topic What is a good lens for EOS R50? - Portraits and architecture in EF & RF Lenses

What is a good lens for EOS R50? - Portraits and architecture

Raymondk1_ — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 13:15:21 GMT

I have a Canon R50. I upgraded from the canon rebel T but this lens that came with the R50 i would like to upgrade it. What is a good lens for portraits, taking pictures of architecture and just everyday things

Re: What is a good lens for EOS R50?

March411 — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 12:38:03 GMT

Good day Raymond.

Do you have a budget, knowing what you want to spend would narrow down the suggestions. Also, are you looking at purchasing fixed focal length or a zoom lens which could offer flexibility.

Re: What is a good lens for EOS R50? - Portraits and architecture

Finelld — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 13:15:43 GMT

One of the best classic portrait lenses is a fast 80-85mm on a full frame camera.

i use a variety of lenses for architecture. For tall buildings a tilt-shift lens can be very helpful. A good rectilinear wide angle is also very useful.

Re: What is a good lens for EOS R50? - Portraits and architecture

kvbarkley — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 13:31:17 GMT

Except, of course, the R50 is APS-C.

Re: What is a good lens for EOS R50? - Portraits and architecture

ebiggs1 — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 14:11:13 GMT

"One of the best classic portrait lenses is a fast 80-85mm on a full frame camera."

I agree with KVB the 85mm would not be a good choice in fact a poor choice. Don't get caught up in the so-called labels people put on certain lenses. It depends on so much more than FL. Did you not get the RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM Lens? Use it as it is a decent lens for GP on a R50. Find out what it won't do before you make any decisions about a new or upgrade lens.

Re: What is a good lens for EOS R50? - Portraits and architecture

Raymondk1_ — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 21:04:46 GMT

What does that mean bro

Re: What is a good lens for EOS R50? - Portraits and architecture

kvbarkley — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 21:26:25 GMT

@Raymondk1_ wrote:

What does that mean bro

What it means is that Finelld should never have brought it up. The R50 has a smaller sensor than a "full frame camera" so that the field of view is narrower. An 85mm lens is a short telephoto for a full frame camera, but a medium telephoto for APS-C (like the R50). A medium telephoto is not usually used for portraits.

Re: What is a good lens for EOS R50? - Portraits and architecture

zakslm — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 22:27:23 GMT

Raymondk1_,

I don't have an R series mirrorless camera and therefore will not offer an opinion and certainly not a recommendation on an R series lens. I would like to respond to your question in general terms based on my experience and I hope you find it helpful.

For portraits, consider a lens that has a realtively wide aperture - say 2.8 or wider. You can Google portrait photograpy for helpful advice on shooting portraits and portrait technique and also watch Youtube videos on the subject. In my opinion, one of the common recommendation is that it's a good idea to use a wide aperture lens to isolate the subject from the background and render faces and facial features in a more pleasing manner. For an APS-C (crop sensor) camera like the R50, my opinion is that a focal length from approx. 24mm to 85mm would work for you but as they say, "your mileage may vary". I don't think it matters a great deal if the lens is a zoom lens or a fixed focal length lens, although a wide aperture zoom lens costs quite a bit more than a wide aperture fixed focal length lens within this range. Fixed focal lenth lenses in that range are usually are pretty reasonable but a more expensive zoom may be more versatile.

I don't shoot a lot of architecture, but my thought is that wider angle lens with a focal length of 24mm or less might work. That's where the versatility of a zoom lens may justify the greater cost of the zoom because that zoom may be able to cover you both for portraits and achitecture. As I said, I don't use an mirrorless camera but Sigma recently introduced an 18-50mm f2.8 lens for Canon RF-S bodies. The opinions and previews I saw on the Youtube for that lens were favorable and you may want to check them out if the Sigma lens sounds interesting to you.

If you think that a wider angle zoom may be more useful for architecture and depending how close or far away you can get from the building or structure you wish to photograph, there are some really nice zoom lenses available that cover 10-18mm range. Those may be good for both interior and exterior architectural shots and may be worth considering.

Hope the above is useful.

Good luck!

Re: What is a good lens for EOS R50? - Portraits and architecture

March411 — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 23:17:36 GMT

To add just a bit to zakslm post, while the RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM isn't a fast lens it would be good for well lit indoor subjects and architecture and even better on nice days outdoors. It does have some limitations, it needs decent light. The range of this zoom would allow you to shoot both architecture and portraits carrying a single lens. It may be a good starting point to find your sweet spot before investing in better glass.

RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM SKU 5564C002 $499.99
https://www.usa.canon.com/shop/p/rf-s18-150mm-f3-5-6-3-is-stm?color=Black&type=New

Re: What is a good lens for EOS R50? - Portraits and architecture

Tronhard — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 06:14:26 GMT

I wonder if our OP has any idea what you are talking about. 🤔

Re: What is a good lens for EOS R50? - Portraits and architecture

Tronhard — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 07:37:15 GMT

Hi Raymond and welcome to the forum!
Some more details will help us to help you make a sound decision:
The R50 comes with a couple of kit lens options, which one precisely do you have?
The needs for architecture and portraiture are quite divergent. For architecture, you want a wide field of view, which means a short focal range, while for portrait you want almost the opposite.
So that suggests either two fixed focal length lenses, one for each application, or a zoom with a wide wide range of focal lengths. Do you have a preference?
What is your budget value in $?