topic Re: Best portrait lens for 5D Mk.III? in Gear Guide

Best portrait lens for 5D Mk.III?

vonakho6 — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 12:40:52 GMT

Hello everyone, I have recently picked up a second hand Canon 5D Mk.III for portraits mainly to go along side my Lumix G7 which I use for video and my Canon AE-1 Program and Praktica TL3 that I have for analog, but I was wondering what would be a good portrait and also maybe everyday lens for the 5D Mk.III? I was looking at maybe getting the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM or the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, but would like some feedback :]

Re: Best portrait lens for 5D Mk.III?

kvbarkley — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 13:14:39 GMT

Did you get a lens with it?

Re: Best portrait lens for 5D Mk.III?

rs-eos — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 13:22:33 GMT

It all depends on what type of portraits. Typically, you'll want to use longer focal lengths especially for headshots. As the 5D series cameras are full frame, using a 50mm focal length for a headshot will lead to too much facial distortion (unless that is your desire).

An 85mm focal length is a popular portait lens. Though I prefer a 135mm myself. Downside of the 135 is that for 3/4 to full body, you have to be much further away from your subject which is not always doable.

Thus, unless you'll specifically be doing only say half body to headshots, you should consider a zoom lens (a 70 to 200mm would probably be your best choice here). And you'd probably want to go with the f/2.8 version of that.

Note: The top two images in an older post of mine shows the results of a 50mm vs 135mm headshot where you can see the results of distortion at 50mm.