a 1.6x crop factor, that you can get tight close ups without crowding the child. When you want them, you can zoom out quickly to get more of their bodies. And with its excellent optical quality, you will be able to shoot wide open to get a more shallow depth of field and still have a very sharp image at the point of focus.

I hope this helps.

Mike H