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What lens is best for family portraits that allows getting everyone in yet close enough to exclude the rest of the room?

Wide angle?

Or crop and zoom in processing software?


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I just took a family portrait yesterday; all 19 of us after Thanksgiving dinner. I used a 28mm lens on a tripod, set it up so that everyone could easily be seen, and then I cropped out the bottom edge.

I find a 28-35mm focal length to be about right for full-length portraits of adults in groups. Those lengths are wide enough to get everyone in without introducing optical distortion that can render people out of proportion.

With high megapixel cameras (anything over 12mp these days on a DX or FX sensor) cropping gives up very little in quality. I like to set up the shot so that everyone looks good and then anything extra in the frame can be cropped out later.

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Thanks. That's a fixed 28 mm lens?


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I used the 28mm setting on one of my zoom lenses.

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A zoom starting at 18mm. 18-55, 18-105,18-140 ect.

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Thanks. I have the Rebel 18-55 kit lens and a Tamron 18-270.
Just thought a special wide angle fixed lens might be more better.


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I have been watching the discussions about portrait lens and what you guys use. I am going to be the designated photographer for my son's wedding in June. Designated means cheapest in this case (free). I plan on using my Tamron SP AF 90mm F/2.8 Di
Macro 1:1 lens. When I bought this lens, I read that it is a very good portrait lens and has a good reputation for that. I have taken one set of portraits (outdoors) for my other son and his family and they turned out good. No complaints. (again -free). smile
Now, after reading what you guys are saying, am I just lucky, or do you think I should be using one of my other lens? The wedding pics will be outdoors also. Ironbender, are your pictures going to be indoors? I guess I should be prepared to do pics indoors if it happens to rain on the day of the wedding. Is my 90mm as good indoors as a 28mm? Or, is distance to subject a big factor.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks,
Ken

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Distance is the key. To see a whole person with a 90mm lens will require you to be quite a ways back from that person. A 90mm like yours is great for portraits of individuals or pairs, particularly for head-and-shoulders pictures where you want to fill the frame with that person's face.

However, if you're going to be photographing a group of people and you want them to look normally proportioned, a 28mm, a 35mm, or a zoom lens covering those focal lengths, is the way to go. A basic zoom covering 28-105mm (full-frame equivalent, so 18-70 on APS-C) is the way to go for most wedding shooting. If you're shooting indoors a camera mounted flash will be a big help. Bring spare batteries.

Last edited by Oregon45; 12/23/16.
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Thanks for the input/help. I can see that I do not want to leave any of my other lens behind.
I just kind of figured if I really needed to get better close ups using the 90mm, the pics are so nice and clear and sharp they are really good ones for cropping. Of course that can be said about the other lens also.
I do have time to save up some money to buy a straight 28 or 35mm . Then again, I think I will use what I have available.
In the meantime if any of you guys see a real good deal on one of the 28's or 35's that will work on a Nikon, let me know.

Thanks again,
Ken


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I've owned 28mm and 35mm fixed focal length lenses in the past and now prefer to have a zoom that covers those focal lengths. The less time I spend changing lenses the less chance there is of missing photographs, and most zooms these days--even the inexpensive ones--give great image quality if stopped down to 5.6 or so.

That said, if you're photographing indoors without a flash an f/2.8 or faster aperture is nice, until you factor in very short depth of field which, when photographing groups of people, can mean that someone who is half a step back from the person in the group the camera focuses on can wind up slightly out of focus. That's where using a flash comes in handy. A good flash, bounced off the ceiling to avoid harsh shadows, can give you enough light to stop down to 5.6 or 8 and get the depth of field you'll need.

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Canon has an amazing lens. Yet, inexpensive. Their 50mm 1.8 is none to NY photo fans as the "Nifty Fifty"
It acts like a 75mm lens on your camera. The 1.8 will allow the background to be blurred which makes the subject stand out. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. As always we take good care of the campfire members


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I know youse guys take care of us!

I'll call if I feel I need that more than one of my zooms on 18mm. Thanks!


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Originally Posted by CameraLand
Canon has an amazing lens. Yet, inexpensive. Their 50mm 1.8 is none to NY photo fans as the "Nifty Fifty"
It acts like a 75mm lens on your camera. The 1.8 will allow the background to be blurred which makes the subject stand out. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. As always we take good care of the campfire members


+1 on this. For the price it is a lens everyone should own. I've had several of the Nikon equivalents, both manual and auto focus, and they've all be excellent. 75mm (50mm on APS-C) is a classic focal length for head-and-shoulders portraits and gives a flattering perspective for half and full-length portraits as well. No reason not to own one.

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Assuming we're talking 35mm equivalents, I think you want a 100mm to be sure your out of the Big Nose territory.

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Originally Posted by Oregon45
Originally Posted by CameraLand
Canon has an amazing lens. Yet, inexpensive. Their 50mm 1.8 is none to NY photo fans as the "Nifty Fifty"
It acts like a 75mm lens on your camera. The 1.8 will allow the background to be blurred which makes the subject stand out. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. As always we take good care of the campfire members


+1 on this. For the price it is a lens everyone should own. I've had several of the Nikon equivalents, both manual and auto focus, and they've all be excellent. 75mm (50mm on APS-C) is a classic focal length for head-and-shoulders portraits and gives a flattering perspective for half and full-length portraits as well. No reason not to own one.

Don't have a prime and have been thinking on it a bit.


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How many people in your family, and what kind of shot are you talking? Half body shots of a family of 4?? Full body shots of 7 people?? Etc.


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