As my biased title reveals, I truly enjoy this lens. Unlike the nifty fifty, the praise surrounding the 85mm 1.8 is well deserved in my opinion. PROS – Very flattering for portraiture – The quality is excellent on both cropped sensor & full frame – Affordable CONS – Chromatic aberration – Focus is occasionally slow – Heavy The 85mm has been deemed THE portrait lens. And for good reason. This focal length is not so close that you make your subject uncomfortable, but far enough away to still hold a conversation & create flattering compression. I’ve used this on my cropped sensor for years (made the focal length around 128 which was bokeh-licious) and on my full frame this past year. I love that it consistently performs well in various situations. The biggest disadvantage to this lens is the chromatic aberration when shooting out on bright days. Purple fringing is unavoidable and must be fixed in post. Sometimes it takes a while to get the auto focus just right and this is a weighty lens due to all that glass. Currently this is my favorite lens & I definitely recommend picking it up because the […]
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This post is definitely geared towards beginners. When starting myself, I didn’t have a guide showing the different types of lenses available. I basically used that kit lens until I wanted to achieve other results & realized there was more out there. I’ll explain not only various lens types, but also focal lengths and touch on different brands as well. Categories There are three different categories of lenses photographers’ wind up using: prime, zoom, & specialty. Within those categories, are different types including: wide angle, normal, telephoto, & macro. Prime Lenses These are the preferred choice for many portrait & lifestyle photographers. They come in a variety of focal lengths, apertures, & price ranges. Recommendations: 24-28mm – helpful when shooting interiors and can also show wide sweeping landscapes. 35-40mm – great for showing environmental portraits as well as interiors. 50mm – the holy grail of a walk-around lens. Excellent for most street, lifestyle, event, portrait, landscape, product work, etc. 85mm – the popular choice for portraits. 135mm – excellent at capturing close ups & makes the most dreamy portraits. 200-300mm – typically sports, other big events, or nature. Zoom Lenses Typically not as fast as prime […]
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