In the previous section, I discussed background blur and shallow depth of field effects. I explained that some photographers prefer a shallow depth of field, whereas others like to include greater detail.
Remember when I said that an 85mm lens will force you to stand farther away from your subject compared to a 50mm lens, assuming you use the same framing? In fact, I almost never use my 85mm lens inside our home. Our house is just over 1, square feet, and depending on the room, sometimes I physically cannot back up far enough to use my 85mm lens. I like to capture little day-to-day moments of our family, and so having a lens that I can use indoors is a must-have.
Of course, you might have a huge house with huge rooms, or you might prefer tight headshots, in which case 85mm is undoubtedly fine. This image was taken with an 85mm lens; note the tighter framing and increased background blur. On the other hand, I often prefer my 85mm lens when shooting outdoors. I can let my kids play and have fun without being all up in their business. Space between the kids and the camera means that they can relax more easily, which in turn leads to more genuine expressions and candid smiles.
So which is better, 85mm vs 50mm lenses? Honestly, both of these lens types are great for capturing portrait-style images of people, and I personally keep both in my camera bag and use them with near-equal frequency. How do these different focal lengths speak to my needs? And then make your decision. And why?
Share your thoughts in the comments below! Left: 85mm lens Right: 50mm lens. Table of contents Portrait Photography. The Photo Critique: Portrait Edition. Tips for Preparing for a Portrait Session. How to Scout for Portrait Shooting Locations. The Importance of Location for Outdoor Portraits. Understanding the Focus and Recompose Technique.
Overcoming Depth of Field Problems in Portraits. Stunning Portraits: Manipulating White Balance. Shooting for HDR Portraiture. How to Eliminate Reflections in Glasses in Portraits. How to Create and Shoot Night Portraits. Understanding Light for Better Portrait Photography. How to Use Flash for Night Portraits. Side-by-side comparison between reflectors and diffusers for portraits. The Importance of Shadows in Portrait Photography.
So You Have No Model? What Is Good Light? Also, the fact that a 50mm lens shoots half or three-quarter body shots is a good to have for portraits but even better for portraits. This also applies to the groom and the rest of the wedding party.
A 50mm lens will capture their outfits along with their smiles. Speaking of capturing outfits, how can you use a 50mm for fashion too? In fact, if composed properly, the 50mm may actually create a desirable slimming effect on your subjects when shooting slighting up or down. Consider online shopping, too.
A lot of sites shoot photos of their models from the neck down. A 50mm prime lens is a solid option when image sharpness is the name of the game.
While the 50mm does not offer as wide an angle as the 35mm, it can provide razor-sharp images. This is desirable when shooting a landscape full of nuances and details. Also, what you give up in angle width can always be made up for in post. One easy way to get wide angle shots with your 50mm prime lens is to stitch a series of images together to create a panorama. In most cases, this will give an even wider angle than the 35mm lens, with the added sharpness of the 50mm.
Best of both worlds. The 50mm may be a better option for food photography than the 35mm again because of the lower lens distortion.
One way to reduce distortion even further is by shooting a wider composition with your 50mm lens, then cropping to the main subject in post-processing.
This will crop out the corners of the frame where distortion is highest yet still less noticeable with a 50mm. The 50mm prime lens also shares the same low light capability as the 35mm prime. This makes for more brilliant food shots, even when in dimly lit restaurants. A 50mm lens on a full-frame camera will be a great all-around option when shooting photos of newborn babies.
Newborn photos are essentially still portraits, just with a smaller, cuter subject. Further, when shooting newborns, you and your viewers are more interested in the subject, and less the environment… which will mostly just be blankets and pillows. A 50mm prime lens will serve as a good all-around tool for this subject, but it may be worth looking into a 50mm macro lens for the really close up shots. This is important to know because shooting a subject from closer than this distance will make them appear blurry and out of focus even if the rest of your settings are correct.
Shooting outdoors and in open spaces will give you the freedom to step back and shoot your subject from different distances. Distance from your subject and aperture are the factors at play when tastefully blurring out the background. Keep in mind that as the aperture increases, your distance from the subject must also increase to create the same quality of bokeh. With the longest focal length on this list, it can provide the thinnest depth of field.
This will produce intense bokeh that pretty much blends the background of your composition into a structureless swath of colors, which help to make your main subject pop from the background. The 85mm focal length may not be as versatile for portrait shooting as the 50mm, but what it lacks in versatility it makes up for with its ability to produce marvelous head shots.
This focal length generally has a longer minimum focus distance than the 35mm and 50mm, which will require you to stand much farther from your subject. However, this creates a couple of benefits when shooting head shots:.
This is a big deal when shooting head shots, and your subjects will love you for it. Weddings require a well-rounded photographer to capture a variety of types of images in different settings. This gives the bride and groom some space so they can actually focus on each other and forget about the camera. You will need to stand farther back from your model, but in a studio or even outdoors, you are not so far away that communicating with them becomes impossible.
Just a bit more challenging. A good use for the 85mm lens when shooting landscapes is placing a subject in the foreground.
Another benefit of shooting from far away allows you to shoot wildlife without disturbing the animals. While definitely not the lens of choice for food photography, a skilled photographer can still work to its strengths.
Two of which are a narrow viewing angle and large aperture. The narrow viewing angle lends itself nicely to minimalist composition. It forces the photographer to clearly define one subject of the photo. This can tell a different story than a wider angle of a buffet table full of food. Low light capability is a plus when photographing food since it is mostly taken indoors or near a window. An 85mm prime lens will typically have a larger aperture for example. Newborn portraits are… portraits.
The 85mm lens is a portrait lens. This is a frequent question for beginner photographers and one that portrait pro Julia Trotti tackles in the below video.
In the clip, Trotti compares three prime lenses of different focal lengths to see which one is best for portraits: 35mm vs 50mm vs 85mm. The first lens comparison test Trotti performs is photographing Charlotte standing in one outdoor spot using each of the three lenses.
She proceeds to then do a full body shot of Charlotte with each of the lenses. Next, she tries the 50mm while shooting Charlotte in the same full body scenario. I like that you can still make out what the location looks like in the background.
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