Portrait Lens decision

[Tangles112]

Hey guys,

I have a DSLR, as you can see on my signature, and I was wondering if you could all give me some advice. My 24-85mm zoom lens is great for taking pics, but i had heard that a 50mm lens is tha way to go for portrait pictures. I do have the money and means for a new lens, nut I was wondering if you choulc shed some light on what the advantages are of having a dedicated 50mm lens for portraits? Are there any visual benefits?

 

[AJ23]

IMO, some of the good portrait lenses for DSLR are,

35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4 for full-body, half-body, quarter-body respectively.

Alternatively, 50mm f/1.8, 85mm f/1.8 and 70-200mm or 80-200mm f/2.8 or f/4.

I've tried most, if not all of them, albeit some of different system. I think for a start, you can get the EF 50mm f/1.8, it's a cheap, good and fun lense to play with.

 

[Tangles112]

Thanks heaps. I was going to buy the standard 50mm, but I'm not sure of the visual difference between that and the USM model. If the image quality is around the same, I might start off with that if people don;t mind having their pics shot with that hehe

 

[AJ23]

A link for your reference.

http://www.geocities.com/~kenghor/article/50mm/50mm.htm

The price for EF 50mm f/1.8 MkII is about $140 w/GST, and EF 50mm f/1.4 USM is about $630 w/GST