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 Post subject: Portrait Lens for Canon
PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 12:01 pm 
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I am interested in what everyone think about an ideal Lens for Portraits.
in other words the one Perfect Portrait Lens.

1. Money is not an Constrain but it has to be Auto focus and it for a full frame camera.
2. Minimum focusing distance does matter.

I am not in the market for one, but I would like to just get a feel of what others have in mind.

so far I think, the 85mm 1.2 is good overall, but very slow in AF.

Thanks in advance for your inputs.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 12:30 pm 
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85mm 1.8. cheap and awesome


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 3:57 pm 
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I would say either the 200mm f/2.0L IS or the 50mm f/1.2L or even the 135mm F/2.0L...
I like the 50 personally.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 4:24 pm 
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70-200 2.8 II. Sharp all the way through the versatile range with extremely fast and accurate AF. Take a look at the POTN classifieds of people that have sold 85s and 135s for this lens and been happy to do so. It's the one lens that can do what all the others can. That said, there is no harm in choosing the 85L or 135L.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 5:17 pm 
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Thanks for the quick replies Dmitrjs,Mike and Chris.
The 200 is just fantastic hands down but weight factor is an negative.
Great suggestions. Looks like we have covered all.

Chris can you point me a link or something to what you have specified in POTN...
Thank you


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 5:40 pm 
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It's here


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 6:51 pm 
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yeshwanth wrote:
Thanks for the quick replies Dmitrjs,Mike and Chris.
The 200 is just fantastic hands down but weight factor is an negative.
Great suggestions. Looks like we have covered all.

Chris can you point me a link or something to what you have specified in POTN...
Thank you


Ummm not really. The posts exist but I'd have to hunt them down through search the same way you would. There are a couple reasons I know they exist - the first is I subscribe to the 70-200 image sample thread, now in thread II, and there are a consistent amount of posts saying "sold my 85/135 for this and couldn't be happier!" Now that the lens is a little older those posts have slowed down a touch. The other reason is I somewhat frequently look at both the 85L and 135L image sample threads because they're fantastic lenses and it's great to see the results people get with them and I've seen more than a few posts stating "thinking of selling this for the 70-200 II". These threads have those posts that say "no keep this lens! it's the awesomest!" because people defend what they have, my posts here as example, but such posts are there. Perhaps if you tried to search for the term "70-200" in the 85L and 135L threads you would find these posts? And the same if you searched "135L" & "85L" in the 70-200 thread I suppose.

Edit: It just occurred to me that if you search "X vs 70-200 II" or variants of that you would probably get a lot of responses on this. I also remembered there are a few youtube videos comparing the 70-200 range to the 85 - the one by That Nikon Guy comes to mind as mildly informative.

Two points on my bias. Yes, I own the lens so my confirmation bias heuristic will kick in, but, regardless, take a look around and see if you can find anything negative said about this lens beyond the weight. The general consensus regarding this lens on the interweb is that it's damn good. The second thing is, if I had the money I would have both the 135L and 85L in my lens collection but I would not give up the 70-200 to gain them. If weight is an issue the 70-200 II is 3.2lbs, the 200 2.0 is 5.6lbs for reference.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 12:53 pm 
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Thanks Chris for the Insight.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 1:02 pm 
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Also consider what you mean by portrait. And what types of portraits you will be taking. For full frame full body portrait a 50mm is fine while for a face and head and shoulder portrait the 135mm is great. The 85l at f1.2 is not that easy a lens to use. While the 70mm to 200mm like all zooms is more adaptable than a prime so you don't have to move around so much.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 1:13 am 
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70-200mm f2.8 and IS is a must!
100mm f2.8 is also a great one...
85mm f1.2 is the Dream one for me!


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 9:56 am 
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Thank you Ryan and Nikke.
Yes I have the same dream (85 L f1.2)


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 11:53 pm 
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I have a 24-105L, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 100L, 135L and a 70-200/F4/IS on a 5D3. My favourite portrait lens is a toss up between the 85 and 135L. There is a magical quality with the 135L. I have shot with the 70-200, 2.8 IS Mk.II and the images are supurb and I have often thought about picking it up however it weighs twice as much as my existing 70-200 - which I tend not to use for portraits as it is.

You can't go wrong with an 85/135 or 70-200 Mk.II - buy all three ;)


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 10:32 am 
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just adding my 2 cents.. the 85/1.2 is a very specific lens. it's not the easiest to use, maybe but when you get it right.. it's really impressive. 135L maybe a better option being a faster AF lens but it's longer.

GL on the hunt!!!


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 1:38 pm 
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Thanks for the input everyone....
I am renting a 85L and 135L sometime soon to see for myself.


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