Five affordable portrait lenses

Sony 50mm f/1.8 E OSS Price from 10 700 up to 27 550 ₴ →

The 50-millimetre fixed object with a maximum aperture of f/1.8 is ready to offer owners of Sony mirrorless APS-C format good features for both portrait shooting and for everyday purposes.

Positive impressions of the object can be obtained after the first touch to its body — aluminium alloy pleasantly cools the hand and reliably protects the inner lenses from mechanical influences. Of the controls on the case, only a wide ribbed focus ring is presented. By the way, it has a very large stroke, so with manual focus, the ring will have to be fairly twisted.

The Sony E 50mm f/1.8 OSS optical circuit has 9 elements in 8 groups, in addition to which there was a place inside the design for a linear autofocus drive and a built-in OSS image stabilizer. The autofocus system handles with its tasks very well, only occasionally refusing to quickly focus on sharpness in low light conditions, and the presence of a stable allows you to increase the minimum shutter speed when shooting with your hands without the risk of getting smudged in the photo.

The object does not tend to be influenced by vignetting, distortion and chromatic aberrations. The latter effect is manifested only in the form of longitudinal XA at the most open aperture and is easily corrected by the camera itself or at the stage of post-processing of the image. But what he manages to do at a high level is to draw an interesting bokeh, which will look especially impressive when shooting evening portraits against the background of street lights.

Laudatory reviews about the fix are left not only by its happy owners, but also by numerous specialized resources. For example, during the testing of the lens by specialists of the photozone laboratory.de her level of sharpness was rated "excellent" at all major aperture values. The greatest detail was expected to be achieved at f/4-f/5.6.

The low price tag makes the model one of the most attractive options for purchasing as a partner to Sony Alpha A6000, Sony Alpha A6300 and NEX family cameras. And owners of full-frame mirrorless mirrors of the Sony Alpha A7 line will have to fit a fellow object in the face of Sony FE 50mm f/1.8, which is even cheaper, but does not have an image stabilization system on board.

Canon 85mm f/1.8 EF USM Price from 14 500 up to 27 962 ₴ →

The marking "EF" on the body of the object indicates its compatibility with both full-frame mirror solutions from Canon, and with APS-C and APS-H format cameras. In the latter cases, the focal length of the lens will increase to the values of 136 and 110.5 mm, respectively.

The sharpness of the object for portrait photography is manifested in a strong blurring of the background, which can be achieved at f/1.8-f/2.8 apertures. At the same time, the 8-lobed diaphragm turns small objects in the area of blurring into smooth discs that are pleasant to the eye, thus creating a spectacular bokeh. The flip side of the coin when shooting on open diaphragms is the possibility of parasitic aberrations in the form of lilac or purple lines on the borders of light and dark areas of the image. Their suppression is carried out using the software of the camera itself or during post-processing of the footage.

An important advantage of the object over the representative of the main competing system (Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G) is the nimble operation of a quiet ultrasonic autofocus motor, which can quickly and accurately concentrate on the shooting object even in poor lighting conditions. The detail, colour reproduction and high level of contrast of the image also deserve high praise.

A minimum of claims are made to the assembly of the object. It will be possible to find fault with only a small backlash of the manual focus ring, as well as its small stroke in manual focus mode (within 90 °). Otherwise, all the elements of the structure can boast of high quality, despite the almost complete predominance of plastic among the materials of execution. Complementing the pleasant impressions of the object is its affordable price, which puts the model among one of the most desirable options for purchase by adherents of the Canon brand.

Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.7 OIS ASPH Price from 13 999 up to 20 951 ₴ →

In the first year after the announcement, the object from Panasonic was honored to be among the best representatives of mirrorless optics according to several reputable photo resources (ePhotozine, Imaging Resource, etc.). It attracts attention due to a balanced balance of characteristics and cost.

High sharpness of the image across the entire field of the frame is provided starting from the most open aperture openings. Its peak with a rating of "excellent" in synthetic tests falls on the values of f/4-f/11. Parasitic effects (chromatic aberration and vignetting) have practically no effect on the image in the entire range of light intensity.

In the 35-millimetre equivalent, the focal length of the object is exactly 85 mm — the reference value for portrait photography. Structurally, the object has 10 elements in its composition in 8 groups, including aspherical lenses. Its diaphragm consists of 7 petals, with the help of which an imperfect, but at the same time pleasing to the eye bokeh is drawn. The shape of the elements outside the sharpness zone turns out to be slightly elongated, resembling a kind of oval. You will be able to focus on the object of the shooting from a minimum distance of 31 cm, which makes it possible to get a spectacular background blur.

