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Help on portrait lens


13 years 5 days ago #43576 by Dan13lle
The only lens I've been using is my 70-300, as much as I love it, I don't think I could shoot good portraits with it. My friend recently asked if I could take pictures of their 13yr old daughter. I am fine with photographing portraits, but I would like a lens I could easily move around with?
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13 years 5 days ago #43577 by KatieKite
I have a 85mm lens, which is good for potraits. That is what I mainly shoot and I love it.
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13 years 5 days ago #43578 by Dan13lle
Yea, I heard prime lenses are good for portraits, but I was thinking of a zoom lens, just not sure what length.
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13 years 2 days ago #44675 by Foto-House
If you are not locked to the idea of having to buy /use manufacture brand lenses then I would consider the Tamron SP lenses. I have both the 70-200 and the 28-75 f2.8 I have used them both for location portrait work with excellent results. Also depending on what camera (i.e. APS-c or FF) the 50mm 1.4(Sony & Minolta),the 1.7(Minolta), or the 1.8(Sony) work well for APS-c, and the 85mm (just be ready to get out the checkbook for this one), the 100mm Macro 2.8 (both Sony & Minolta) work well for FF. I don't know what your experience level is but one of the key elements in a good portrait lens is Max aperture and shooting at f2.8 to f4 to provide a soft blur (bokeh) to the background.
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12 years 11 months ago #45996 by jel-huck
I have the Sony A900 and splurged and bought the Carl Zeiss f/2.8 24-70mm. You can get some great portraits with it.
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12 years 11 months ago #46252 by Zardoz
I LOVE using my 300mm for portraits, the DOF is perfect for this, the proportion is excellent too. Then I read about fancy smancy photographers using longer lenses than that, they have to use walkies talkies to tell the model what to do, but they like the look of telescopic compression.
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12 years 11 months ago #47169 by BigRich
Find yourself an inexpensive but tack sharp Minolta Maxxum 35-105 f3.5-4.5 and it will rock your world! Gotta be one of the best sleeper lenses around!
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12 years 9 months ago #102329 by bobtourdot
I agree with the comment about the Minolta AF 35-105 being a very good portrait lens, I think the bokeh on this lens is notably better than most. - I'd note though that there are two version of this lens, the original, and the restyled newer one. I'm speaking about the original one, although it's minimum focus distance is rather large.

Another lens well suited for portraits is the Tamron 28-105 f2.8 (SP LD ?) - it's a large lens, more expensive (used) than the min 35-105 but I think it does a nice job on portraits
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12 years 9 months ago #102399 by Baydream
Check out this PT Article on selecting a portrait lens.
www.photographytalk.com/photography-arti...oose-a-portrait-lens
Shoot, learn and share. It will make you a better photographer.
fineartamerica.com/profiles/john-g-schickler.html?tab=artwork
Photo Comments
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12 years 4 months ago #171801 by alexv79mx
Just what I was looking for. PT has everything, Love this site :)
Alex V Photography
www.facebook.com/alexvphoto
Blog: alexvphoto.wordpress.com
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12 years 4 months ago #174629 by swan
If you have a full frame sensor, I'd suggest a Minolta 135mm f2.8 (if you can find one).

If you have a smaller sensor and want a zoom lens I'd suggest Minolta 28-75 f2.8 (constant aperture) or a Tamron 90mm macro. You could also use a 50mm f1.7 which would give an effective focal length of 75mm. This would be the minimum focal length I would use portraits.

Bottom line - you want large aperture and long focal length.

Hope this help.
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12 years 4 months ago #174643 by Maria21
You didn't mention if you are shooting indoor or out. In a studio setting I tend to go with my 28-80mm zoom to give me a little flexibility & a shallow DOF for specific low light shots (candlelits) It also helps when I'm in close quarters. But when I'm outdoors I like to use my 70-210 zoom to give both myself & my subject a little more freedom of movement & variety of shots with a single pose. As mentioned in some posts before most portraits tend to be within the 70-80mm range so if your lens covers that range you should be good.
Zerfing's Photographic Imaging
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12 years 4 months ago #175730 by S18c34

alexv79mx wrote: Just what I was looking for. PT has everything, Love this site :)


Yes, they do and the answers to this thread just keep on coming. It's so great! :thumbsup:
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