What portrait lens?

greedy123

greedy123

greedy123

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I recently upgraded my 400d to a 5d mkII and have been upgrading my lenses too. I've currently got:
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Canon EF 70-200mm F/4.0 L IS USM
Sigma 150mm f2.8 APO EX DG HSM Macro

I'm going to sell the 17-55 as I don't use the 400d anymore and I have some spare cash over from selling my 10-22mm.

So basically I'm looking to replace the 50mm 1.8. As good a lens as it has been, the lack of USM is annoying and the quality isn't as good as my others. I want it just for indoor low light portrait work so 50/85mm is the focal length I'm looking for. As far as I can tell the options are:

EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
EF 50mm f/1.2L USM
EF 85 mm f/1.8 USM
(EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM)

I'm also considering selling the Sigma 150mm and upgrading my macro lens to a EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM if I have any money left over.


Naturally I don't have an infinite amount of money :) so won't be willing to splurge out £1500 on a single lens which is why the 85mm 1.2 is in brackets. I might be willing to push to the 50mm 1.2 if it is genuinely worth 4 times as much as the 1.4. I wouldn't use the lens at 1.2 much anyway I don't think as the depth of field would be so small and for portraits that is generally undesirable. I'm more interested in the build quality and image sharpness.
 
If you can't afford the 85L, gotta be the 85mm F1.8.

Here's an example under poor lighting of what it can do:
IMG_7489.jpg
 
Hmm ok then... I'll go for the 85mm 1.8 as it comes so highly recommended :)

Only thing is with it being 35mm longer, it becomes harder for use in close quarters with family and social events? I always thought that 50mm is a nice length for those sorts of environments plus the depth of field is larger on a 50mm than 85mm so can make more use of the low aperture values?
 
Perhaps get 28mm f1.8 and the 85mm f1.8.

Then you have 28mm f1.8, 50mm f1.8 (either using the 50mm f1.8 or the 28mm on the 400D) an 85mm f1.8 and 135mm f1.8 (85mm on the 400D) :D

The you can get great indoor low-light shots, good outdoor shots, nice normal shots ect. ect.
 
50/1.4 - it's good, it fast, but it's not a portrait lens really
50/1.2 - it's FAST, it has amazing colours, but its not sharper at 1.4 than the 50/1.4 at 1.4.
85/1.5 - Best bang for bug, fast USM, only £300
85/1.2 - Some say this is THE portrait lens, some say its the 135L*. The focus is slower than the 1.8, and its heavier due to the size of that glass. But it is a stop faster.
135L - The one I have, I love it. Amazing FAST AF.
100 2.8 Macro IS - It's a bit in between, personally i don't think 2.8 is fast enough, ,or low enough for the DOF i want.


* Depending what you shoot, 85L does half half body shots, 135L does shoulder and head shots best.

p.s. I have the 50/1.4 & 135L, next lens is the 85L...then i might add the 85/1.8 when i dont need that extra stop, and weight.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the advice, just ordered an 85mm 1.8 :) found a new one for just under £300 so I'm quite pleased. Will post some shots once I get it!
 
You should sell the 28-135, too many cross overs in your line up, also if you don't use the 400D anymore, i would sell that too with the 17-55. I suspect they are just sitting there since you got the 5Dii.
 
Yeah good advice, I would get rid of those and buy a 135L and a 580exII (if you already haven't got one)
 
Raymond Lin said:
You should sell the 28-135, too many cross overs in your line up, also if you don't use the 400D anymore, i would sell that too with the 17-55. I suspect they are just sitting there since you got the 5Dii.
Click to expand...

Yeh I have a friend who want's to buy them as soon as he's got the cash together so I'm just holding onto them for the time being.

JBuk said:
Yeah good advice, I would get rid of those and buy a 135L and a 580exII (if you already haven't got one)
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I'd have much use for a 135L given I have a 70-200L and barely shoot anything at that length. Already got a 580 exII :)... suppose I could upgrade my other 430ex to another 580ex... lol
 
Well you see the 50mm is great on 1.6x crop as a portrait lens but that is user specific.
That results as around 85ish mm so on a 5D an 85mm is going to be 85 and I would say a gorgeous focal length for close portraits. Depends entirely on your range to subject though (what you would like to capture of your portrait)
 
I posted this on TP

...

Doing it on the cheap

50/1.8 - £80

Doing it with some moola !

50/1.4 - £250
85/1.8 - £300

Doing it with a MASSIVE moola

50/1.2
135/2.0 £800
100/2.8 Macro IS - £800
85/1.2 - £1500
Canon 70-200/2.8 IS - £1200

Then there are the 24-70 variants from everyone too.

But note the crop factor....

Traditionally...protrait lens are from 80mm to 200mm. This is due to the perspectives, and this element STILL applies, the crop factor might have made it into a 80mm field of vision but the focal length stays the same, hence...(this will cause some people to get angry no doubt), 50mm is not your classic portrait lens. Sure, you can take portraits at 50mm, hell, you can take nice portraits at 35mm too (even on FF), but classically, you need longer focal length for portraits.

85mm, 100mm, 135mm

Those are your portrait lenses.

Best bang for buck.....85mm/1.8
 
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