Which lenses?

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Permalink Reply by Paul Atcliffe on April 14, 2013 at 1:55am

You can use a 35mm for portraits but it's not that usual.  The 1.8 aperture will certainly help in low light without a doubt.  For head/head and shoulders shots you're going to have to get pretty close though which as has been mentioned will introduce a less than flattering look depending on the subject.  For full body shots showing the subject in their surroundings it could be a good choice - depends on what comes to your mind when you think 'portraits'.  I've got the 50mm 1.8 which is a peach of a lens for the price and may be better suited but I rarely use it for portraits myself preferring to go for a longer lens and off camera flash.  The best thing maybe is to look through the portraits you have taken already and see if they're predominantly head shots or body shots and which of those you prefer.  If your preference is for full body portraits then the 35mm is the one to go for, if your preference is for head and shoulders then the 50mm is going to make you happy.  If your favourites are head shots that you've taken with a zoom then you should probably look for a longer focal length (which for a fast lens is going to get pricey !!!) or you could up your ISO a stop and/or start considering a dedicated flash - control the light.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Duncan on April 17, 2013 at 9:30am

Also if you're using a tripod for your portraits, you'd want VR switched off.

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