need good portrait/fashion photo lens!!

oliviamaria

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Hello, I am looking for any suggestions for an excellent quality all round canon lens for portraits and fashion shoots. I mostly do maternity and fashion photography. I have been using my canon 50mm, 1.4 pretty much all the time, as I love the blurred edges. I feel, however, that the image quality needs to improve. I see photos all the time that just have this professional feel and I am really trying to accomplish that.
Thank you for any, and all suggestions.
 
I use the 24-105 f4 L IS on my 5D. I must say, however, when I look at great fashion work, I am a lot less concerned about the lens and much more concerned about the lighting and the setting.

That leads me to think your problem is not your lens, but lighting, setting and posing.
--
Jim
http://www.pbase.com/jcassatt
 
85L
135L
70-200 2.8

Any of these are the defacto standard. There are wider options as well.

James
--
The chances of survival are equal to the angle of arrival !!
 
Possibly.

I use my 24-70/2.8 and 85/1.2 a LOT in pinup shooting, and the 70-200/2.8L IS often when I have room. Most of my other lenses just take up space in my bag during these shoots. I'm probably going to get a 35/1.4L sometime this year though.

What kind of fashion? If it's models + strobes + runway then the 24-105 is an ideal choice if you're only using one body.

I've seen fantastic studio fashion work from 20 year olds with Digital Rebels and a decent lens so it's more an injun than an arrow situation, usually.
I use the 24-105 f4 L IS on my 5D. I must say, however, when I look at great fashion work, I am a lot less concerned about the lens and much more concerned about the lighting and the setting.

That leads me to think your problem is not your lens, but lighting, setting and posing.
--
Jim
http://www.pbase.com/jcassatt
--
http://twitter.com/jpaphoto
 
I think the 85L II f1.2 is realy a must have for fashion. the quality is just amazing.
 
Hello, I am looking for any suggestions for an excellent quality all round canon lens for portraits and fashion shoots. I mostly do maternity and fashion photography. I have been using my canon 50mm, 1.4 pretty much all the time, as I love the blurred edges. I feel, however, that the image quality needs to improve. I see photos all the time that just have this professional feel and I am really trying to accomplish that.
Thank you for any, and all suggestions.
If you can't get professional looking shots with the 50mm f1.4, you won't with any lens. I suggest looking at your lighting before acquiring additional lenses.
 
eays one get the 85L2 , the most versatile lens for your needs.
Hello, I am looking for any suggestions for an excellent quality all round canon lens for portraits and fashion shoots. I mostly do maternity and fashion photography. I have been using my canon 50mm, 1.4 pretty much all the time, as I love the blurred edges. I feel, however, that the image quality needs to improve. I see photos all the time that just have this professional feel and I am really trying to accomplish that.
Thank you for any, and all suggestions.
 
A related question: What if, concerning a runway show, I have been invited to shoot as a third or fourth shooter. I do not have a 135L or 85L. However, I have 5D2 with 200L-IS which I can use from the rear so to speak on a monopod. I am not trying to outdo any of the younger guys, just trying to help as an extra shooter who might catch something they happen to miss. What are your thoughts? I use the 200 exclisively for model shoots and do rather well if I say so myself ... in fact, that's why I just got invited to shoot the runway gig ... no money involved. I don't get sued if I do not do well. :)

Gordon
--
'Who loves yah, Baby?'
... Lt. Theo Kojak, Manhattan South
 
well, Mic, 80mm f/2.2~ if you talk about DOF and f/1.4 if you talk about light gathering, e?

Wishes, Harry
... photographic skill also a major factor. The 50 f/1.4 is an excellent portrait lens on dslr with the 1.6x crop ratio which is equivalent to 80mm f/1.4.
--
Mic
http://www.pbase.com/mic_hong/galleries
 
Youi'll find I sometimes sound cranky.

But my info will be useful.

No answer to your question will make any sense without knowing the format of your camera.

i.e. "full frame" or "cropped.

And the advice about the 135mm lens is prpobably not very good. Do not buy one if you want a fashion lens for a cropped camera, a lot
 
I agree with the comment above that if you can't get good image quality with the 50/1.4, it's not the lens' fault. I have it and it's as sharp or sharper than any zoom I have.

What body do you have? This is critical when discussing lenses.

I'd want to look at lighting first. Professional lighting has a way of making things stand out, and it's not always readily apparent that the lighting isn't ambient. Look at some of the two-light strobe setups from B&H or similar - they run about $1000 and will help you far more than any lens for professional look to photos. Consider taking a lighting course or at least read up on studio lighting online.

