Lens recommendation

I'm planning to slowly get into portraits and wedding photography. For a Canon 20D body could anyone recommend a good portrait lens, either a zoom or fix lens for head and shoulder and 3/4 poses, in doesn't have to be a Canon lens.

Thanks

Everyone here love's the 85mm 1.8 for portraiture:

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …SA&addedTroughT​ype=search

you probably want a prime and not a zoom lens. maybe the 50mm f/1.4 or the f/1.8 if you want the cheaper version.

i agree with the above... the 50/1.4 and 85/1.8 would offer you a killer combination. the tamrom 28~28/2.8 would get my vote for best portrait zoom that is not the 24~70/2.8 L.

I love my 85mm f/1.8 for portraits. Very sharp. One of Canons real bargains

Thanks gang, is the best and safest place to buy a lens still B&H?

Dan

B&H and Amazon is where I buy my stuff. I hear Buydig is also pretty good.

Dan Bather wrote in post #2290193
I'm planning to slowly get into portraits and wedding photography. For a Canon 20D body could anyone recommend a good portrait lens, either a zoom or fix lens for head and shoulder and 3/4 poses, in doesn't have to be a Canon lens.

Thanks

To learn about taking portriats with a prime I would look at the 50MM f/1.8...small investment for a great learning experience.

If you want to take the plunge then get the 85MM f/1.8 and for a zoom look at the 17-55MM EF-S IS. These two will cost you around $1,500 together.

If you are planning to do both weddings and portraits with one lens I recommend the 17-55 f/2.8 IS EF-S. You are not going to be happy trying to do group wedding party phots with a 50 or 85 mm lens because you have to set up too far away. The 17-55 at 50 to 55 is an very good length for head and shoulder portraits being long enough to avoid the "big nose" phenomenon and short enough to be a comfortable working distance. It lacks the large aperture to blur the background, so you have to be a little more careful about choosing a background and maintaining some distance between subject and background.

For weddings I suggest this set of lenses

Canon 17-55 F2.8 IS
Canon 50mm F1.4 or Sigma 30mm F1.4
Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS
Second camera body
580EX, plus another speedlite
10GB CF (so you can shoot RAW)
Strobes are very handy sometimes.
Flash bracket and light modifiers can be handy.

Basically look at my equipment list, that's what i'd recommand.