If you ask a professional photographer what lens is best for portraits, they will almost always say 85mm. The best Lens for Portraits, which are also called “short telephotos,” are great for anyone who wants to take portraits. The main reason is that an 85mm gives you a wider view.
When an 85mm lens is attached to a full-frame camera body which means it will show the focal length on the box, it gives a flattering view of facial features. Wider lenses tend to make things look stretched out horizontally, which can make for some interesting perspectives but doesn’t do much to make someone look and feel beautiful.
The short telephoto length of an 85mm also lets the photographer get the best distance from the subject. If you use a 50mm lens, you might have to get a little closer than your subject is comfortable with. If you use a lens that’s too long (more than about 135mm), you’ll have to stand really far away and yell your instructions. Below we mentioned the best Lens for Portraits.
Best Lens for Portraits
Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM
Specifications
| Filter thread | 77mm |
| Weight | 950g |
| Dimensions (WxL) | 89x105mm |
| Max magnification | 0.12x |
| Min focus distance | 0.85m |
| Autofocus | Ultrasonic (ring-type) |
This is one of only two 85mm lenses for Canon cameras that has image stabilisation. The other is a Tamron. The build quality is pretty awesome, with features like a shock-absorbing front barrel, weather seals, and fluorine coatings on the front and back elements. It might not seem important to be able to take portraits in the rain, but wedding photographers would disagree. The optical path is made up of 14 different parts, and Canon’s high-tech Air Sphere Coating reduces ghosting and flare even more.
This lens is smaller and weighs less (950g) than its competitor, the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A, which doesn’t have stabilization. It handles well and feels well-balanced on full-frame DSLRs like the 6D Mark II and 5D Mark IV, which are both big and bulky. For now, this is one of the best Lens for Portraits you can buy.
Pros
- Great wide-aperture sharpness
- Exceptional bokeh
- Handles very well
Cons
- Pricier than Sigma 85mm f/1.4
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A
Specifications
| Mount | Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony E and Leica L |
| Diaphragm blades | 9 |
| Autofocus | Ultrasonic (ring-type) |
| Stabilizer | No |
| Weight | 1,130g |
| Dimensions (WxL) | 95x126mm |
There are several mounts for this Sigma, including Canon EF. At 1,130g, it’s pretty heavy for an 85mm f/1.4 lens. Like the rest of Sigma’s Art series, it’s made for high-quality images without sacrificing size. The complex optical path is made up of 14 different parts. There is an aspherical part in the back and two SLD (Special Low Dispersion) parts in the middle and in the front. Autofocus is based on an ultrasonic system in the shape of a ring. Sigma’s Art lenses are very well made, but this one is better than some of them because it has weather-seals.
Autofocus is fast and gets the job done right. Even when shooting wide open, which is a real challenge for a “fast” f/1.4 lens, the image is very sharp across the whole frame. Some Sigma Art lenses have a little “onion ring” effect in the background blur, but it’s very small in this one. A well-rounded 9-blade diaphragm helps keep the bokeh very smooth when stopping down. Overall, this is one of the best Lens for Portraits you can buy.
Pros
- Superb all-round image quality
- Fast, precise AF
Cons
- Lacks image stabilization
- Far from a compact or light 85mm
Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM
Specifications
| Elements/groups | 13/9 |
| Diaphragm blades | 9 |
| Autofocus | Ultrasonic (ring-type) |
| Weight | 1,195g |
| Dimensions (WxL) | 103x117mm |
The RF 85mm f/1.2 looks ridiculously big on a slim EOS R-series camera, and it costs a lot of money. But even though it’s big in size and price, it’s huge in terms of image quality and performance all around. For now, this is one of the best Lens for Portraits you can buy.
The optical path is very complicated. It has aspherical and UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) elements, the same Air Sphere Coating as the latest EF 85mm f/1.4 lens, and BR (Blue spectrum Refractive) optics. Overall, the goal is to get the best sharpness and contrast at wide apertures while minimizing lateral and longitudinal chromatic aberrations, ghosting, flare, and distortion as much as possible.
The build quality is very strong, and the front and back elements have weather seals and fluorine coatings. The ring-type ultrasonic autofocus system works quickly and has a smooth, precise manual focus ring that is electronically linked. The “control ring,” which can be set to do many different things, is another new feature.
