Which lens focal length is best for portrait photography?
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- Опубликовано: 27 июл 2024
- In today's video were going to examine how a models face appears in the based on our lens choice. Testing a 25mm, 50mm, 70mm, 85mm, 100mm and a 135mm lens.
I will also break down a film noir headshot lighting setup!
More info about my photography workshops - johngress.com/workshops/
Model Christian - / kowaliczko
set.a.light 3D software
www.elixxier.com/en/#v2=62cde...
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GEAR:
Studio Titan Camera Stand STA-01-360 MK2
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Canon EOS R5 camera amzn.to/3vPGmeb
RF 28-70mm F2L USM lens amzn.to/3vkEWbE
Canon RF85/1.2 L USM amzn.to/3oJQ9hF
Canon RF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM Lens
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Lighting
Bowens 200mm Fresnel adorama.rfvk.net/DVevea
Elinchrom ELC 500 amzn.to/2PzMLGP or adorama.rfvk.net/4emvmr
Elinchrom ELC Pro HD 500 amzn.to/3AJJTft or adorama.rfvk.net/NK0M0b
Music: Evolution by Bensound bensound.com/ 
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I worked as a photographer in the military and fell in love with an 85mm Nikon lens. So much so that I ended up getting the 85mm f1.8 for my Canon camera. Excellent portrait lens.
No questions at all! Glad I found you now, if not for 12 years back. Phenomenal content!
Thank you so much Antony! I really appreciate it!
My favorite lens for portraits is a Tamron 90mm f2.8 Thanks for the study!
Thumbs up once again.... 85 to 135 is generally the sweet spot, outside this range it needs careful assessment; wider for environmental and dramatic effects, tighter for details. Personally I love tight portraits where the head fills the entire frame, and quite often exceeds the frame, so it isn’t unlikely that I am using focals longer than 135, even up to 300.
Thanks Nilo. It has been a minute since I framed like that, but I definitely should again!
My sigma 85mm f1.4 dg dn just arrived. My first 85mm and actually my second lens (besides vintage lenses I’ve inherited). Already did a shoot with it on Friday and I can’t wait to shoot again 🤩
I love your work and it’s nice to see you say 85 is such an important focal length. 🥳
Congratulations and thank you so much! I had a Sigma Art 85 before I had the Canon RF 85mm 1.2.
Hey just wanted to ask as a happy user of the same lens. Do you think it's sometimes too sharp especially for portraits? At f4 in closeups you pretty much see all the possible details and flaws of skin and everything else, often it's too much
@@piotrlisowski2012 Which body do you use it on?
Are you talking about the jpegs? Do you have automatic sharpening on export turned on in your raw processor?
I have never felt a result from it was too sharp but maybe I take a lot less closeups/ headshots than you do. I use the a7iv so when I do full bodies or hips up photos the face is too small to have any uncomfortable level of detail.
My camera also has a skin smoothing feature which I actually like to use.
Granted I also quite often shoot wide open with it, besides the fashion stuff I did recently where there were a pair of models and they both needed to be sharp.
I think that you can either just mask the face skin and reduce 'texture' by 10 or 20 points in lightroom (if you use lightroom, this is now like 4 clicks and you can batch apply it) with the Sigma,
or you might prefer to use a vintage lens of some kind. They can be very affordable and they weren't as clinically sharp.
Great video!
The reason my 85 is the most beloved of all is because _everything_, the entire world, looks beautiful through it. Not just people. Also pets, landscapes, wild animals, buildings, everything. Beautiful.
I would just strap the 85 on my eyes permanently except that it's way too much inside a house and I would just trip over everything trying to walk around.
Better keep the 8mm on for indoors ;)
haha lmao
Awesome Video, I few months ago I did a photoshoot of a female personal trainer at a gym with a 50mm ( the only lens I had ), I quickly discovered that her body looked chunky, so my only choice was to step back and crop on postproduction, I think I can see the same effect on the last series of images of this video, his right leg on the ladder looks very short and thicker with 50mm and long, slender with the 85mm.
Excellent observation. Thank you for sharing Jose!
@@JohnGress
Do need a grid for the vignetting light?
For the kind of portraits I shoot, I prefer an 85mm f/1.4. The work you do is amazing. May I ask what these portraits are used for? I've seen far too many photography instructors on RUclips that are learning, themselves, as they're trying to teach others. It's great to see someone who so obviously knows what he's talking about. Your portraits are beautiful! Thanks, John.
Thank you so much Miley. I did this shoot to make content for RUclips and Instagram. I do, however, learn through the process of making these videos. Usually its by demonstrating something that I have known for a while, but when I go to create the content, I discover a nuance that I didn't fully understand before.
Definitely 85, 100 and 135 don’t look the same. He looks more handsome at 135, with his face flatter.
Thanks for this great tutorial, I love the outcome!
One question: how many degrees are the two grids on the two 7 inch reflectors that are lighting the background en the back of the model’s ear?
Thanks! There isn't a grid on the background light and the other one is probably 20-degrees.
Very helpful 🙏🏾
Thanks! Glad you liked it!
Great video
Thank you so much Tony!
