Keelin Mclachlan Portrait with the Panasonic-Leica 25mm f1.4 I personally like using the Panasonic-Leica 25mm for Ring Flash Shots because it allows me to get closer to the subject, giving me a bigger catch light, which is the signature of a ring light shot. I’d personally save the money and opt for Mk I, but if you need the additional dust/splash proof coating with Mk II you’ll have to add another ~$300. 50mm is a versatile focal length, f1.4 aperture means you can bring in a lot of light if needed, it’s relatively inexpensive, brand new under $500 and used around $400… and one of the sharpest lenses on the format. If you could only have ONE lens, this would be it. Not only do I think it’s one of the best lenses for Micro Four Thirds, I think it’s the perfect lens for a casual shooter because it is so versatile. This lens isn’t the perfect portrait lens, I dubbed this one, for the “casual shooter” because most people that buy a camera with the kit lens, never buy another lens, if they do it’s usually another cheap zoom. And before you’re like “What the heck is this guy talking about, recommending a 50mm for portraiture!”, let me explain. The first one is a counter-intuitive pick because it’s only a 50mm equivalent. The Casual Shooter – Panasonic-Leica 25mm f1.4 These will be in no particular order, just some of my recommendations: Now, what’s the “best” is really subjective, so I’ll go through them and some use-cases, and you can make the best decision for your style. So I’m going to go through some of my favorite portrait lenses for Micro Four Thirds… and I’ve used a lot of them. Heck, that’s why I don’t take selfies □ The Best Micro Four Thirds Portrait Lenses for YOU Really, people who tend be be “photogenic” in a selfie tend to have a thin profile face, thin nose, smaller forehead. If 85-135mm was the only flattering range, than no one would ever take a selfie… with most phones around a 24mm equivalent.Īs a headshot photographer, you’d be shocked by the amount of attractive people I work with who never take selfies, and they think they’re not photogenic. Now some photographers might prefer an 85mm, or a 135mm but I personally believe that it depends on your subject, as people have different features. Photo by Stephen Eastwood – Portraits from 19mm-350mm Generally, the ideal focal length for portrait lenses is around 85-135mm (42.5-67.5mm on m43), anything beyond that and you’ll see a little bit of distortion. Micro Four Thirds has a 2x crop factor, in other words, the aforementioned Canon FD 50mm f1.4 would be a full frame equivalent of a 100mm, and f1.4 in terms of bringing in light, but f2.8 in terms of depth of field.īut before we delve into the personal characteristics that you may look for in a portrait lens, let’s talk about the best focal length for portraits. Essentially, you can blur the background – you just have to understand the term “full frame equivalent”. Though today I wouldn’t recommend it for portraiture as prices have come down such that there are much better alternatives, it is all dependent on you.Īs far as background blur, I’ve covered this in-depth with our comparison of Micro Four Thirds vs Full Frame. Beautiful background blur, and stopped down the sharpness increases (at about ~f2.4 here)Īlbeit, for me personally, it was a tad bit soft (compared to the premium lenses of today), and the colors and contrast were a bit flat (although that’s a plus for some, especially in video).
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