If you wanted to do things properly and have good studio lighting, the 24-105 and 70-200 F4L lenses are a great budget duo on a 5D - then get an 85/1.8 for head/shoulders shots if you want very shallow DOF shots. But, any 70-200 is fine as a portrait lens on full-frame. On an APS-C camera (Rebel or 50D etc) they're a little long.

Zooms are very good for studio work in good light - much easier to frame shots if you have limited space to move and/or need to work quickly and/or precisely within a lighting context.
 
You did not mention a critical item, the camera you use. A 85mm on a 5D is very different than a 85mm on a 50D where it becomes a 135mm lens.

For both portrait and fashion the longer the lens the better. Conversely if you are indoors a zoom lens is advantageous and as you are likely to be shooting at f8 most of the time it will have more than adequate sharpness. In general a super sharp lens is at cross purposes with portraiture.

With a 1.6 crop camera a normal perspective focal length is about 30mm and anything longer will be a "tele". With a full frame camera anything longer than 50mm is in the same class.

The 24-105mm f4 IS is an excellent lens for use indoors and outdoors or for fashion outdoors the 70-200 on either a crop or full frame camera is excellent. For less weight outdoors with a crop camera the Sigma 50-150mm f2.8 is much easier to manage and the 105mm focal length of the 24-105 is also a good lens.

Many people get tunnel vision and can't see past the 85mm lens for some reason. Talk to local portrait photographers and look at their pictures and ask them what they are using and why.

If you have a 70-200mm lens or can borrow one you can try it out at 85, 105, 135 focal lengths and see what feels best to you. The advantage of the 24-105 is that it provides a range of focal lengths which is helpful when space is limited.
 
Thanks for your advice and suggestions. I have a canon 40D and I shoot with natural light, mostly in open shade(or foggy days). I do get a lot of amazing shots with my 50mm, 1.4 but I also feel like I am missing a crispness that I see in other people's photographs. I would like to accomplish a crisp image, with soft edges. I definitely feel like I would like to learn about lighting, especially about working alongside with natural light.
 
I use a canon 40D. I am still learning about the difference between full frame and cropped. I shoot mostly outdoors, in natural light and the 50mm, 1.4 has been great. I am just ready for something new. I appreciate any suggestions. thank you. olivia
 
even if it is natural light, the key to high-fashion looks are generally not the lens but the light (and occasionally, the format, and the setting, and of course the models...) the 50/1.4 is optically really excellent; it is sharp enough wide open, and very sharp stopped down to f/2, which is an excellent working aperture for fashion in a certain style (most fashion shots are actually made at small apertures, but f/2 also works) for your fl and crop camera.

it is unclear to me what you mean when you say 'crisp image with blurred edges'. that doesn't make a lot of sense. i assume you simply mean a fast lens which can give you a narrow depth of field, but perhaps you mean a lens that will actually vignette and is less sharp at the edges of the frame. (in which case you should take a look at a lensbaby.)

if you want to step up from the 50/1.4, the 50/1.2 is better for this sort of work, but it takes practice to use it well and it will not make a night-and-day difference; the 50/1.4 is already good. but the f/1.2 does have better bokeh, and resists flare much better, so you can shoot into the light when you want to, which you cannot do with the 50/1.4.

if you genuinely do mean 'fashion' and not portrait work, then the 135/2 can be very useful, though it is better for this purpose on a ff camera than on a crop. it is also easy to get good results with it, though you'll need plenty of working distance (and it is better for headshots than full body).

what would probably be even better for you would be a 35/1.4, which permits you to still separate the subject from the bg, yet provides easier working distances for full-body and environmental portraits (esp on a crop camera).

but if you really want to make your portraits and fashion look professional, then you need to work on lighting. go over to the strobist website and read their intro sections, look at the examples, and you will see what i mean. you can also make a big difference for not very much money, if you simply buy two manual flashes (look for recommendations on strobist). if you have the money, you can go ahead and get two 580ex's instead, which makes some things easier, though soon you'll end up doing a lot of it on manual anyway.

if you still want more advice, try uploading some samples of your work, and point us to a couple of examples of other people's photos that you like and want to be able to match.

sometimes you don't even need a flash to give your photos that lighting-designed look, if you pick where you stand carefully:



 
Thank you for your advice and I think you are right about lighting being so important. I have a website if you want to see the 'fashion' (which is really portraiture) portfolio, you might see what I mean. Thanks again. http://www.oliviahearley.com
 

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