Best 5 Canon Lenses for Portrait Photography
Canon has a great line up of portrait lenses. Let us see which all are the Best 5 Canon Lenses for Portrait photography.
1.Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM Lens
Without any doubt, Canon’s L Series Lenses are the best Canon has to offer for any kind of photography. In my opinion, this 85mm f/1.2L II USM Lens is one of the best lenses available in the market for portrait shots. This piece of glass is highly recommended for photographers who use telephoto focal lengths for portrait photography.
Since this is a prime lens, the picture quality is really crisp. This is the widest aperture lens which Canon has to offer and it is capable of producing stunning background Bokeh. There is a significant improvement in focusing speed when compared to its predecessor, Canon EF 85mm f1.2L USM Lens. Also, the focusing has become more silent. It costs around 1,999$. So, this lens is recommended for serious portrait photographers only.
2. Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
This is one of the favorite prime lenses for many photographers and for me too. It is lightweight and the images are crisp. From my experience, even though this lens is sharp at f1.4, it is very sharp at f2.0. This is one lens which I always carry in my pocket since it fits easily on to my jacket’s pocket. Even though it is costlier than the Canon 50mm f1.8 lens (which is the cheapest prime lens from Canon), the picture quality is pretty good. Also, it is cheaper when compared to the Canon’s f1.2 version. It costs around 399 $
3. Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM
The image quality of this lens is quite remarkable. The focal length of 35mm is the main reason for the attraction. Compared to its predecessor, there is a good amount of changes. Portrait photographers love to use this focal length for both full body shots as well as half-body shots. On an APS-C body, the focal length of the lens changes to 56mm, which is still good. It provides a very good isolation of the subject in focus from the background and rest of the scene when used at the maximum aperture of f1.4. It costs around 1799$
4. Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
If you are a portrait photographer looking for a portrait lens with little zoom to compose your shots then this is the lens for you. Both image quality, as well as the focusing speed, is pretty good, considering the fact that this is a zoom lens. The only thing which I didn’t like about this lens is the absence of “IS” feature.
I have tried using this lens with both full frame body as well as with a half frame body (APS-C). In both the cases, the image quality is pretty good. Without any doubt, it makes great portrait shots when combined with a full frame body. The lower f-number of 2.8 makes this lens very good for shooting portraits in low light situations too. It works pretty good for home and indoors. You can also use it for shooting Landscapes. It costs around 1,899$
5. Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens is a very good lens for getting tight portraits and close-ups. The main advantage of this lens for a portrait photographer is that you can maintain a good comfortable distance from your subject to get your shots. In this way, you can get more natural candid shots, rather than the typical portrait poses. This lens with a full frame body would be a great combination. The 4 stop image stabilization allows you to take pictures at low light. The only drawback which I have seen on this lens is its price. It is priced at 2,099$.
There are many other Portrait lenses from Canon. But, these are the best ones in their line up.