Lens recommendations for capturing stunning portraits

[williamjohn5987]

Hello,

Which Canon lens do I trust the most for capturing stunning portraits: the fast 50mm f/1.8, the versatile 24-70mm f/2.8, or the powerful 70-200mm f/2.8?

Best Regard,

William 

[jrhoffman75]

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@williamjohn5987 wrote:

Hello,

Which Canon lens do I trust the most for capturing stunning portraits: the fast 50mm f/1.8, the versatile 24-70mm f/2.8, or the powerful 70-200mm f/2.8?

Best Regard,

William 

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Any of them will work. "Stunning" results will depend more on your skill.

[ebiggs1]

As JRH stated "Any of them will work."

The truth and reality is there is no such thing as a portrait lens. All lenses have the exact same perspective if the distance from subject is adjusted accordingly. For an extreme example everybody considers a 24mm lens to be a wide angle good landscapes. However, even a 600mm super telephoto lens is a good wide angle lens if you are shooting a landscape of the Moon. So, you see if distance from subject is adjusted any lens will offer the exact same result.

The so-called portrait lens got is name form studio photographers that were restricted by the room size. To them and most of us in a normal sized studio an 85mm lens did make good portraits for instance. But step outside where distance isn't restricted and perhaps a 200mm lens would work. As a matter of fact a lot of my buds still in the business have gone to the 70-200mm zoom as their 'portrait' lens. I did myself just before I totally retired. One reason studio photography isn't as big of a thing now as it used to be as a lot of portraits are shot on location.

Did you mention what camera you have? If it is a cropper you will need a different FL than if it is a FF model. On a cropper the standard 18-55mm kit lens will do fine. On a FF model the 24-70m might be a tad short but would work. well. And, yes, on a FF the 70-200mm might be king. A tad long at times I found out but useable and quite good.

[zakslm]

William,

My 2 cents are:

1.  A stunning subject can result in a stunning portrait. Take a look at @lakshaya_click ‘s work in the Gallery section. 
2.  Great lighting (and how the subject is lit) makes a great portrait. 
3.  About the only lens that usually isn’t suitable for a portrait is an extreme wide angle lens that distorts the  subject’s features (unless that’s the effect your going for). 

Hope this helps!

LZ

[SignifDigits]

I don't see that you posted the camera that you're using.  If you're using an APS-C sensor be sure to factor in the 1.6x crop factor.  Thus, if you're using a cropped sensor camera 70-200mm will be effectively 112-320.  For an APS-C that lens might be a bit long for portraiture if you want to interact with your subject. 

I concur with zakslm - lighting and subject are huge, as is the setting.  An excellent book on "how I did this shot", including portraits, is "The Moment it Clicks" by Joe McNally.  He is well-known for work (as in covers of magazines, etc.).  It's available for cheap used and a fun and easy read and full of interesting ideas and his "lessons learned".