Best portrait lens on Reddit

303 reviews from r/canon, r/fujifilm, r/nikon_Zseries and 16 more subreddits

303 reviews from
and
By Brand
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By Product
#1

Canon

4.6
(57)
"I love my plastic fantastic canon 50mm f/1.8"
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"Rf 35mm f1.8 would be amazing for that!"
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"RF35/1.8 is my favorite lens on crop sensor cameras."
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"Canon RF 50mm 1.8."
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"The ultimate budget lens for a variety of shooting, especially portraits. Easily the sharpest cheap lens you can buy."
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"RF 85 1.2 ds is a banger."
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"The RF 85 1.2 is a technically perfect lens. Its truly amazing."
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"The RF 85 1.2 is my favorite lens I have ever owned."
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"I've read it's the best portrait lens ever made."
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"The 85 RF f2 is amazing for the price."
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#2

Sigma

4.6
(51)
"Is top."
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"I'm very happy with my sigma 30mm 1.4 for portraits. It's very very sharp."
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"Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 should be your way to go imo."
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"18-35/1.8 is probably the best option. Not too expensive either."
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"If you want a classic focal length for portraits: Sigma 56mm f/1.4."
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"I use the Sigma 135/1.8, very pleased with it."
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"If the first then 85/1.4L, 85/1.2L, Sigma 85/1.4."
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"The Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN is around $1000. I love the lens."
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"There's not much better than the Sigma 56mm f/1.4 unfortunately in terms of bang for the buck."
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"35mm f1.8 on the wide end, sigma 105mm f1.4 for tele."
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#3

Nikon

4.4
(53)
"Nifty fifty should be every aspiring portrait photographers first lens."
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"Just use the 85mm 1.8z and the 40mmz."
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"On that camera, the 50mm f/1.8g is a brilliant focal length for portraits."
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"For a crop body a 1.8 50 mm or a 1.8 85 mm would work either."
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"I think I will be purchasing a used 85mm 1.8s."
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"For portraits, I really like the 40mm f/2 on my Z30."
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"I think the NIKKOR 24mm f/1.7 is a pretty amazing lens."
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"Yes, that does produce wonderful portraits."
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"Is the best option of these 3."
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"Is perfect!"
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#4

Fujifilm

4.6
(33)
"Not too close but close enough to get really stunning portraits."
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"The Fuji 90 F/2 is king of portraits."
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"Is hands down the best portrait lens I’ve ever shot with on Fuji."
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"This lens has something special, and it's still one of my favorite lenses."
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"The best portrait lens money can buy is the 90 F2."
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"If size isn't a issue then the 75mm f1.2 is a must."
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"Haggled down to 405$ for the OG 56mm and bought it, condition looks great."
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"I realised this is my fave lens of all time."
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"I love the 56 f1.2, it has some kind of magic wide open."
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"Xf 56, no question."
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#5

Viltrox

4.3
(27)
"Fanatic lens and less than half of any Fuji stuff I love it."
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"I bought the Viltrox 75 f1.2 and I am in awe of the quality it delivers for that price."
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"I'd seen enough reviews... I was freaking blown away by what an amazing lens it was."
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"It's absolutely beautiful but i'd like a 56mm tbh for just a bit more flexibility in composition"
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"The viltrox pro line is just dumb good."
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"I've been using the Viltrox 85mm 1.8 for a while and it's great."
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"I would go for the Viltrox 75mm though!"
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"Viltrox 75mm f1.2."
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"I've used a viltrox 56 and 75 and both are great."
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"Is one to consider and on the used market a Fuji 56mm f/1.2 can be bought for around $125 more."
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#6

Olympus

4.3
(14)
"I got my Olympus 45mm f/1.8 for 169 brand new with cashback. It is worth every penny."
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"The Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f1.8 is on the cheaper side (used as low as $100-ish) and makes great portraits especially for the price."
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"Olympus 45 1.8 is one of the pinnacle lenses in m4/3. Outstanding image quality, size and price."
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"I love my M. Zuiko 45mm F/1.8—and you can get one for only like $160."
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"It's a great lens for portraits and pretty cheap if I remember correctly."
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"While I think the 45mm 1.8 is the best affordable classic portrait lens, given your requirements - low bokeh, integrate subject with environment - I would recommend the 25mm 1.8 instead."
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"Honestly, for environmental and not worrying about bokeh and cheap... any of the Sigma l3 ses or the 45/1.8 or maybe the most on target... Olympus 40-150 R as a super flexible, cheap, and amazing lens."
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"The 45mm f1.8 is also a good choice but less versatile."
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"A used Olympus 45/1.8 is the way to go."
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"The Olympus 45/1.8 or Panasonic 42.5/1.7 will do the trick."
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#7

Tamron

4.3
(9)
"The 70-180 2.8 works great with Z5 for portraits."
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"Is a great lens."
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"Tamron 70-200 2.8 gen 1 or 2 for portraits."
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"For a budget option, check out the Tamron 85/1.8 VC F-mount."
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"Great lens!"
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"Is worth looking at."
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"It works really well with the adapter."
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"It's sharp, even wide open, has very pleasant bokeh."
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"For macro Tamron older f004 90 vi di usm."
#8

