Almost any lens can be used to shoot a portrait, though some are better suited to the task than others. We name a few of our favourites.
By Andrew Fildes
You can shoot a portrait with just about any lens. A fisheye will do the job though your subject may appear to have an unusually shaped head and a particularly large nose. You could also use a super-telephoto, but you’ll have to stand so far away from your subject you might need a megaphone to relay instructions.
Professional portrait photographers generally use prime (non-zoom) lenses equivalent to 85mm, 100-105mm and 135mm lengths. Used with a full-frame camera like the Canon EOS 5D, Nikon D700, or Sony A900, these are the “ideal” choices for, in turn, an upper body, head and shoulders and full-face shot.
Because cameras with smaller sensors have a magnifying effect on lens focal length, photographers who use APS-C cameras (like the Canon EOS 7D, Nikon D7000 and Sony Alpha A55) get similar results with prime lenses in the 50mm, 85 and 105mm lengths.
For users of Four Thirds cameras, which have even smaller sensors, the preferred focal lengths tend to be 35mm and 50mm.
Why not use a zoom for portraiture? Well, you can use a zoom of course, but you get more bang for your buck with a prime. Put simply, prime lenses are less complex. That means manufacturers can make a sharp prime lens, with a nice wide maximum aperture, at a fraction of the price of a zoom with comparable optics.
Why do portrait photographers choose equivalent focal lengths between around 85 and 135mm? Wide angle lenses produce a distortion effect that tends to increase the centre of the image, distorting the face. It’s not very flattering. It’s partly to do with having to get too close to fill the frame. It is correctable in programs like Photoshop and Lightroom but it’s better to get it right in the first place.
The effect of a telephoto lens is called compression and it flattens the face in a pleasing and flattering way. But some care is needed. While a 50mm lens becomes a 75mm lens on a digital sensor, and that seems ideal, the image is cropped and there is none of the compression of a true tele. A big nose may look bigger than you expect. It is usually better to get a true telephoto lens and stand further back to get the right framing.
A 50mm equivalent field of view is great for a full-length portrait though, or a couple, so if you want the feet in, use one. The lesson here is, don’t get too close!
The other consideration is aperture. The wider the maximum aperture, the narrower the depth of field. It is possible to have a portrait where the eyes are sharp but the nose and part of the hair are just off focus and softened. The background will go to mush, which is perfect – your subject will “pop” out of the frame, especially important if you can’t avoid a busy background.
There are professional-grade lenses with very wide apertures, like the Canon 85mm f/1.2, but these are expensive. Same goes for zooms – even the expensive professional zooms are relatively slow at f/2.8.
For those using DSLRs with 1.5x crop factors, there are cheaper options. The cheapest, especially for Canon, Nikon and Sony users, is the 50mm f/1.8 lens. Under $300, very sharp and plenty of room to open up the aperture. There may be some expansion of the image in the centre but it is possible to correct for that easily now – I use the transform tool in Lightroom to suck the centre in (induce pincushion distortion) but there are plenty of other programs that can do the same job. The 50mm f/1.4 models are around $500-600 and give a narrower depth of field.
In the 85-100mm focal length there are some good options too. Canon’s EF 85mm f/1.8 and Nikon’s AF 85mm f1.8D produce excellent images and they’re both priced under $700. Sony’s SAL 100mm f2.8 makes for a nice sharp portrait lens but also offers life-size macro capabilities as well.
Finally, a word about bokeh. This is a Japanese word, more properly ‘boke’ and pronounced “bohkay”. It refers to the quality of the out-of-focus areas. With some lenses, the softened background may have harsh features and highlights but a good portrait lens will reduce those same artefacts to a creamy appearance. For this reason, portrait lenses have more aperture blades to avoid highlights in the background showing up as hexagonal lights, for instance.
CANON PORTRAIT LENSES
Canon makes some great portrait lenses, and one of the best is the Canon EF 85mm f1.8. It sells for $719 (RRP) and is reputed to be as sharp and faster to focus than the considerably more expensive EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM, which retails for $2,999.
Another good option is the Canon EF 100mm f2 USM, which is an older design but it’s fast, sharp and has a fine reputation too. And at $829 (RRP) it’s not too dear either. There’s an f2.8 Macro version as well (Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM ) that is also popular. It retails for $999.
At the long end of the focal range there are a couple of options including the Canon EF 135mm f2.8 Soft Focus, a very sharp lens that allows selective softening (2 levels) for traditional soft portraits. It retails for $749. If you can spend a bit more, the EF 135mm f2L is one of the cheapest L grade lenses around and offers very high image quality for the price ($1,649 RRP.)
