Zoom vs Prime Lenses for Portraits

There are several different kinds of lenses that you can buy that will do all sorts of fun and interesting things. The main two that we use as portrait photographers are zoom lenses and prime lenses. In this blog I’ll give you a little run-down on the differences between these two lens types, as well as a couple of examples of some common focal lengths that are useful for different types of portrait photography.

I've added some of my top picks of zoom and prime lenses for Nikon, Canon and Sony users; just check that the mountings are compatible with your particular camera as they do vary slightly with different models.

► ZOOM LENSES

What is a Zoom Lens?

As the name suggests, zoom lenses have the ability to zoom in, giving you versatility with focal lengths as you can simply zoom in and out of your subject to change the composition of your image, rather than change lenses. Usually the kit lens that comes with your camera will be a zoom lens, and there are different zoom ranges that different lenses offer. Zoom lenses have a large impact on how the background looks in the image as well; standing further away from your model and zooming in will compress the background, making it look closer to your model.

How is Aperture Affected by Zoom?

One thing to note with zoom lenses is the way that the zoom action affects the aperture. Different lenses will have different aperture capabilities and the aperture range of the lens will be written on the side. For zoom lenses, for example on an 18-200mm lens, the aperture range might look something like this: “1:3.5-5.6”. The aperture closes down as the lens zooms in, so this tells us that when zoomed all the way out to 18mm, the lowest aperture your lens will go down to is f3.5, and when zoomed all the way in to 200mm, the lowest is f5.6. You can learn more about how aperture affects your images here. More expensive zoom lenses might have a fixed aperture rather than an aperture range, for example a “24-70mm f/2.8” lens. This mean that the lowest available aperture will always be f2.8 no matter what your focal length is.

Our top picks: Nikon 18-200mm | Canon 18-135mm | Sony 18-135mm

► PRIME LENSES

What is a Prime Lens?

Prime lenses do not zoom, meaning they have a fixed focal length. This means that instead of standing in the one spot and zooming in or out to adjust your composition, you will be physically moving closer or further from your model to create those same compositions. This can be helpful to encourage creativity and diversify your images a little, as you’re having to move around and experiment with different angles and positions. Your image quality will be higher with a prime lens over a zoom lens as well, as there is extra glass inside a zoom lens that needs to move in order to zoom.

How is Aperture Affected by a Prime Lens?

Prime lenses will also generally allow for a wide aperture, which is great for that beautiful blurred background (shallow depth of field) or for shooting in low light. The widest available aperture will be written on the side of fixed lenses as well, and will look something like this: “1:1.8”. This means that the lowest aperture that your lens will go down to is f1.8. This is true for lenses with longer focal lengths as well; so a 200mm prime lens would have the ability to use a wide open aperture of f/2.0 for example, compared to a zoom lens which would be restricted to f/5.6 at 200mm.

35mm Lens

This lens has quite a wide view so it is great for environmental and lifestyle shots where you want to capture your model in their surroundings, such as blogging or travelling. Wider angled lenses tend to create a bit of distortion towards the edge of your image (think of a fish eye effect), and can distort faces making the nose look wider and longer. It’s best to hold this lens parallel to the ground and try for wider, full-body shots to avoid distortion.

Our top picks: Nikon 35mm | Canon 35mm | Sony 35mm

50mm Lens

The 50mm lens has a similar view of the world to what the human eye does, so it’s great for street photography and portraiture from all different angles. It’s focal length makes it great for closeups as well as wider shots without any distortion, so it’s a really versatile little lens.

Our top picks: Nikon 50mm | Canon 50mm | Sony 50mm

85mm Lens

The 85mm has quite a tight view so it’s best for situations where you have a bit more space to move further back from your subject. This makes it a great lens for things like weddings and events, but also can be great for closeup portraits as long as you’ve got the space. This lens will also create really compressed and blurry backgrounds which are perfect for making your model stand out.

Our top picks: Nikon 85mm | Canon 85mm | Sony 85mm

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