The framing and lighting for this talking head is insane… 😂 a new subscriber lol
Ha! Thank you so much!
John u brilliant , u work is outstanding Vasili.
Creatifeco
Thank you so much! You are too kind.
Great sir
Thank you so much!
thx for this. Could be nice to see same video with other brands.
Thank you. This isn't really a brand specific exercise. The principals will generally still be the same as what matters is the angle of view.
Great comparison! However, the head shot with a 35 AND from the same DISTANCE looks exactly like the head shot with the 135 shot from the same difference. Only downside: if you shoot the head with a 35 from far away you do lose "a bit" of resolution but gain a bit of DOF with the shorter lens. :-) But you knew all that...
Yeah a BIT! LOL But seriously, thanks for pointing that out.
@@JohnGress So, from a practical standpoint: are there any sitters coming into your studio where you think "I need to enlong their noses and go for a 50mm" or - likewise - "compress their noses" with a 200mm? One learing could be that you shoot short-necked people with a 180mm and extremely long-necked people with a 35mm to even out the feature?
There was someone I shot a few months ago where I think I felt like I needed more compression so I went with 135
I think the problem here is how you define portrait. Of course, when you limit that to a headshot, 35mm is sort-of terrible, but not always - just try to frame in horizontal and maybe not that narrow. On the other hand, 35mm is just perfect for something more in a frame. When you shoot subject in a location it adds a lot of context and when framed wisely, does not make much harm to a subject's features.
I agree you would want to use wider lenses for environmental portraits. The distortion is due to the optics but also the angle of view.
@@JohnGressdistortion has nothing to do with optics. The only cause of distortion is camera to subject distance, because it alters the perspective. Try shooting several photos from the exact same location with different focal length. You will see that all the photos have the same perspective/distortion
John, I do have a question. Not having seen the model in person; what are the factors which lead you to prefer the 85 over the 100?
I see his jaw looks more 'square' and his cheeks fuller at 85. At 100 his lips look marginally thinner and his ears look a little further back on his skull ... but that may be a slight difference in the lighting (judging by the tie).
As ever: thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Thank you for commenting. I guess I didn't word things very well. What I was trying to say was that there isn't a big difference between 85 and 135. Because I have an 85mm prime lens and longer focal lengths can require more depth of field, I will just stick with an 85 for its versatility.
thanks
Thank you
Somewhere between 100 mm and 180 mm, or thereabouts, is best for portrait photography for only one or two persons, if and when you have enough space. Smallish groups often require a lens no longer than 50 mm.
In my studio I always have 50 1.4, 85 1.8 and 135 1.8 at hand. And in the end the most used lens is 85 and for close 135. The 50 is almost not used. Thx!
That sounds about like how I shoot too. Except for I end up at 70mm sometimes for full body because of the framing.
i like 135 mm looks more masculine, neck looks longer, shoulders look wider, camera looks lower, head looks smaller and why it looks taller,you can do with 35 what you do and with 85 if you have distance and you crop
If I have the room I always go with 105mm or 135mm
Hey, John. If you do this kind of video again can you mention (or put a link in the description) the offset arm used to mount the main light? The arm is very useful and space-saving, but other photographers may not know what it is. Mine is the Kupo Baby 5/8in Offset Arm (item KG006512). Less than $35 on Amazon. They are very secure and allow me to shoot right under an on-axis modifier without needing to move slightly to the left/right of the c-stand bar. Aces for product photography as well.
That's what I am using amzn.to/2DlleEz I feel like I sell one of these every week!
@@JohnGress Actually watching another video (3 key positions for your main light) where you placed text underneath identifying the offset arm and placed a link in the description. :)
John, what camera stand are you using?
Its my new Studio Titan Camera Stand STA-01-360 MK2
studiotitanamerica.com/products/sta-01-360-mk2 =)
@@JohnGress $2000, Well done ;)
Do need a grid for the vignetting light?
It will likely vignette on its own.
Great video mate. Focal length is something I always ask myself when shooting photos and videos. In contrast to photographers, I noticed film makers like to shoot their actors with a wide angle. This is to make the shot more "personal" and "dramatic'. What is your comment on this?
Thanks Jason. I could see that for artistic effect. Shooting horizontal also tells more of the story because we see their surroundings.
A 35mm medium shot places you there with the actor. A 50mm medium shots makes you "look at the actor". Wider focal lengths gives a greater immersion.
Do you put filters on your lenses?
Almost never
Does that mean, that you wouldn't use 50mm for a full body portrait?
I would avoid using a 50mm for full body, if I could avoid it. Unless of course I needed the field of view to show an environment.
is it equal with crop frame lens
I would expect it to be the same for equivalent focal lengths. So your 50 would = my 85. I think the distortion is due to the optics but also the angle of view, which is a result of your distance to the subject.
With which lens did you shoot the video?
A 28-70mm f2 at 70mm on a Canon C70
@@JohnGress thank you
I’ve had em all but I think the Canon 50 1.2 takes the cake
I think you should finish the video =)
👍🏾🙏🏾
Thanks Eugene!
🙋 P r o m o s m!