Canon EF 85mm f1.8.
NIKON PORTRAIT LENSES
Nikon has a big range of portrait lenses from fixed focal length models through to high-priced f2.8 zooms. Be aware that the Nikon D-type lenses are great lenses but they may not work on some lower priced Nikon bodies as they have no focus motor.
If you’re after an affordable 85mm lens it’s hard to go past Nikon’s AF 85mm f1.8D, a solid unit with excellent image quality. It retails for around $650.
Another good option is the Nikon AF DC 105mm f2D. This lens has a defocus control, which allows selective control of foreground and background blur. It costs around $1600. For a lens that includes macro functionality, take a look at the Nikon AF-S 105mm F2.8G VR IF-ED Micro – it’s nice and sharp and a little cheaper at about $1300.
Nikon AF-S 85mm f1.4G.
SONY PORTRAIT LENSES
If you own an Alpha with an APS-C sensor (A390, A33 and A55 in the current lineup) the Sony SAL 50mm f1.4 is a good option and not too expensive at $699 (RRP). It features a wide circular aperture that produces pleasant defocused effects at wide aperture settings. If you’re budget doesn’t stretch that far, look for the Sony SAL 50mm f1.8 SAM, which is still reasonably fast but costs less than half the price at $299.
Another option is the Sony SAL 100mm f2.8 which makes for a nice sharp portrait lens but also offers life size macro capabilities as well. It retails for $1399.
At the more expensive end of the scale, there’s the Sony 135mm F2.8 [T4.5] STF ($2299), Carl Zeiss Planar T* 85mm F1.4 ZA ($2599) and Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA ($2799).
Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA.
OLYMPUS AND PANASONIC (FOUR THIRDS) PORTRAIT LENSES
Olympus and Panasonic both produce lenses for the Four thirds (FT) system and the Micro Four Thirds (mFT) system.
The FT/mFT system doubles the length of any lens you attach to it so a 50mm lens has an effective focal length of 100mm and makes an effective portrait lens.
One such lens is Olympus’ D.Zuiko 50mm f2 Macro (FT), which is possibly the sharpest AF lens in the Olympus lineup – a stellar performer. It also works well with an adaptor on Olympus mFT bodies but may not be so well behaved on Panasonic bodies. It costs around $800. In the Micro Four Thirds range, the upcoming Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45mm f1.8 offers a 90mm equivalent focal length and promises good out-of-focus background effects.
For Panasonic users, the Leica DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm f2.8 ASPH with MEGA O.I.S offers an equivalent focal length of 90mm, optical stabilisation and doubles as a macro with a closest focusing distance of 15cm. It sells for around$1400.
Olympus D.Zuiko 50mm f2 Macro.
PENTAX PORTRAIT LENSES
There are several options for Pentax users looking for good portrait prime lenses including the DA* 55mm f1.4 SDM (around $800), which has an equivalent focal length of 82.5mm on a Pentax body. It features rounded diaphragm blades for good portrait bokeh. With a slightly longer focal length, the 70mm f2.4 LTD DA (around $750) is a member of the Limited Edition pancake lens family. A very compact digital only lens with a good focal length for portraiture.
Pentax DA* 55mm f1.4 SDM.
TAMRON PORTRAIT LENSES
The classic and famous Tamron 90mm Macro has been around for over 40 years and has been updated regularly over its lifetime. The latest incarnation, the SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (around $650) is still considered perhaps the best combo macro/portrait lens around. It’s available to suit Canon, Sony (Konica Minolta), Nikon-D and Pentax mounts (full-frame and APS-C).
Another popular model is the SP AF60mm F/2.0 Di II Macro 1:1 (around $500), which combines a wide aperture and good macro performance with a minimum focusing distance of 10cm. There are mounts for Canon, Nikon and Sony APS-C bodies and the Nikon mount includes a built-in AF motor. 
Tamron SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di Macro 1:1.
SIGMA PORTRAIT LENSES
High on the list for Sigma portrait lenses is the 85mm f1.4 EX DG HSM. (Note: DG lenses can be used on full-frame or APS-C format cameras, while DC can only be used on reduced-format DSLRs.) It features a fast HSM focus motor and is reasonably priced given the wide f1.4 maximum aperture. The lens effectively becomes a 127.5mm medium telephoto when used with APS-C size digital SLR cameras and it’s available in mounts to suit Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax and Sigma DSLRs. Around $1200.
Sigma 85mm f1.4 EX DG HSM.
Article first published in Digital Photography + Design, Feb-Mar 2011.