On Aug 10, 2004, at 4:42 PM, Kotsinadelis, Peter (Peter) wrote:
You are probably right and better off with a zoom for informal portraits
unless you take more formal protraits regularly, in which case you may
benefit from a fixed focal length of 85mm (132mm with 1.55x factor of
some DSLRs) and a F1.8 aperture. The reason being with a smaller size
image sensor has considerably more depth of field so your F2.8 is
probably closer to an F4 when used on a DSLR. An F1.8 would be about an
F2.5.
When you do move to something like a EOS1D Mark II then the 85mm becomes
a 110mm, a much better portrait length for portraits. Actually the 50mm
F1.4 would be a great portrait length on a EOS10D.
I used to really enjoy shooting with primes, but zooms usually work better for me these days. Most of my shooting right now seems to either be family snapshots or weddings; I rarely have time for as much pleasure shooting as I'd like. In either case, zooms fit my style better, and the 24-70 isn't a bad portrait lens. It's a little short for a tight headshot, and a little long for really big groups in their environment, but it works well for everything else. Assuming that you don't mind the size and weight of the L zoom, of course.
Case in point: http://scottstuff.net/gallery/weddings/torn/tn/torn-053-8761- web.jpg.html
24-70L @70mm, f/6.3. Handheld, mix of indirect natural light (reflected off of concrete sidewalk) and on-camera 550EX for fill and catchlights. This wasn't exactly a posed portrait--it happened in between a couple different sets of group photos. The bride walked through a spot with *perfect* light, I yelled at her to stop, and took a couple quick shots. IMHO, the two best shots of the day.
If you look at the rest of the shots in the group, you'll see why I don't do this for a living, but they're good enough to make the bride and groom happy.
Scott
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