Portrait lens advice

3tagebart wrote:

Hi forum,

I like to ask you people's opinion regarding a possible lens purchase of mine. I quite recently bought an EOS 6D as addition to my old trusty EOS 40D. My standard zoom is the 24-70mm f4 I also own a 85mm f1.8 and a 70-200mm f4.

On the 40D I really loved the 85mm giving me an equivalent field of view of a 135mm on FF. The 85mm still is a great portrait lens for bust portraits but i do miss a dedicated lens for head shots. Of course I can use my 70-200mm f4 for that purpose and the results are really nice.

Since the G.A.S.-bug bit me lately I was wondering if a 135mm f2 would be able to produce some even more pleasing (bokehlisious) head shots.

To cut to the chase: Have you personally felt that a 135mm f2 is a sensible addition to the existing 70-200mm f4 or is it plain overkill?

I know it's all about personal taste in the end, nevertheless I would appreciate some shared experiences. Thank you.

David

I may be in the minority, but I went in the opposite direction. I owned the 135 f2 for the past couple of years and just recently sold it. I loved the lens, but found that I was not using it enough to justify its existence in my kit. My 70-200 f4 IS is "good enough" for me at this FL (and more) and gets much more use than did the 135.

Is it overkill having both the 70-200 f4 and the 135 f2? For me it was for the reason mentioned above. For you, maybe not ( ie depends on how much will you use the 135 for portraits, etc....).  The 135 is a fun lens to use!!  IS would be a great addition (IMHO).