Lense reccomendations for portrait photography

[maui no ka oi]

Aloha,

I am going to be getting a canon 50D and was wondering if anyone had some reccomendations for some great lenses for that camera? I love photographing couples, families, and infants. I would consider myself very artistic and love being creative with my photographs. Any help would be great, thanks!

[JETA]

My portrait lens of choice is the canon 24-70 f/2.8L. It doesn't get much better then that imo.

[Ray Dockrey]

I use the Tamron 28-75 2.8. Very sharp and for around $450 it is very hard to beat.

[Medley]

OK, I need to mention the nifty fifty here. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II.

Prime lens, less glass= better image quality.

Fast. 1.8 makes it usable indoors or out.

Light. 4.6 ounces.

Retails for $80 -$100. Nope, not a typo. Least expensive lens you'll ever buy, and (in my opinion) no Canon user should be without one in their kit.

The downside is that the lens mount is made of plastic. I understand that eventually, they go bad. But I've had mine for over two years, and haven't had a problem. At this point if it breaks, I'm still money ahead to trash it and buy another.

- Joe U.

[freygr]

For Portrait's the 50mm can't be beat I would get a little more costly F1.4 better low light and better bronken, but for groups you will want a zoom lens a Good Zoom Lens.

[Liz]

Aloha,

I am going to be getting a canon 50D and was wondering if anyone had some reccomendations for some great lenses for that camera? I love photographing couples, families, and infants. I would consider myself very artistic and love being creative with my photographs. Any help would be great, thanks!

When I owned Canon dslrs, the 50mm/f1.4 was the lens that I used the most. It's good for low light, portraits, street photography, etc.

Having said that, the 24-70/f2.8L lens mentioned above is awesome. It's a bit more money, and if you can afford it, I would recommend it highly.

Liz

[gryphonslair99]

The Canon 85mm f1.8 is an outstanding portrait lens at a good price. Only thing better is the 85mm f1.2 at a ridiculously high price.

Personally I prefer primes over zooms for portraiture as a top quality prime will be sharper than a top quality zoom.

My three most used portraiture primes are the 85 f1.8, 135 f2.0L and the 200 f2.8L.

[Anbesol]

Definitely the 50mm f/1.8 (or the 1.4 if you're feeling a bit spendier) , the 85mm is a great portrait lens too, but its a very tight crop on an APS body like the 50D, as such I think the 50mm is a better portrait choice.

The 24-70 f/2.8 L and Tamrons 28-75 f/2.8 are also excellent zoom choices. I do a lot of portraiture and use both the 28-75 and the 50, but the 50 is my first go to choice, I only use the 28-75 if I am forced to it by limited space/large groupings.

And yeah - by a mile its the best cost to quality you can get in a lens.

[maui no ka oi]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions this really helps me!