Best Pet Portrait Lens for the 7D? 35, 50 or 85?

[NoelM]

I really like using my 35mm Macro by tokina, It can Get reaaaaally closee! Its an awesome FL for 1.6x.

[SEK5Y]

I've been using the 50mm Sigma 1.4 for awhile. It took some getting used to but a 35mm would definitely be handy at times.

[SEK5Y]

Here are some candid shots of my dogs w/ the 50mm at 1.4

[RPCrowe]

A "dreamy" look can be done with post processing, with a diffusing filter, or even using a Canon 135mm f/2.8 Soft Focus lens. Resuts with the SF lens vary according to the f/stop and whether you have the lens in the 1 or 2 position for soft focus.

The problem with shooting the image as "dreamy" you are pretty well stuck with an image no sharper than it was shot. Doing the "dreamy" look in post processing, you have control...

[ceegee]

Originally Posted by jod10

thanks, I have been leaning towards the 85mm having regard to the beautiful images but was afraid it would prevent me from getting up close and personal.

I'd be interested to know how the OP likes his new 85 f1.8. I actually don't like mine at all for the kind of use he was proposing. The long MFD is a real pain, and I much prefer my 60 macro for headshots of pets - you can get closer if you need to, and it doesn't flip out if you get too close. I also prefer the focal length of the 60 - it's a bit more versatile when shooting in close quarters.

[dunkman23]

i have used a 35mm and a 50mm. i think the 50mm is perfect.

[Zweihaender]

85mm/FF (about 50mm on APS-C) are ideal. I own lenses from 16 to 600mm focal length. With wide angle lenses you can see in the final image that the camera was too close to the dog. All tele lenses make the faces look flat.

[RPCrowe]

I use a 70-200mm f/4L IS lens on a 1.6x camera for all my dog bortraits...

[jod10]

Oh those are adorable RPCrowe!! Thanks for sharing. I had not been on the forum consitently for a while and was in the market for some equipment so have been trolling the classifieds - so I didn't see the thread of posts that came after July last year.

I have a few dream lenses right now and the 70-200 (but f/2.8) is one of them.

You inspired me to upload pics of "my son" Fritzy that I took last year with the 85mm
f1.8 that I had recently bought at the time. (I have another pic that really shows the beauty of the lens but it's 4 kb over the max 150 kb size)

[jod10]

Originally Posted by Meanderthal

Congratulations, you'll l find many uses for the 85 and like the results. Send some pictures!

Meanderthal, I've been "missing in action" on the forum. But I finally uploaded pics i took last year with the 85mm

[RPCrowe]

I enjoy using a zoom when shooting dogs because I can switch from a wider view shot to a head portrait without moving. The less I have to move when shoting, the less that I distract the dog I am photographing.

Here is an example. I can shoot an all over shot using the wide end of my 70-200mm f/4L IS lens...



And then I can zoom in to capture a head shot...



This can be very handy for a couple of reasons...

When shooting for pay, time is money!

Additionally, many dogs have a limited attention span and tend to get restless if I am moving aound too much between shots...

The 70-200mm f/4L IS has become my standard dog photography lens.

Since I always use flash for indoor portraits and fill-flash outdoors, the f/4 aperture of the 70-200mm f/4L IS lens is no problem. As I have mentioned previously, you can achieve selective DOF with an f/4 lens as long as you are using a long focal length lens.

[jod10]

Oh those are lovely RP Crowe! How did you get the border around your shots?

[orionz06]

I love the 70-200 for my pets. Haven't set up any portraits yet just some slightly better than snapshots.

[heagarty5]

Do you think the 70-200 would work well for kids? Don't want to be all up in my babies face for some first year pictures. Will be taken inside with natural light and bounce flash if needed. My other choice is a 50mm f/1.8

[orionz06]

I don't have a need to take pics of kids but I appreciate the distance the 70-200 affords me. It allows me to get natural pics. I assume that would be the same for kids. There are some things such as the f/1.8 that the zoom cannot replace but dog pics, the ones I want at least, do not need the same DOF as a portrait.