The 85mm prime lens has always been hailed as the perfect portrait lens. However, the popular 70-200mm zoom lens has been rising as a worthy contender. In this video, I’ll be comparing the two lens, and which one may be right for you.
Video: Which Portrait Lens is Right For You?
Ask me a few years ago and I would’ve picked the 85mm. With today’s lens technology, zoom lenses are able to match the aesthetic quality of prime lenses. Ask me now, and I’d say the 70-200mm hands down, but that’s just me. Depending on what you photograph, the 85mm could be the better portrait lens.
1. Comparing Aesthetics
Prime lenses are known for their bokeh. The Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8is the first zoom lens that gives the 85mm a run for the money. Here are several side by side bokeh comparisons of each portrait lens.
2. What Are You Photographing?
If you are an event shooter, I would recommend the 70-200mm. The reason is versatility. The 70-200mm allows you to quickly shoot zoom in from various distances and the focus is lighting fast.
If you’re primarily a portrait photographer, the extra depth of the 85mm may be the best dedicated portrait lens. On top of that, if you photograph often in the evenings, the low light capabilities of the prime lenses will make a huge difference.
3. Distance to Your Subject
If you prefer to be closer to your subjects, the 85mm will help you get that beautiful blur from a short distance.
To get the best bokeh from the 70-200mm, you’ll zoom in. That means you’ll have to be quite far from your subject. I captured this image at 135mm. Compared to the first image, you can see that I’m photographing from quite far away.
If you work in tight spaces or anywhere where space may be an issue, I’d recommend the 85mm.
So Which Portrait Lens Should You Get?
If you photograph both events and portraits, I’d say go for the 70-200mm. You’ll enjoy the versatility of the zoom while still capturing great bokeh at a distance.
If you photograph portraits with a focus on aesthetics, the 85mm wins hands down. You’ll enjoy the low light capabilities and the beautiful bokeh at closer distances.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this article/video! Both of these are fantastic portrait lenses to work with and they leave me wondering what incredible lenses will be available in the future!
Don’t miss our next episode ofMastering Your Crafton Adorama’sYouTube channelnext week! If you want to catch up on all the episodes, make sure you check out ourplaylist!
The 70-200 mm lens makes a great portrait lens for a few reasons. First, it's a portrait length lens, meaning less distortion and general wonkiness when it comes to rendering life-life portraits. Second, it lets you stand back from your subject while still filling the frame.
If you're shooting a big family, a 50 or 85mm lens will give you the wide angle you need to get everyone in the frame. If you're shooting family portraits with only a couple of subjects, you can use a lens with a slightly longer focal length, like an 85mm, to fill the frame without having to stand too close.
The 200mm f/2.0 lens is a dream lens for almost every portrait photographer. When captured at f/2.0, the images take full advantage of both compression and extreme shallow depth-of-field to yield a beautiful, dreamy aesthetic.
Even if you already have the 70-200mm zoom lens, the 85mm 1.8 is still worth owning because it is still going to give you more bokeh, it is sharp enough to shoot wide open, and it is roughly 1.5 stops or so brighter than the 70-200mm f/2.8.
Most professional portrait photographers choose prime lenses for their wide apertures and sharper images. These are some of the most popular prime lens focal lengths for portraits: 85mm. 50mm. ... Most portrait photographers stick to shorter focal lengths for their zoom lenses:
24-70mm is a great range for full body portraits. If you have the room, you can zoom into 70mm and get that “compression” look that works great for portraits.
The Canon 24-70mm lens allows you to shoot fairly large group portraits as well as closer framed individual poses without having to change lenses. For tight headshots, a lens with a little more reach than the 70mm maximum length would be ideal.
What Type of Photography Is Best With an 85mm Lens? An 85mm lens is excellent for portrait work. By isolating the subject and minimizing distortion, this lens can produce captivating, flattering portraits, headshots, and full-body images.
The focal length and shallow depth of field of the 85mm lens are really popular with portrait photographers! In fact, for many, it's their go-to focal length lens on a session! The minimum focusing distance or focal length with it is approximately 2.8 feet from your intended focal point.
A 70-200mm lens is a versatile optic with uses for wildlife, wedding, sports, landscape and even portrait photographers. The option of having short, medium and long telephoto focal lengths in one lens with a fast constant aperture gives photographers so many creative options.
The brightness, speed of focussing and overall sharpness these days are breathtaking – certainly wedding photographers of previous generations would be amazed by what is now routine.
Aperture. You'll find that an f-stop of 2.8 or lower is the best aperture for portraits. The reason for this is that it creates a shallow depth of field. Using a shallower depth of field directs the viewer's eye.
The 85mm 1.4 is a game changer. The Image Stabilization feature is amazing and I now consider it one of my most ACCURATE lenses in terms of focus. There are SO many reasons why I love this lens and CANNOT have my defined style without it!!
An 85mm lens won't distort the subject in any way and will only compress your image, so whichever angle you decide to shoot your subject from you're going to get pleasing results.
The closer the 10-lines/mm curve is to 1, the higher the contrast and the better the ability of the lens to separate the line pairs. The closer the 30-lines/mm curve is to 1, the better the resolving power and sharpness of the lens.
Wide angle lenses are often used for group portraits, rather than shots of individuals. However, because they tend to make objects close to the lens appear relatively large with respect to the background, they can distort parts of the subject.
A 70-200mm lens is a versatile optic with uses for wildlife, wedding, sports, landscape and even portrait photographers. The option of having short, medium and long telephoto focal lengths in one lens with a fast constant aperture gives photographers so many creative options.
The brightness, speed of focussing and overall sharpness these days are breathtaking – certainly wedding photographers of previous generations would be amazed by what is now routine.
You see, while these lenses are often created with portrait, landscape, and nature subjects in mind, they also offer impressive close-focusing capabilities. The minimum focusing distance does vary from model to model, but it's generally around 15 inches (38 centimeters).
Of our favorite lenses, the least ideal is a 24-70mm. However, it's a lens that many people who are established but are branching into headshot photography may already own. We would only recommend shooting headshots at the 70mm focal length of this lens, and even that is pushing it as far as distortion goes.
The best lens for portraits should have a maximum aperture of f/8 or larger. Anything smaller than that will result in a larger in-focus area, which is not necessarily a bad thing if you need to make other subjects in the photo appear sharp, such as a portrait with more than one subject.
Backgrounds can make or break portrait shots. Longer focal length lenses will make blurring away a distracting background easier, as will wide aperture settings. Longer lenses also make it easier to fill the frame with the subject's face, creating a sense of intimacy.
24-70mm is a great range for full body portraits. If you have the room, you can zoom into 70mm and get that “compression” look that works great for portraits.
An 85mm lens offers the same framing from farther back. Some photographers prefer to get up-close and personal when shooting portraits, in which case a 50mm lens is the better option. Others prefer to keep the subject at a distance, and here, an 85mm lens will excel.
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