Pros
- Awesome bokeh quality
- Excellent centre-frame sharpness
Cons
- Bulky on an R-series body
- Very expensive
Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 RF
Specifications
| Mount | Canon RF |
| Weight | 583.8g |
| Dimensions (WxL) | 88 x 97.5mm |
| Filter thread | 77mm |
| Max magnification | 0.11x |
| Min focus distance | 0.9m |
Samyang has done well by making affordable lenses for full-frame systems, and the Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 RF is an impressively refined version of this model. It’s not quite as good as Canon’s own RF 85mm f/1.2, but it’s half as heavy and costs a quarter as much, so it’s hard to complain. Still, this is one of the best Lens for Portraits you can buy.
The Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 RF does well in terms of optics. Even when wide open, the images it makes are sharp enough to be pleasing. The action of focusing works well, and there isn’t much hunting. The mechanism is very quiet, but not quite silent. It has the 12-pin connection that is typical of RF-mount, so you get the nice speeds that the system is known for. However, the in-camera optical correction is missing; the EOS R cameras recognize the lens, but they don’t have any profiles for it.
Pros
- Tremendous value
- Solid, consistent image quality
Cons
- No correction data
- No stabilisation
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Specifications
| Elements/groups | 9/7 |
| Diaphragm blades | 8 |
| Autofocus | Ultrasonic (ring-type) |
| Stabilizer | No |
| Weight | 425g |
| Filter thread | 58mm |
Most of us aren’t just portrait photographers, so it doesn’t make sense to spend a lot of money on a “portrait lens” that we might not use very often. Instead, it makes sense to buy one that’s small and light enough to fit in a corner of a camera bag.
This Canon 85mm lens is perfect in both ways: it costs a small fraction of any other Canon 85mm lens and is much lighter, at only 425g. The lens was first made for 35mm film SLRs almost 30 years ago. It has stood the test of time and works just as well on digital bodies.
The optical path is pretty simple, with nine elements in seven groups, but it has Super Spectra coatings to reduce ghosting and flare. The ring-type ultrasonic autofocus system is quick, whisper-quiet, and has the usual full-time manual override with a purely mechanical linkage. Overall, this is one of the best Lens for Portraits you can buy.
Pros
- Conveniently compact
- Solid build for the money
Cons
- Only 8-blade diaphragm
- Average bokeh quality
- Not weather-sealed
Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM II
Specifications
| Mount | Canon EF |
| Autofocus | Ultrasonic (ring-type) |
| Stabilizer | No |
| Min focus distance | 0.95m |
| Weight | 1,025g |
| Dimensions (WxL) | 92x84mm |
This lens has a very narrow depth of field, which is great if you want to draw all the attention to the eye, even if the rest of the portrait subject’s face is blurry. Still, this is one of the best Lens for Portraits you can buy.
Even though this Mark II version is better than the original lens, the autofocus is still pretty slow. The manual focus ring is not connected mechanically, which is unusual for a ring-type ultrasonic autofocus system. Instead, it is connected electronically. It’s a nice touch because focusing is so important when the lens is set to f/1.2 and the depth of field is so small. The electronic encoder on the focus ring lets you manually focus with much more accuracy than with most autofocus lenses.
The build quality is professional-grade, but it doesn’t have the weather seals that most L-series optics have. It weighs 1,025g, which is a little more than the Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM but less than the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art.
Pros
- Capable of ultra-tight depth of field
- Rugged build quality
Cons
- Autofocus could be quicker
- Image quality not great at f/1.2
What lenses are best for portrait photography?
A prime lens with an 85mm or 50mm focal length is a good place to start. For Nikon, the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G is our top choice. For Canon, the Canon 85mm f/1.2 is a good choice. The Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM is another great choice. If you want a Fuji lens, the Fujifilm 56mm f/1.2 is a good choice.
How do we choose a portrait lens?
Choosing a portrait lens depends on a lot of things, like how you shoot, what kind of camera system you have, and, of course, how much money you have. Once you know these things, it’s a good idea to read reviews to narrow down your choices.
FAQs
What is the best focal length for portraits?
Even though everyone has their own tastes, 85mm is often thought to be a good focal length for portraits. If you can only get one portrait lens, we would recommend an 85mm. This works well for headshots, full-body portraits, and group shots.
Is a DSLR or mirrorless camera better for portraits?
Portraits can be taken with either type of camera and turned out well. Even though mirrorless cameras have helpful features like eye-detection autofocus, many photographers still prefer DSLRs over mirrorless. Everything comes down to what you like.
