Best focal length for portrait in photography

PhotographerR

Hello photographers ,

i was checking some posts about photography , and i saw something strange , and i want to ask about it.

while i was reading this post [ mod edit: link deleted], i saw that the best focal length to take portraits is 85-100 , is that true , and if it was true , why is that ?


Thanks alot

r3t1awr3yd

Maybe I'm a weirdo. I just pop on whatever lens I can rack out to help with compression.

eg: 24-70 @ 70mm or 70-200 @ 200mm.

*shrugs*

pathfinder

Portraits are taken with lenses from 24mm or wider, to 300mm or longer. There is no single focal length "Best" for portraits. It all depends on what your goal in your image is. Environmental portraits are frequently shot with a 35mm lens. Many fashion shots are done with 200mm. It all depends on your DOF and bokeh desires.

That said, lots of folks like the perspective captured with 85mm to 105mm for full frame 35mm cameras. Long enough to get close ups without getting in the subjects space, short enough to be fast and light to use, not too expensive, very sharp, and great bokeh. Depth of field such that you can get the eyes, nose and ears all in focus if you want to.

theprincereturns

That is the classic distance as it does well at isolating the subject from the background, but also doesn't compress features too much. If you notice at higher focal lengths the relative distance between objects gets smaller (ie it can make the subjects face look flat). Remember the "crop factor" with non full frame SLRs as well. I love my Pentax 50mm f1.4 (75mm effective) for portraits as it is a great balance. If I am doing full body pictures, I honestly prefer a longer focal length as I want more issolation on the background (200+ mm usually), as i don't care as much about facial features. Here is one i took just the other day at 50mm.

Qarik

for a tight portrait (say head and shoulders) anything from 70mm and up is fine. For full length > 50mm is okay. The issue is perspective distortion mostly at smaller focal lengths. As you get longer and longer you benefit from compression as long as you get some dicerible features in the back ground. If you are shooting a tight protrait with no distinguishing background features..whether you go 70mm or 200mm is not much difference.

jeffreaux2

I use a 70-200mm zoom for most of my portraits.

And unlike Quarik, I like the long end for close in work or full length. I just back off the subject for full length shots. I like to capitolize on the compression and bokeh.


165mm



140mm



165mm



A wide angle shot at 73mm


and at 185mm

Snowgirl

Group portrait?
So, what if you are shooting a group of 8-10 people? Any recommendations to ensure that everyone is in focus? And, would you focus on the eye of someone in the front row or the back to ensure faces are clear?

ziggy53

Snowgirl wrote: »

So, what if you are shooting a group of 8-10 people? Any recommendations to ensure that everyone is in focus? And, would you focus on the eye of someone in the front row or the back to ensure faces are clear?

A usable answer would have to include possible arrangements as well as the crop factor of the camera, focal length of the lens and distance to the subjects.

Please do review the calculated DOF for the possible combinations of camera, focal length of the lens and distance to the subjects for your projects using this page as a starting point:

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

In practice, be sure to bracket the aperture to be sure and it's better to err on the side of more DOF than less.

Also, smaller prints seem to have more DOF than larger prints of the same processed image. Be sure to take this factor into account when shooting.

Snowgirl

ziggy53 wrote: »

A usable answer would have to include possible arrangements as well as the crop factor of the camera, focal length of the lens and distance to the subjects.

Please do review the calculated DOF for the possible combinations of camera, focal length of the lens and distance to the subjects for your projects using this page as a starting point:

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

In practice, be sure to bracket the aperture to be sure and it's better to err on the side of more DOF than less.

Also, smaller prints seem to have more DOF than larger prints of the same processed image. Be sure to take this factor into account when shooting.

Thanks Ziggy. That DOF calculator is great. Been there many times.

I will be using a 1DMKIV. Still deciding on lens: 70-200 f/2.8, 24-105 f/4, and/or 50mm f/1.8 on the backup 40D.

Outdoor shoot late afternoon / early evening. Using a bandstand in a park. Also, have reflectors (white), 580EXII and remote trigger and umbrella available if needed. Tripod; remote trigger.

Thinking f/8 or f/11 to ensure sharpness of subjects who will be arranged in a series of sub-family triangles around the family patriarch.

Once done, each family (3 daughters + father) will be getting a print, probably around 16 x 20 plus some smaller ones.

Bruche

That is the classic distance as it does well at isolating the subject from the background, but also doesn't compress features too much. If you notice at higher focal lengths the relative distance between objects gets smaller (ie it can make the subjects face look flat). Remember the "crop factor" with non full frame SLRs as well. I love my Pentax 50mm f1.4 (75mm effective) for portraits as it is a great balance. If I am doing full body pictures, I honestly prefer a longer focal length as I want more issolation on the background (200+ mm usually), as i don't care as much about facial features. Here is one i took just the other day at 50mm.



__________________
Lucas Smith Photo
http://www.lucassmithphoto.com
http://lucassmithphoto.blogspot.com

That's an Awesome picture!

R/
Bruce

ziggy53

Snowgirl wrote: »

Thanks Ziggy. That DOF calculator is great. Been there many times.

I will be using a 1DMKIV. Still deciding on lens: 70-200 f/2.8, 24-105 f/4, and/or 50mm f/1.8 on the backup 40D.

Outdoor shoot late afternoon / early evening. Using a bandstand in a park. Also, have reflectors (white), 580EXII and remote trigger and umbrella available if needed. Tripod; remote trigger.

Thinking f/8 or f/11 to ensure sharpness of subjects who will be arranged in a series of sub-family triangles around the family patriarch.

Once done, each family (3 daughters + father) will be getting a print, probably around 16 x 20 plus some smaller ones.

Using the band stand is a great idea as it allows you to go there beforehand and estimate both subject positions as well as your camera distance. Once you actually measure those things and plug all the information into the DOF calculator, it will give you some excellent starting f-stops based on the tangible and repeatable information.

When you set up for the actual shoot, just duplicate both the physical setup and the f-stop settings and you have a wonderful starting point.

In this situation, using a band stand or band shell as an example setting, the background will probably be close enough to the subjects that background blur will not be a consideration. Indeed the visible background, if any, will need to be considered in the composition. As such, you should choose a relatively small aperture to incorporate the background as sharply as practicable.

Going to the site beforehand will also allow you to take some snaps confirming your composition.

Snowgirl

ziggy53 wrote: »

Using the band stand is a great idea as it allows you to go there beforehand and estimate both subject positions as well as your camera distance. Once you actually measure those things and plug all the information into the DOF calculator, it will give you some excellent starting f-stops based on the tangible and repeatable information.

When you set up for the actual shoot, just duplicate both the physical setup and the f-stop settings and you have a wonderful starting point.

In this situation, using a band stand or band shell as an example setting, the background will probably be close enough to the subjects that background blur will not be a consideration. Indeed the visible background, if any, will need to be considered in the composition. As such, you should choose a relatively small aperture to incorporate the background as sharply as practicable.

Going to the site beforehand will also allow you to take some snaps confirming your composition.

Good plan. I'll be in that area this week-end so can do the measurements and fire off some shots to see what works. I'm hoping to be able to corral this family late afternoon / early evening when the light is decent. On the OFF chance that I have to shoot earlier in the day, at least the bandstand will provide some open shade for me to work with (steps on 2 sides) and I can shoot so the background will be predominantly trees. Yay. I'll be back (as Arnold would say).