100mm for portrait ?

shinares777 · Nov 15, 2011

Hi guys,

I know 100mm 2.8 macro is supposed to be used to take MACRO pictures but I also read many good reviews saying this lens can be used for portrait. I havent bought the lens yet but i want to know: lets say i want to take a full body picture, since it is 100mm, does it mean I have to stand far away from the object ? How far is it going to be ? Any suggestion ? Thanks...

2WheelPhoto · Nov 15, 2011

Our friends on this forum covered the topic in great detail: Macro vs Fast Prime Lens for Portrait Photography - DigitalRev.com

Big Mike · Nov 15, 2011

lets say i want to take a full body picture, since it is 100mm, does it mean I have to stand far away from the object ? How far is it going to be ?

Once you get the lens on your camera, it should take you less than 10 seconds to figure it out.

jake337 · Nov 15, 2011

2WheelPhoto said:
Our friends on this forum covered the topic in great detail: Macro vs Fast Prime Lens for Portrait Photography - DigitalRev.com

They missed the Zeiss 100mm f2 makro planar!

I like macro lens because you can take a portrait of a person, then a portrait of a bug!

Your distance to your subject with a 100mm lens is relative to the size of the sensor or film in your camera. The bigger the sensor/film the closer you may be.

bazooka · Nov 15, 2011

I just used this lens this morning to take a portrait. I think it's a great portrait lens. A little long on a crop-body though. It'd look fine, but you may not have enough room. You'd have to get back quite a ways to frame a head and shoulders shot.

jake337 · Nov 15, 2011

bazooka said:
I just used this lens this morning to take a portrait. I think it's a great portrait lens. A little long on a crop-body though. It'd look fine, but you may not have enough room. You'd have to get back quite a ways to frame a head and shoulders shot.

This depends on the size of your subject. Taken from 1.63m or 5.51ft.

Nubbs · Nov 15, 2011

That is a great lens and probably my must underused lens. I have used it for portrait work but it is so sharp that you see every imperfection. My wife has since told me not to use it when taking pictures of her

bazooka · Nov 15, 2011

True Jake, good point.

Here's one of the ones from this morning.... 6ft away on full frame.

Lauren Freeman, Texas Proud by Tim Herschbach, on Flickr

Nikon_Josh · Nov 15, 2011

100mm is a good working distance for portraits really, you can safely take headshots aswell with a 100mm lens (you won't distort facial features for a start). As for the fact that Macro lenses are sharp, you can easily soften the image in post processing.

LaineAp · Nov 19, 2011

Thank you so much about this discussion and all the links provided!

ashleykaryl · Nov 29, 2011

The 100mm macro is a pretty good portrait lens on the whole and it's optically stunning right across the aperture range. The only weakness I have found is a tendency towards slight distortion for full face portraits where the nose can appear a little bigger than in reality. Strangely this is not evident from a little further away or if you use it as a genuine macro. Don't underestimate the 24-105L for portraits, which I find particularly good at around 85mm. At that focal length it can focus closer than the 85mm F1.8 and the quality in my experience is excellent.

With the 100mm lens you will have to stand several meters away from a person to obtain a full length shot, whereas you could use the zoom quite happily at about 50mm to good effect. One lovely quality about the 100mm macro is the way it separates the main subject from the background at wide apertures. It's a quality lens by any standard.

Jesse11 · Nov 30, 2011

I tried the 100mm as a portrait lens a few times. It was unsatisfying compared to other lenses for me. First, I needed more versatility in a portrait lens than was afforded by a fixed focal length. Second, the 100mm does require you to stand a ways back, and this can be a problem in a small space, such as a studio. Third, the lens isn't the fastest focusing thing in the world. Fourth, while the lens is very sharp (designed to be a macro), sharpness super sharp is not always what you need in the studio. I'd say it's best used for its intended purpose.

SamConway · Dec 23, 2011

I shoot headshots and although I generally find a longer lens to be more faithful I find it depends a lot on the subject, in particular the proportions of their face and its features. Most of my headshots have used an 85mm but sometimes I prefer the 50mm, or my 75-300 - please see examples of all three at my london headshots website: Shots and Reels London Headshots - Actor Headshots London London Headshots