Newbie question - best aperture setting for portraits using 24-70 L

I am interested in people's opinion.

Which is your prefered aperture setting for portraits using the 24-70 L on the 1.6 crop 30D camera?

Is the portrait better wide open with less DOF at f2.8 or is there a sweet spot for this lens where sharpness and IQ is maximized?

Would it be different for a head shot at 70 mm or a upper torso shot at 45 mm?

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Work out what you want to have in the level of sharpness.

There is no one "great" setting. It depends on what background
you have and how much you want it to show up as in focus.

In that case, there is no favorite, but only what works.

Open apertures can have very narrow focus in inches, so be careful
that is what you want. Manual focus can help if you are close @ 1.2
to 3.5

philmar said:

I am interested in people's opinion.
Which is your prefered aperture setting for portraits using the
24-70 L on the 1.6 crop 30D camera?

Is the portrait better wide open with less DOF at f2.8 or is there
a sweet spot for this lens where sharpness and IQ is maximized?

Would it be different for a head shot at 70 mm or a upper torso
shot at 45 mm?

Click to expand...

My most used aperture is f/4.0. Have a good sharp and a great bokeh.
--
Website under construction. Another link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/raphaelkoerich

define what about your portrait is important to you.... important to the viewer and close down the aperature enough to keep that in focus... the classic portrait instructors often used a textbook definition of necessary sharpness as from the subject's nose to the subject's ear. But many creative photographers include only the eyes or only one eye....

As a simple guideline f 5.6 or f 8 with camera on tripod is more than adequate to get the face areas sharp... My traditional portrait customers would never purchase a print if I shot the portrait and left it sharp and unretouched. We gently blend out rough skin, and other nasty things which would be painful to look at in a photograph and leave the interesting parts like eyes, mouth somewhat sharper...

if the portrait is a 'character study' more sharpness can be used....

You might have more fun with this if you define a stlye of portrait and then work at generating that style on demand with a combination of lighting, pose, background, etc.

photographers like Rainville or Karsh are/were particularly into a controlled style of portraiture.... Weegee had a totally different approach.

enjoy your journey

Stuart

--
Juli
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
Canon FiveDee, Canon 2oD, Canon Gee3, and Canon S7o, Fuji Eff30.

thanks for the insight

My question is mainly geared for handheld shots in the field - not tripod mounted studio shots. i will be in India and plan to ask many people for permission to take their portrait

philmar said:

thanks for the insight
My question is mainly geared for handheld shots in the field - not
tripod mounted studio shots. i will be in India and plan to ask
many people for permission to take their portrait

Click to expand...

HRUMPFH!!!
Maybe I should first learn how to spell....

First and foremost, a portrait is about a subject. And the most important part of that subject is the face. Do you want to see junk in the background? Nope. If your lens has great bokeh, narrow depth of field will bring out the foreground that much more.

Look at head shots from working (and non-working) actors in LA. You might not have the exact equipment to duplicate their images, but you can get close.

Canon's 24-70 f2.8 L is about as good as it gets. You won't find that there are weaknesses. Hunting for the best F-stop might be a long and fruitless task.

Good luck.

--

'In 1983, the game of golf had a firm grip on the waist of my boxers and was administering the death wedgie. I had a dose of the atomic yips and after missing 10 of 11 cuts by a single shot, I was ready to quit and apply for a job as a wringer-outer for a one-armed window cleaner.'

• David Feherty