Best lens for portraits a 50mm f1.8?

Wanting to start out doing some portrait photography. I have a 400D (Rebel XTi) with the kit lens. I really like the pics I've seen that have been taken with the 50mm f1.8 lense. So what do you think? Also where can I buy one? I've only been able to find it online. Is that where I have to buy it or would a regular camera place have it?

It does a great job for the price. Some may say a bit long for portraits on a crop body, but I am weird I use 85mm as a portrait lens on crop body and find 50 a little short. B&H is a great dealer to do online purchasing through.

Generally considered to be *the* portrait lens is the 85L, but that one is expensive. Price/quality the 50 f/1.8 aka nifty fifty is very good. But you can take good portraits with a wide range of lenses, ranging from 35 to 200 mm. The focal length you want to work with, depends on the subject and the photographer.

P.

'The portrait lens' for 35mm film SLR has been once which falls into the 85-105 range. That translates into 55-70 for an APS-C format camera!

Read this about lenses for various types of portraiture. It is not a one-size-fits-all necessarily, so if you want to shoot a particular type of portrait, the 50mm might be the right lens (especially considering the price of the 50mm f/1.8!)

https://photography-on-the.net …hp?p=2128677&po​stcount=15

The 1.8 has the best bang for $$$ but if you are seriously considering portraiture shots go for the 85mm. I also hear that the Sigma 30mm is really good... this gives you approx. a 50mm perspective on a cropped sensor btw.

Check out the 85/1.8. That works out to 136mm full frame equivalent. And I can telly you that the 135L on a FF camera is down right perfect for portraits. I think you'll find the 85 to be a better lens than the 50/1.8 in oh so many ways.

i totally agree AeroSmith. i have both, and let me tell you the 85mm, when i started posting examples, brought the customers left and right. so much more sharp. fast lens, both are good, but shell out the $350 or so for the 85mm f/1.8 usm and you will not be dissapointed.

The best lens for a portrait ... depends on what you are are creating portraits for. If a group portrait, a normal length, to a slight telephotowould be called for. If a couple, or one person, you should use a longer telephoto. A zoom with a nice range from wide to telephoto would work well. The longest should be at least 135mm.

I don't mean to highjack this thread but if you only have a limited amount of studio space say, 20' X 15' will the 85MM be a little long for full body shots? The 85 for outdoors seems to be good but not sure about limited space. Maybe someone that shoots studio can comment.

Texbow wrote in post #2196848
I don't mean to highjack this thread but if you only have a limited amount of studio space say, 20' X 15' will the 85MM be a little long for full body shots? The 85 for outdoors seems to be good but not sure about limited space. Maybe someone that shoots studio can comment.

Way too long!!! Go read the link mentioned in message #4

Wilt, I did. If I understood it correctly, then the 85 would not work in the studio. I guess I was looking for conformation just to make sure I was not missing something.

Texbow wrote in post #2196907
Wilt, I did. If I understood it correctly, then the 85 would not work in the studio. I guess I was looking for conformation just to make sure I was not missing something.

As I have posted, the 85 would work wonderfully for a tight headshot! But you would have to back up about 5x the distance to fit an entire bodyshot in to the frame!

Even for a head and shoulders shot with 85mm, you would have to back up the camera about 2.5x from the distance of a tight headshot. That, to me, puts me farther from the subject than I prefer...makes it too hard to adjust their position subtley, adjust light aiming and intensity when needed, etc. without walking back and forth more.

(Some people prefer longer shooting distances, but I find the facial perspective of the subject is not optimized for the distances that our brains are so accustomed to seeing faces in interacting with others.)

Your last point is a good one.

I'm thinking the ideal small studio lens would be the 24-70 2.8 L lens. With my 50MM I find myself having to move to far away for those full body boudoir shots.

You could also do well with the 24-105 range. The f/4 would lose you only 0.1' of DOF at 6' shooting distance, so it is not catastrophically deeper!