Best Lens For Portraits
If you're ready to step up your photography game with a new portrait lens, you have a serious question to ask yourself...
What's the best lens for portrait photography?
There are certainly many contenders, but in Jessica Kobeissi's video below, a 35mm vs 50mm showdown pits two of the best portrait lenses against one another.
There are plenty of reasons why you should strongly consider one of these lenses for your portraiture.
For a look at each one, check the video for a complete comparison. I've added some notes and insights on each lens below as well.
Editor's Tip: Want a new lens but don't have the money for one? Sell your old gear and use the money you get to finance a new lens!
Why You Need a Prime Lens
Before I get into the specifics of comparing 35mm portraits with 50mm portraits, it's important to note a few of the advantages of using a prime lens for portraiture.
Because prime lenses have fewer elements inside the lens barrel, they produce sharper results than a zoom lens.
What's more, prime lenses tend to produce fewer distortions and aberrations, so, again, you can get a cleaner shot.
On top of that, primes typically have very large apertures, like f/1.2 or f/1.4, which means you get better low-light performance.
And as if all those features aren't reason enough to buy a prime lens, many primes are inexpensive, too.
Now, you won't find a f/1.2 or f/1.4 lens for a cheap price (unless you buy pre-owned), but you can get a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens for less than $100. That's a great buy!
The Case for a 35mm Portrait Lens
What's so nice about a 35mm lens is that when used on a full frame camera, that focal length very closely reproduces what we see with our own eyes.
That means that a 35mm portrait will look natural and familiar, which is a great way to help people engage with the portraits that you take.
Something else that's great about this lens is that it allows you to place the model in the context of their environment.
That is, it's not so "zoomed in" that all you see is the model's face. Instead, as you can see in the screenshot above, when taking a full body shot, you can incorporate elements from the model's surroundings as well.
When taking a close-up, there's little in the way of distortion, so your model's facial features will look normal.
Beyond that, a 35mm lens with a large aperture like f/1.4 allows you to get gorgeous bokeh in the background, as seen in the screenshot above.
By having the background nicely blurred, you help to separate the model from the background, which helps the viewer's eyes to lock onto the model.
What's more, that bokeh just looks really good!
Finally, it's hard not to appreciate the small form factor of a 35mm lens. Though pricier models are a bit heavier, it's still super easy to use and doesn't feel like you're carrying around a big, bulky lens all day long.
Of course, the f/1.4 version can be quite expensive, so cost is a definite consideration.
Editor's Tip: Stretch your gear budget and buy a pre-owned camera or lens. Find great deals on Canon, Nikon, Sony, and other brands of used gear.
The Case for a 50mm Portrait Lens
Not to be outdone by the 35mm option, a 50mm lens is also an ideal choice for portraiture.
Perhaps the best trait of a 50mm lens is that you can often find them on the cheap, particularly f/1.8 versions.
But don't think that because the f/1.8 option is inexpensive that it doesn't give you great performance...
Both Canon and Nikon (and other manufacturers) have excellent f/1.8 options that are sharp, perform well in low-light, and have minimal vignetting and other aberrations.
A 50mm lens also has excellent performance when taking full body and half body shots, as shown above.
Like the 35mm lens discussed above, the 50mm option gives you enough of a view of the surroundings to give the shot some context, but with a longer focal length, you can create a more intimate full body or half body portrait than you can with a 35mm lens.
Typically, 50mm lenses come in f/1.8, f/1.4 or f/1.2 variations, the latter of which is much more expensive, but has increased low-light shooting capabilities.
Something to be aware of with 50mm lenses is that they are not ideal for close-up portraits due to the distortion they create - the model's nose will appear bigger than it is and their face will appear larger.
Choosing the Best Lens for Portrait Photography
When deciding what lens to buy for portraiture, your choice will likely come down to two primary factors - cost and what you need to do with the lens.
As noted earlier, both 35mm and 50mm lenses with wider apertures like f/1.2 or f/1.4 are more spendy, and might be cost-prohibitive for some photographers. If that's the case, a 50mm f/1.8 is a great option that won't destroy your budget, though you can find good deals on quality pre-owned lenses if you know where to look.
The second factor most photographers should consider is the type of portraiture you intend to do.
If you want more environmental type portraits with lots of the scenery around the model showing, go with a 35mm lens. It's a better lens for close-ups as well.
On the other hand, if you want more intimate portraits with more of the frame dedicated to the model in a full body or half body shot, a 50mm lens is a good choice.
You really can't go wrong with either of these lenses, so no matter which one you choose, you'll have good glass!