Hi! a noob quistion from a new photogrofer here. I have a canon 60D with a EF-S mount with the kit lens which is a 18-55mm with 3.5 lowest apture. Its a great camera that i cannot shoot with yet.
I love to shoot portraits but i dont get that alot of bokeh effect from my kit lens so i want to buy a good lens for portraits. any suggestions.
I have read that a nifty fifty is a good option but i have an APC-Sensor which means i will have a 80mm if i get a 50mm EF lens because to my knowldge ther is no 50mm lens for EF-S. Iam very new to all of this and i dont understand what any of what is said really means. like if i get a 35 mm EF-S lens will be a 35 or will it be 35*1.5(crop factor)= 52.5mm. and is it any good for portraits. please whelpđĽ
canon has a 1.6 crop factor, but that doesnât matter here.
With a 35mm lens youâll get the same viewing angle as with your 18-55 set to 35mm. So you can check if thatâs ok for you.
portraits can be made with wide angle, normal and telephoto lenses - it depends on your expectations. Asking this kind of generic question wonât result in helpful answers, since no one knows about your expectation âŚ
So better check some Youtube videos comparing focal lengths for portrais. There are plenty of them, an you can find what fits your expectations.
People shoot portraits with all kinds of lenses, but the âclassicâ portrait length is around 80â90mm in full frame equivalents. Since your APS-C camera has a 1.6x crop factor, I would go for a 50mm lens like the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM, which, as you say, would be equivalent to a 80mm in full frame. This is perfect for getting started with portraits.
You may find this article informative in general:
https://www.dpreview.com/articles/2666934640/what-is-equivalence-and-why-should-i-care
As it happens, Martin Castein recently made a video about this:
The Canon APS-C crop factor is 1.6. If you get a 35mm EF lens, the effective focal length will be ~56mm. I would recommend the Sigma 35mm ART lens, if that is something you want.
Back in the day, I had the same situation. I put the nifty fifty on and never put the kit lens on again.
My background was portrait photography as a living. A 50mm lens on a full frame 35mm film camera was too short for general head and shoulders portrait work. The ârecommendedâ focal length for portraits was around 70-80mm plus. So that means the nifty 50 with a crop factor taken into consideration is ideal for the portrait work as long as it has a large aperture of f1.8 or bigger. However, a lens I recommend to my current students to consider is a macro lens of about 90 or 100mm with at least an f2.8 aperture. Then you have a lens suited for both head and shoulder portraits and a close up lens. But price might dictate which is the most suitable choice for you. I would only consider a 35mm lens for street photography or the like and not for serious portrait work.
There are no fixed rules for this. It depends on your style, the environment, and the personalities of both people.
A 35mm (x1.6) may be fine - but one day you will meet someone who wonât feel good until you keep a longer distance.
Thank you Terry. I do under stand what you are saying. I want to shoot both close up but not only the face but the shoulder too. I want to be able to shoot full body too like i want to get the whole person into the pic. i think the 50mm which is 80mm on my camera is good, its just me moving closer and ferther. am i thinking right?
Yes you are 100% right. The 50mm is a good portrait lens on a crop sensor but in my view too small for a full frame camera which you donât have. The reason why your kit lens is poor for portraits is the f5.6 aperture at 55mm which doesnât blur the background enough for a nice bokeh effect. The f3.5 is only at 18mm. Good luck with your journey. BTW darktable is a great editing program for your captures. Also Rawtherapee and Art are popular programs discussed by others on this forum. They are also very good. Forget the paid software and use the money instead to buy lenses and good bottles of red wine.
I think you should get the 50mm 1.8 STM. Itâs just $125 and it will get you into the mindset of using a prime lens. It will be great for portraits with the 60D.
Then you can get the 85mm and a 30mm andâŚ
you can test this with your 18-55 lens 
I use the 50mm for portrait on the 70D because it is the right lens⌠On a full-frame you would be using a 80mm.
The millimetres in the lens name are always actual millimetres, so the EF-S 35mm is a 35mm lens, with the same field of view on your camera as a 56mm lens on a full-frame (the Canon crop factor is closer to 1.6 than to 1.5)