My Three Favorite Prime Lenses & How To Use Them For Portraiture

Wondering which prime lenses you should invest in first? Here is the breakdown of our 3 favorites and how we use them in our portraiture.

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[donprice]

Arguably one of the most useful photography videos on YouTube. After spending a lot of cash on lenses I would honestly tell any photographer of any style to start with zooms from 24-75 and 70-200 and build up your primes in between.

[joe_a_photo]

That black and white photo with the couple looking at each other and the people in the background blurred was amazing

[Narsuitus]

Over the decades, here are the three primes I have used:
I used 35/50/100mm lenses on Argus C3 35mm rangefinders.
I used 28/50/135mm lenses on Pentax Spotmatic 35mm SLRs.
I used 24/50/105mm lenses on Nikon 35mm SLRs.
I used 24/35/85mm lenses on Nikon 35mm SLRs. (My personal favorite for general subjects)
I used 35/85/180mm lenses on Nikon 35mm SLRs. (My personal favorite for SLR reportage)
I used 21/45/90mm lenses on Contax G1 35mm rangefinders.
I used 21/35/90mm lenses on Leica M6 and M10 rangefinders. (My personal favorite for rangefinder reportage)

I used 55/80/180mm lenses on Mamiya 6x6cm medium format TLRs.
I used 50/80/180mm lenses on Mamiya 6x7cm medium format RB67 SLRs.

[reluctanthustler]

For the first 9 years I shot Actor's Headshots in LA I used the Canon Nifty Fifty. I've probably shot thousands of clients with that lens. It works great and is CHEAP! It's a 1.8 so you can get a nice bokeh. There is a desire by Film and T.V. casting for Headshots to really show the actor as they are when they walk into the casting room. I have been told by those casting people that my shots do this and I think that by using a lens on the wider side for Headshots you tend to maintain some of the facial features and not flattening them out the same as the longer portrait lenses - 85mm and up - ALTHOUGH THOSE LONGER LENSES ARE PROBABLY BETTER FOR WEDDINGS:) I personally think the longer lens portraits look "cooler/better" and in my experience a slight flattening of features usually makes the clients react better. Recently I took a trip to Japan and brought a Fuji with me. Loved it and ended up switching to Fuji and now use the 56mm 1.2 for Portraits. If I was still shooting Canon and had to start over and buy three I would likely get a 35, 85, 100macro maybe. Sorry for the long comment but the industry in LA is pretty much shut down over the Corona Virus:) Just hanging at home right now:)

[TheErajat]

Perhaps the best video on you tube about prime lenses. It beautifully explain the types of images that can be taken with each of the primes. I'm tired of the tech spec videos and this is one where I Actually learnt something. Thank u Sir for such an awesome video.

[Vikram-wxhg]

Great tutorial.
Covers in 16 minutes all that I wanted to know as the distinguishing characteristics of these prime for portraiture. Thanks a lot.

[hiteshchand]

Very good video. Crispy and precious info 👌

[onlysublime]

I love love love my 85 mm 1.4L Canon lens the most of my primes. It's the one lens I can count on to get glowing comments from people. I really don't see much need for the 50 (I have a 1.4 and a 1.8). My 50 was one of my first lenses because everyone kept talking "nifty 50" and maybe that led me to being disappointed when I saw the photos. I agree on the 24 mm on the wide end for primes. I have the 24-70 2.8L that will cover the 50 range although I wished it had a wider aperture and image stabilization.

[MARRRRCPL]

This is CRAZY helpful, thank you so very much. Stats are one thing, but insight like this is really valuable.

[Geroldsibanda]

Dude.. you rock! SLR gives excellent advice and this video does not disappoint!

[kadinaator]

I'm a motorsport photographer and I mostly use fast zooms but I do have one prime lens I love - Samyang 8mm f/3.5 fisheye. All manual, gorgeous results.

[khengteoh]

I used to use my 28 1.8g for everything but recently I have been using my 105 f1.4 lately for portraits. I should really go back and do more portraits with 28!

[photographynerd]

4:59 That's a cool shot. I actually thought that was the sun behind them the first time I saw it. Then I was like, wait a sec, the clouds are illuminated in the wrong direction lol

[rudiloof]

I have the 50 mm for years and it is my favorite. I recently bought an 85 mm and I learned so much from this video! I've all written it down in my phone so I reread when practising. Thank you!

[Itsallgoodtogo]

Never mind the lenses ... 7:50
HOW THE F*CK DID YOU MANAGE TO CONTROL SO MANY CHILDREN TO GET THAT SHOT AT 1.4
I want to know more about that.

[TMIDD]

I shoot models on my channel and my goto prime lens is the 35mm f1.4, 50mm f1.8, and the 85mm f1.4. You just can't go wrong im telling you! Nice video

[houstoninternationalmedia]

It’s like you knew what I just bought. I got the Sony 85, 50 and then I just bought the 28. I agree these are the best 3 prime lenses for portraits

[dimpels]

Thanks for the explanation on the different lens much appreciated

[RamaSivamani]

For the 85+ I would counter that not all of them are slow to focus. The 85f/1.2 and the 1.4 are. The EF 85 1.8 actually does focus pretty quick. The EF 135 f/2 focuses really quick and I have never had complaints with the focus speed on it, if I have enough space to pull out the 135 the that becomes my go to lens. Only time I pull out the 50 or wider is if I don't have enough space to backup and shoot the 135. I think my ideal combo would be the 28-70 f/2 and the 135m f/2.

[wanneske]

I love my canon 135 mm f2, but I really miss stabilisation, I don't have a steady hand. I need shutterspeeds shorter/faster than 1/320 or my pics are not that sharp