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What is the best portrait lens for Canon 80D?
So you’re wondering which lens is best for portrait photography with your Canon 80D? Portrait photography is something we do on a regular basis, whether with friends, family or strangers. Many beginning photographers bought their first camera with the kit zoom lens and a portrait lens is often one of the first tools needed as an extra.
If you want to get good results, it will be necessary to use the right equipment. However, there are many models and choosing a portrait lens can be complicated because it depends on several factors.
To help you, in this article we’ll explain all the features you’ll need to consider when determining which portrait lens to choose for your Canon 80D.
How to choose the best portrait lens for my Canon 80D?
Here are some things to consider when choosing your portrait lens to go with your Canon 80D:
Fixed or zoom lens? Which focal length to choose? The focal length is an important criterion to determine which portrait lens to choose: a fixed focal length cannot zoom, and you will have to move to change the size of your subject on the image.
You must choose according to the type of environment where you intend to take portrait photos: outside (during a trip for example), in a concert hall, in a studio, during a wedding… A zoom lens is more versatile, allowing you to go from a wide angle to a standard or telephoto lens very quickly. Their negative points are that they are generally heavier and more expensive than a fixed focal length.
Although fixed focal lengths don’t offer as much versatility as a zoom lens, they still have many advantages: generally the image quality they provide is far superior to a zoom lenses, for a much lower price. A fixed focal length portrait lens also allows the use of very large apertures such as f/1.4 or f/1.8 which is impossible to obtain with a zoom lens.
The larger this aperture (i.e. the smaller the f/number), the more light the lens will let in on the sensor. It will allow to reduce the depth of field in order to isolate the photographed subject and to realize superb effects of bokeh (background blur).
A large aperture also helps reduce motion blur in dark environments. The choice between a fixed focal length and a zoom lens is above all a matter of compromise between image quality and versatility.
As with any photographic equipment purchase, choosing a portrait lens also depends on your budget. If you are just starting out in photography and want to learn about portraiture without breaking the bank, you may want to consider third-party lenses such as those from Tamron, Sigma and Samyang rather than the official Canon, Nikon or Sony lenses.
They are much affordable and generally offer very similar image quality. On the other hand, the build quality is generally better on the official lenses. If you are a very demanding photographer and are looking for exceptional image quality, I would still recommend investing in a lens from the same brand as your camera.
If you are not sure on what portrait lens to choose for your Canon 80D, this small selection is suitable for most portrait photographers.
Note: the product links in this article lead to Amazon.com
Summary
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM (Budget portraitl lens)
- Sigma 17-50 mm f/2.8 (Versatile Zoom Lens)
- Useful accessories
- Conclusion
Here are the best portrait lenses you should consider for your Canon 80D:
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Weight: 160 g
Filter size: 49 mm
This 50mm f/1.8 lens is among the most popular lenses on Amazon. It’s sold at a very affordable price and works well on both full-format cameras and APS-C sensor cameras: the focal length changes to 80mm on a Canon EOS 80D, which is ideal for portrait photography.
In terms of image quality, even if it’ss sold at a low price it produces fantastic pictures: you have a beautiful background blur thanks to the f/1.8 aperture, the sharpness is great and brings a lot of details, and the color rendering is excellent. If you are a beginner in photography, you will be amazed by the results.
It’s simply a must-have for the Canon EOS 80D, compact, inexpensive and makes great pictures.
Sigma 17-50 mm f/2.8
Weight: 570 g
Filter size: 77 mm
The perfect tool if you travel a lot and don’t want to bother with several lenses! It offers much better performance than the 18-55mm sold as a kit, and its very versatile 17-50mm focal length will allow you to do both landscape and portrait work. Its f/2.8 aperture is fixed over the entire focal range, allowing good shots to be taken even in low light conditions. Sigma’s HSM autofocus system is very fast and quiet (no autofocus noise).
Canon also sells a 17-55mm f/2.8 but it costs twice as much and its performance is not necessarily better… Be careful, when you buy the Sigma 17-50mm on Amazon.com remember to select the Canon frame (Sigma offers the choice between Sony, Nikon… don’t be mistaken!).
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☛ MORE PORTRAIT LENSES
- For other portrait lenses options, check this out: The best lenses for Canon EOS 80D
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Useful accessories for portrait photography
They are essential to make photos and videos. Whether it’s for transporting your equipment, stabilizing your camera or protecting your camera and lenses, accessories are far from being superfluous. But you have to choose them well if you want them to last.
Here is a small selection of must-have accessories to complement your lenses and your Canon 80D if you want to do portrait photography:
Conclusion
To summarize, the important things to consider when looking for the best portrait lens for Canon 80D are focal range, aperture and price. If you’re not sure which portrait lens to choose, you can also go to Flickr and search for examples of photos taken with the lens you are interested in, this will give you a good idea of its possibilities.
Another thing, if you are planning to do portrait photography while on vacation or travel, consider the weight and bulk of the lens. If the whole thing is too heavy or bulky and lacks discretion, you won’t want to bother with it and would rather just take your smartphone with you. You may also not want to risk damaging an extremely expensive lens.
And finally, perhaps the most decisive point about choosing the perfect portrait lens for your Canon 80D will be if you need to get a portfolio of professional quality portrait photos (it may be your business or it may become your business who knows?).
Last tips: Remember to always focus on the eyes. And whatever portrait lens you choose, try to snap as much as you can, as it is often during the selection phase that you’ll discover the perfect picture. Most importantly, be always ready, as the magic in a portrait may only last for a short moment.