For beginners new to portrait photography, lenses with focal lengths of 50mm and 85mm are inevitable choices. These two lenses are affordable and have solid image quality, but due to their different focal length characteristics, they are suitable for vastly different shooting scenarios and styles. To choose the right lens, the key is to understand their core differences and applicable scenarios.

1. Understand the Picture Temperament from "Perspective"

Perspective is the most core difference between focal lengths, directly affecting the facial features of the characters and the atmosphere of the picture:

- **50mm standard lens**: When shooting, the photographer needs to keep a distance of 1.5-2 meters from the model. At this time, the perspective is relatively natural. The facial features closer (such as the nose and lips) will be slightly more prominent than those farther away (ears and chin), and the cheek lines are more three-dimensional, with a sense of intimacy like "face-to-face communication". It is suitable for capturing dynamic expressions such as laughing and blinking, making the picture full of life.

- **85mm medium-focus lens**: It is necessary to step back 3 meters away for shooting. After the perspective is compressed, the proportion of facial features is more uniform, and the face shape looks softer. For example, a round face will appear smaller, and high cheekbones will be weakened, with a "refined portrait sense". It is suitable for shooting static pictures such as dignified sitting posture and side posture, and for scenes pursuing "portrait magazine sense".

Simply put, the 50mm standard lens is like a "natural extension" of a mobile phone selfie, while the 85mm medium-focus lens is more like a "refined filter" for professional portraits.

 2. The Size of the Scene Determines the Applicability of the Focal Length

The width of the lens's field of view directly limits the shooting space:

- **50mm standard lens**: It has a wide field of view and is easy to use in medium-sized spaces such as living rooms and cafes. It can not only highlight the characters but also bring in environmental details — for example, when taking home portraits, it can frame both the lazy posture of the characters and the pillows on the sofa, making the picture have a "sense of story". Even in a narrow corridor, it can easily take full-body photos with the environment.

- **85mm medium-focus lens**: It has a narrow field of view and is more suitable for outdoor or open spaces. For example, in parks and seaside, it can compress the background, blurring messy trees and crowds into soft color blocks, making the characters "stand out" from the environment. However, if you use an 85mm medium-focus lens in a small room, you may not be able to take a full-body photo of the character even if you step back to the corner, and it is easy to make the model feel constrained due to the narrow space.

3. Blur Effect: Not "The More Blurred, the Better"

Many beginners mistakenly think that the 85mm lens's blur "crushes" the 50mm lens. In fact, each has its own characteristics:

- At the same aperture (such as f/1.8), due to its longer focal length, the 85mm lens can blur the background more thoroughly at the same distance, and the light spots are more rounded, which is suitable for taking minimalist style photos with "clear characters + completely blurred background".

- The blur of the 50mm standard lens is more "controllable". By getting close to the model (about 1 meter) and keeping the background far away (for example, the model stands 5 meters away from the wall), you can take blur close to that of the 85mm lens, while retaining the general outline of the background (such as the tree shadows outside the window and the distant buildings), which is suitable for scenes where you want to "set off the characters with the environment".

If you like "a layered combination of virtual and real", the 50mm standard lens is more flexible; if you pursue "a clean background without interference", the 85mm medium-focus lens is more worry-free.

4. Operation Difficulty: Comparison of Friendliness to Beginners

- **50mm standard lens**: The lens is lightweight and focuses quickly, suitable for capturing dynamic pictures such as children running and friends laughing, and it is not easy to take blurry photos due to hand shaking. Moreover, it has a high "fault tolerance rate". Even if the composition is slightly off, it is not easy to be distorted after post-cropping, which is very friendly to beginners.

- **85mm medium-focus lens**: Compared with the standard lens, the medium-focus lens is slightly heavier and more sensitive to shaking. When shooting static objects, it is recommended to use the continuous shooting mode or rely on railings and walls to stabilize the arm. But its advantage is "accurate composition". Because of its narrow field of view, it is easier to frame the main characters, and beginners can quickly take photos with "prominent main characters".

5. Summary: 3 Questions to Help You Decide

1. Is the common shooting scene indoor or outdoor? Choose 50mm for indoor, and 85mm is preferred for outdoor.
2. Do you like "life-like candid shots" or "exquisite portrait posed shots"? Choose 50mm for the former and 85mm for the latter.
3. If you have a limited budget and want "one lens for multiple purposes"? The 50mm can also take food and street scenes, with higher cost performance.

In fact, there is no absolute good or bad lens, only "whether it is suitable for current needs". Many photographers will have both lenses: using 50mm to record the daily fireworks, and 85mm to freeze important sense of ritual. For beginners, only by clarifying the scenes and styles they shoot most often, and then choosing the focal length, can the lens truly become a "helper" for creation.

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