When photographing, you can completely trust automation: fast and silent autofocus will reliably hook the target, and the Power O.I.S. stabilizer will help compensate for hand trembling and win a couple of stops when shooting in low light conditions. Paired with cameras equipped with a matrix image stabilization system (Panasonic Lumix GX8 or Panasonic Lumix G85), we can talk about a dual stabilization system.

You can always bring the focus to the desired point manually, for which it is proposed to use a wide and responsive electronic focus ring. That's just to navigate the distances by eye — there is no corresponding scale on the body of the object, as well as any other markings in principle. As a result, for owners of mirrorless Micro 4/3 format lenses, the lens acts as one of the most attractive options for portrait shooting at a reasonable cost. And it can compete with a slightly more affordable Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.8 and top-end Panasonic LUMIX G Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 ASPH Power O.I.S..

Nikon 85mm f/1.8G AF-S Nikkor Price from 16 950 up to 28 126 ₴ →

The 85mm portrait camera with a maximum aperture of f/1.8 replaced the lens with a "screwdriver" focus drive Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D in 2012. It can be used in conjunction with any Nikon SLR "carcass" — starting from representatives of the amateur class (Nikon D3300, etc.) and ending with professional cameras (Nikon D750, Nikon D810, etc.).

The object is moderately large, but it will not outweigh the camera with its 350-gram weight. In addition, the dimensions of its front lens (67 mm in diameter) will not allow you to splurge on the purchase of light filters. In the design of the lens, plastic elements are used, soundly fitted to each other, which is why creaks and backlashes practically do not occur during operation. On the body of the object there was a place for a convenient focus ring that rotates within 120°, a window with a focus distance scale and an AF mode switch "M/A—M" (automatic focus with manual sharpening and fully manual focus).

The main parameters of portrait shooting are high frame detail, soft drawing and spectacular bokeh. All these indicators are inherent in the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G: the objective provides razor sharpness of the image from the centre to the edges of the frame already at the most open aperture openings, while creating a neat and even background blur. That's just when shooting at open diaphragms, the boundaries of high-contrast transitions in the picture can be spoiled by chromatic aberrations, which the photo editor will help to suppress.

The automatic focus drive built into the object catches the shooting object accurately and very reliably, but not too fast. In some cases (for example, in low light), autofocus tends to think when focus on sharpness. However, in the portrait path, this nuance does not cause significant problems, because often such types of filming are done thoughtfully and slowly.

Among the five 85-millimetre fixes from Nikon, the object has the best price—opportunity ratio. It will be appreciated by both owners of DX cameras, which will receive a 127.5 mm EFR at the output, and owners of more serious SLR cameras of the Japanese brand.

Tamron 85mm f/1.8 VC USD Di Price from 30 000 up to 40 751 ₴ →

The firstborn of Tamron in the line of portrait objects was a success. It is intended to become a competitive alternative to optics from three whale manufacturers of mirrors: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G, Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM and, to some extent, Sony 85mm f/1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T*.

The full-frame object became the world's first portrait camera for SLR cameras with a built-in stabilization system on board and joined the ranks of the professional SP (Super Performance) line. In addition, its representatives are distinguished by the dust and water protection of the case, as well as the fluorite coating of the front lens, which helps to quickly rid the glass of water droplets and small contaminants. The optical scheme of the object consists of 13 elements in 9 groups, and 2 lenses are made of a special material in order to suppress glare and re-reflections.

The presence of a stabilizer affected the weight of the object, the value of which is about 700 g. But you can safely close your eyes to the heaviness, because the camera performs its functions perfectly, preventing image smearing and providing a gain of up to 3.5 stops of exposure when shooting with hands in low light conditions. For example, at an exposure of 1/10 s, it is possible to get a high-quality result in 8 cases out of 10.

Manual focus is carried out by turning a large and responsive focus ring with a rubberized coating. Its range of motion is only 90°. Such a small stroke is compensated by the precise operation of the automatic focus system, which does not smear past the shooting object even in almost complete darkness. The focus ring is the only movable part of the monolithic body of the object.

The owners of the Tamron SP 85mm f/1.8 Di VC USD note another strong side of the object — excellent sharpness throughout the entire field of the frame, starting with the most open aperture values. With it, you will not have to think about covering the hole, and the 9-petal shape of the diaphragm petals will help create an almost perfectly round bokeh with slightly blurred edges. The quibble is found only in the absence of intra-chamber profiles for correcting distortion and aberrations, which can be neglected without the slightest remorse due to the extremely low level of manifestation of these parasitic effects.