Last Updated on 07/27/2017 by Chris Gampat
Portrait photography, in general, is one of the most popular niches in the industry and often one of the first things a new photographer attempts to master as they hone their craft. But a key to appealing portraits is making a good lens selection based on the look you are attempting to produce.
Do you want to know how to choose the right portrait lens? Perfect, this post is for you. Let’s have a look at some of the key considerations before making your portrait lens selection.
How much do you care about Bokeh?
If bokeh is important you are going to want a fast lens with an aperture of f2.8 or better, but ideally, you will want an f1.4 lens or faster for that extreme bokeh effect. It is important to realize that bokeh is not the be all end all in photography. When used well it can really enhance an image, but if used poorly it can really take away from it… so really think about this and where you sit on the spectrum.
How much light are you working with?
Bokeh aside, how much light are you thinking you will have available to you? Are you going to be using strobes/speedlights or natural light? This is also important because if you plan on shooting in dark places all the time, regardless of your bokeh preference, you are going to want to get a fast lens, f2.8 might cut it but really f2 or faster would be ideal.
That said if you are going to always have ample light, either from lighting or the sun, then you can not worry about this so much. If bokeh isn’t important to you, get an F4 lens that still offers great image quality and performance with enough light.
How close will your subject be?
How about weather sealing?
Are you going to be shooting your portraits in a studio or indoors all the time? If so then spending money on a lens with weather sealing seems like a waste, right? But if you do plan on being out in the elements, even just occasionally, then it makes sense to take the better safe than sorry approach and get a lens with weather sealing if it is available to you and meets your other specifications.
Recommendations for lenses to consider
Ok, so taking all of those things into account, we feel fairly confident in recommending the following lenses as excellent places to begin your portrait lens research.
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B00A34GP52′ text=’Tamron 70-200mm’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’08ab600d-710a-11e7-be4d-09842a28eb34′]
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B000I1YIDQ’ text=’Canon 50mm F1.2′ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’0cc49182-710a-11e7-bafb-3b0e315fa13d’]
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B014ULAF0O’ text=’Tamron 35mm F1.8′ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’16833ac7-710a-11e7-8aae-a5fadaa86aee’]
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B006TAP096′ text=’Nikon 85mm F1.8′ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’1e4f8969-710a-11e7-8a58-5feaee6627ab’]
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B01M1I17IV’ text=’Sigma 85mm F1.4′ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’25ea19bf-710a-11e7-899b-b7cdc55d3466′]
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B00HK8Z9AG’ text=’Fujifilm 56mm F1.2′ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’2b96e400-710a-11e7-a8f9-9fa3fc646522′]
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B01BESR5KO’ text=’Sony 85mm F1.4 G Master’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’2f80ef18-710a-11e7-8095-3121c44f613e’]
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B00T48CEK8′ text=’Rokinon 135mm F2′ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’35143dcd-710a-11e7-b93a-439d5c9ba65d’]
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B01GO1B7QE’ text=’Mitakon 35mm F0.95′ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’44ec5566-710a-11e7-b828-813787e6acf7′]