I thought 35mm was a universal lens for just about all you wanted to use it for? I ask because when I use for portraits, it looks like the face gets a little distorted. What are you using your 35mm for?
The face isn't distorted a little, it's distorted a lot. It's a geometry issue.
35mm lenses are not considered "portrait" lenses. For that you want something closer to 85mm -ish. The longer focal lengths avoid distortion of facial features (again, geometry and relative distances from the camera) as well as give you better bokeh and background separation.
35mm is good for stage shooting, events, etc. but I would never own one. For landscapes you may be better off with something even shorter.
Somewhere out there is an article that actually shows you the same shot taken with different focal lengths. It makes it very clear why 50mm and 35mm lenses are not ideal. Or you can just look at any mobile phone selfie, where the subject's nose always seems to me to be gargantuan.
In essence 35mm is good for scenes (definitely including landscapes) and for closeups that you want to appear to be closeup viewpoints. For a portrait shot most of the time that closeup "look" is not desirable.
I would not mind having a 35mm prime. But a couple of my zoom lenses cover that focal length, so I feel I am set for 35mm. Where prime lenses really shine is in the 50 to 135 range. Except for the extreme cases of fisheye lenses, and telescopes, zoom lenses do a good job outside that range.
KCook wrote: In essence 35mm is good for scenes (definitely including landscapes) and for closeups that you want to appear to be closeup viewpoints. For a portrait shot most of the time that closeup "look" is not desirable.
I would not mind having a 35mm prime. But a couple of my zoom lenses cover that focal length, so I feel I am set for 35mm. Where prime lenses really shine is in the 50 to 135 range. Except for the extreme cases of fisheye lenses, and telescopes, zoom lenses do a good job outside that range.
Kelly Cook
Nikon 24 1.4 and canon/sigma 35 1.4 are incredible lenses.
When the last candle has been blown out
and the last glass of champagne has been drunk
All that you are left with are the memories and the images-David Cooke.
LOL despite proclamations to the contrary a 35mm is a fine portrait lens. It just depends on what you call a portrait.
There's such a thing as an environmental portrait (where you include a lot of the environment in the photo) this sort of shot is harder to do well with a 35mm lens (because you have to make sure all the scene looks good, you're not just focusing on a person) but it's legit.
Gary and Kelly are right though, if you want a tighter photo (without distortion) you'll need something longer.
The whole point is to stand a reasonable distance away and use the 35mm to get more of the shot in. That way the distortion will be the same or similar to a tighter shot with an 85mm or whatever.
Distance is what effects distortion. The reason why an 85mm will "distort less" is because you stand further away (generally) to get a headshot.
The whole point is to stand a reasonable distance away and use the 35mm to get more of the shot in. That way the distortion will be the same or similar to a tighter shot with an 85mm or whatever.
Distance is what effects distortion. The reason why an 85mm will "distort less" is because you stand further away (generally) to get a headshot.
The whole point is to stand a reasonable distance away and use the 35mm to get more of the shot in. That way the distortion will be the same or similar to a tighter shot with an 85mm or whatever.
Distance is what effects distortion. The reason why an 85mm will "distort less" is because you stand further away (generally) to get a headshot.
Example (not mine):
Nice Post. I think you can get a good portrait from a 35mm. Be sure to recognise that there will be some lens distortion and make sure it is working in your favour rather than hurting the image.
Just a quick mention, Lightroom allows you to compensate for distortion created by the lens. Just select the lens profile and bye-bye distortion. It's not as good as having the right lens in the first place, but can certainly help in a pinch.
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