Portrait shots ......... which lens?

[X-ray-spex]

I have been asked to shoot some portrait shots for a friend for his wife's 50 th birthday pressy as a suprise for her.
Will be shooting it at home with a black or white sheet as a back drop, some ambient daylight and an off camera 430exii .....and a reflector

Not sure which lens to use ........... Nifty 50 100mm F/2 24-105L 70-200 2.8L ?

Any suggestions and reasoning behind it?

Not done many sit down portraits

[Canon-Fodder!]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

Hi Spex;

Have a look at this handy-dandy summary... from the Digital picture...

70-200 f/2.8 seems the be his lens of choice!

Hope that helps...

[Bryan Conner]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

If I had the room, I would NOT use the 50mm because this focal length lens is not particularly the most flattering to the typical head and shoulder portrait. It is a fine lens, but not the best in your arsenal for portraiture. Any one of the other 3 lenses you have listed would do a great job. I would try to shoot at 60mm and higher if the space permits. Longer focal lengths introduce compression into the image which is generally very flattering in portraiture.

[Trevoreast]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

I would try to shoot at 60mm and higher if the space permits.

50mm on a 1.3 crop body provides a FOV equivalent 65mm on a ff ?

I find wide angle lenses can be unflattering for head and shoulder shots.
The fifty on a cropped sensor, never heard that B4.
It don't mean it's not true tho..It may be one of things that depends on who you ask

I agree about the 70-200 is you have the space.

Trev

[briansquibb]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

The 100mm should be perfect

[DrJon]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

I'd say use the 70-200 at 70-100 (as the zoom will help with framing and allows greater distance variations), try to get 15' (or more) away from the subject and have the subject a little in front of the background. Try about f5.6 to get the whole subject in focus, although may need to mess around to blur any background deficiencies (but having the subject in focus is more important, the tighter you frame the smaller aperture you will need - outside move further away and open it up a bit). If the subject is blonde then an overhead light can avoid any parting looking dark, so it looks like a dye job (I suspect a room light would help, if all else fails). A back-light would help with the hair, again you could try an anglepoise or something - maybe even the flash if the daylight is good. (I actually don't use room lights so I'm making this up as I go a bit.) A room with a white ceiling will help if you bounce the flash. Spot metering would be good.

(There's a really good article somewhere about how the human brain remembers faces as if they were 15' from you, and when it sees someone it reprocesses the image to make it look like it's 15' away before comparing it with its memory - it can do this as the eyes give distance info. However when looking at a picture the distance info is lost, so shots from less than 15' look distorted. Also shots from over 15' look wrong, but in what tends to be a more flattering way - ears look smaller, etc. The reason to use 70-100mm on FF bodies is to get you a reasonable amount of person in the shot at 15' or so, rather than any effect the lens itself might have, which is a misnomer.)

Hope that helped, I only just got up, I have to get up early today, which I hate, I was up late, and I haven't had coffee, so please excuse any typos or such-like...

John

[colin C]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

The old rule for film used to be a 50mm for full length and 80mm for head and shoulders. Scale that for a 1.6 crop and you are looking at 30mm for full length and 50mm for head and shoulders.

I was never comfortable with those rules, because it didn't give the models space to be themselves and I also considered a small telephoto to be more flattering. I use a 100mm prime for men, because it is bitingly sharp and coupled with slightly harsh lighting, provides a more "manly" portrait. For ladies I use the 70 - 200mm, generally around the 100 - 150mm mark, with softer lighting.

Colin

[X-ray-spex]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

Thanks all .......... think I will experiment with the 100mm f/2 and the 70-200 2.8L and various lighting set ups ...............

[Bryan Conner]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

The distortion that a lens imparts upon an image, for example the exaggeration of the size of the nose, in a head shot from the use of a wide angle lens is independent of sensor size. The distortion will be exactly the same on a 1.6 crop sensor camera as it is on a full frame. But, at any rate, the decision to experiment with the 100mm and the 70-200 is an excellent decision based on a lot of good advice by all.

[briansquibb]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

The distortion that a lens imparts upon an image, for example the exaggeration of the size of the nose, in a head shot from the use of a wide angle lens is independent of sensor size. The distortion will be exactly the same on a 1.6 crop sensor camera as it is on a full frame. But, at any rate, the decision to experiment with the 100mm and the 70-200 is an excellent decision based on a lot of good advice by all.

I believe the distortion is due to the ratio of the depth of the object (ie nose) and the distance of the lens from the object.

Therefore if a picture of a head is taken on a FF the the same picture taken by a 1.6 will be 1.6 times the distance from the camera.

I always reckoned that a 135 on a ff gave the same perspective (or slightly flattering for a face) as the human eye sees it - which is why the 85 on the 1.6 is such a good portrait lens. We are talking face only here for a 1.6 as a full length on a 85m on a ff needs you to go back further hence getting the ratio correct.

[X-ray-spex]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

Mine is a 1.3 crop factor ............ 1d mkiii ............ re-calculate chaps !!!!

[briansquibb]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

.... that is why I said the 100 would be perfect .....


100 x 1.3 = 130 on ff - ideal

[X-ray-spex]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

A....Haaaaaaaaa !!! Back on track .......... thank you Brian and every one else for your advice .... I have set it all up and practiced on the kids, the cats and the pet hamster ............... still struggling the get the lighting right (bearing in mind the hodge-podge of lighting equipment I have mustered together) ........... need to iron the black sheet background as it been in a drawer for about 4 months ............ have drilled clothes pegs and used duck tape to get reflectors to point where I want them ... am using daylight 500w bulbs and fill in flash .......... am after a dramatic light/dark B&W shot to blow up and stick on a big canvas ............ roll on tomorrow .........arghhhhhh!!!
Must buy a cheapo flash kit sometime .....................LOL

[briansquibb]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

Nip round to David and 'borrow' his flash

Seriously - try doing it during the day using natural daylight from a window

[X-ray-spex]

Re: Portrait shots ......... which lens?

Has he got an ST-E2 as well ? ............... only firing off camera 430ex ii flash from an ebay cheapo flash unit ......... works well, but no ETTL and only fires one flash !!!