Zeiss

4.3
(6)
"The best optical quality is probably from the Zeiss Otus 100mm f/1.4."
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"Zeiss Milvus 85 f/1.4 is my absolute favorite portrait lens."
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"If you want also want a wider option for portraits the ZEISS Touit 32mm 1.8 is a must."
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"Grab a zeis 55mm dude, easy as"
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#9

Sony

5.0
(5)
"I am using this 85mm lense."
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"It's fantastic. Unreal bokeh quality at unmatched sharpness."
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"Can probably find plenty of them used."
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"My first portrait lens was the Sony 85mm f1.8 prime."
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"It's a MONSTER for close up work and is insanely sharp."
#10

Panasonic

4.4
(5)
"I'd always recommend the Panasonic 42.5 1.7 if you're on a Panasonic body."
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"The Lumix 42.5mm f/1.7 is an easy recommendation."
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"The Olympus 45/1.8 or Panasonic 42.5/1.7 will do the trick."
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"The Lumix 42.5 1.7 and Olympus 45mm 1.8 are the typical standard portrait length."
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"I love that lens it takes gorgeous shots."
#11

Samyang

4.5
(4)
"So I'm a big fan of 85s for headshots and 35 for portraits with scenes."
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"Samyang XP 85mm f/1.2"
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"(ca 300 bucks, but you can often get them for under 250) Alternatively maybe a vintage lens if you dont have a problem with manual focus."
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"I've personally been rocking the Samyang XP 85mm f/1.2 for my portrait work."
#12

Leica

4.5
(4)
"It's a stellar lens and really compact. It's perfect for street portraits."
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"As well as being an all around great general lens, it produces fabulous portraits."
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"However for travel and convenience, I would also highly recommend the 50 dual range with removable goggles."
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"Might not get the compression you’re looking for, but the 50mm summicron DR can close focus to 0.5m that might be a good option for portraiture."
#13

Voigtlander

4.5
(4)
"I'd say my CV 58mm 1.4 or CZ 50 1.4. Because they're unmatched in micro contrast."
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"I use this one as my portrait lens."
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"Voigtlander has a 42.5mm F/0.95 MFT lens that has a nice classic bloom for portraits"
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#14

Minolta

4.7
(3)
"For me it would be Minolta 85mm f/1.7 in MD version."
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"The MD 135 2.8 is good."
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"As well as a variety of 85mm lenses (including the unique 2.8 varisoft."
#15

Nikkor

4.7
(3)
"Nikkor 85mm f/1.8S is the sharpest lens I have ever owned."
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"The nikkor z 85 1.8 is insane,get that one."
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"I would recommend the nikkor 105mm macro....it can create nice bokeh and can do macro stuff."
#16

N/A

4.3
(3)
"I agree with the other recommendations here for getting her an 85mm lens."
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"My favorite lens is the 110mm for portrait."
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"You could always go for the nifty fifty (50mm) lens but I personally like the 85mm for portraits."
#17

Mamiya

4.0
(3)
"My Mamiya 645 came with the 80mm f/2.8, which is an excellent lens."
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"The Mamiya 80mm 1.9 mentioned above gets good press."
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"It's somewhere between 80-90mm and f1.9 is very good."
#18

Fujinon

5.0
(2)
"Good portrait autofocus lenses: Fujinon 56mm f:1.2, Fujinon 90mm f:2.0 LM WR."
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"Their 56mm f/1.2 or 50mm f/1.0 are designed for portraits."
#19

Rokinon

4.5
(2)
"Consider the Samyang/Rokinon RF 85mm 1.4 AF, I have one and after a day shooting I always gravitate to the pictures from that lens."
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"Going to suggest finding a used Rokinon/Samyang 85mm f1.4 for the RF mount."
#20

Lumix

4.0
(2)
"I would go for the 85mm Lumix S - very good, very light, very compact."
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"Is small, light, focuses fast and has stabilization."
#21

Yongnuo

3.5
(2)
"Yongnuo 85mm and 100mm can be a good choice too."
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"Under $200, autofocus isn’t amazing and probably isn’t optically as good as the sigma."
#22

TTArtisan

5.0
(1)
"Great low light performance on a budget and gorgeous bokeh wide open."
#23

Venus Optics

5.0
(1)
"Venus Optics Laowa 105mm f/2 STF"
#24

Nokton

5.0
(1)
"It’s pure magic."
#25

Super Takumar

5.0
(1)
"I got a super takumar 50mm for $80 and it’s an amazing portrait lens."
#26

M. Zuiko

5.0
(1)
"I love my M. Zuiko 45mm F/1.8."
#27

Contax

4.0
(1)
"Heard good things about the Contax 85mm which comes in at about $400."
#28

Rokkors

4.0
(1)
"I think the 50mm Rokkors are underrated for portraits."
#29

Pentax

4.0
(1)
"My favorite portrait lens by far is an old Pentax 45mm (which is 90mm after conversion). Manual focus, but not an issue for typical portraits, and fantastic bokeh."
#30

Mitakon

4.0
(1)
"Plenty fast. I have the 65/1.4 and 85/1.2 for a larger format sensor and absolutely love them."
#31

7 Artisans

4.0
(1)
"7 Artisans 55 f1.4."
#32

MC

4.0
(1)
"The MC 105 is a beautiful lens if you don't mind 2.8, especially if you also like macro."

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