Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda
Username  

  New fredmiranda.com Mobile Site
  New Feature: SMS Notification alert
  New Feature: Buy & Sell Watchlist
  

FM Forums | People Photography | Join Upload & Sell

  

Archive 2014 · 300mm as a portrait lens?

  
 
fstopperdown
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · 300mm as a portrait lens?


I do fairly well shooting sports and candid with my Nikon 300mm f/2.8
ED-IF AIS

When I deploy the beast, I rarely want to let her go.

I'm actually more accustomed to using it full body and almost environmental.

Coming in for a close up? What about distorting features?

Any tips using it as a portrait lens?



Apr 04, 2014 at 08:56 PM
friscoron
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · 300mm as a portrait lens?



I've shot sports and dance with the 300 f/2.8, but haven't used it as a portrait lens. My first concern is how far away you'd have to be, esp if you wanted a full body shot. Not sure, as I've never tried it, might be my only concern.



Apr 04, 2014 at 11:41 PM
tonyfield
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · 300mm as a portrait lens?


It works well.... See the effects of perspective flattening yourself ... Find a nice location for the test and shoot your favourite subject -- a few frames wide open and also stopped down F4-F11. You will be surprised at the feel of the images ... If you want to shoot really tight close-ups, you will need a thin extension tube.


Apr 05, 2014 at 12:34 AM
rongwam
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · 300mm as a portrait lens?


Nothing wrong with using 300mm f/2.8 for portrait as long as you have long enough distance from the model and perhaps a pair of talkie walkie and an assistant to communicate with model ..or you can shoot full body shots and crop in post-processing if you have decent camera with high resolution. For head and shoulder shots, I often use 70-200mm f/2.8.


Apr 05, 2014 at 10:34 AM
Thunder1989
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · 300mm as a portrait lens?


i prefer 200m/2


Apr 05, 2014 at 10:50 AM
mitchel674
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · 300mm as a portrait lens?


I've tried it and it's just too long. I shoot a lot of soccer with this lens and will often try to grab some portraits at the end of the day for fun. It's my sharpest lens, but you are just too far away from the subjects to be able to direct their posing, etc..

http://clearwaterphotography.smugmug.com/Sports/GCU-Red-Devils/i-2sSWJSG/0/L/11511-17-L.jpg


This one of my three kids after a soccer game two weeks ago from across the field!

http://clearwaterphotography.smugmug.com/Sports/Celtic/i-FSRGfbD/0/L/32214-22-L.jpg


It works, but I prefer to just put on a 70-200mm, f2.8 when the games are over.



Apr 05, 2014 at 02:12 PM
kaycephoto
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · 300mm as a portrait lens?


used the 300mkI for a few engagement sessions, but eventually opted to be less of a hero & stick with the more conventional 50/85L + 70-200mkII setup haha.


http://www.addictedtobeauty.ca/images/20110919-midsummer_stroll.jpg
Canon 1DsmkIII, EF 300L @ 300mm f/2.8, 1/250s ISO-200


Apr 05, 2014 at 02:37 PM
rodmcwha
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · 300mm as a portrait lens?


The Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendar is frequently shot with it-it provides nice compression and good separation from the background-probably 2nd best to 200 f2.



Apr 05, 2014 at 02:43 PM
Ed Peters
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · 300mm as a portrait lens?


If you want your subject to be 'flat' go for it.


Apr 05, 2014 at 08:14 PM
dmottley
Offline

Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · 300mm as a portrait lens?


It might work if you are looking for candid shots, but my preference would be a shorter focal length.


Apr 05, 2014 at 10:27 PM
fstopperdown
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · 300mm as a portrait lens?


rodmcwha wrote:
The Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendar is frequently shot with it-it provides nice compression and good separation from the background-probably 2nd best to 200 f2.


Ummm... maybe I need to research this further

Years ago, I stupidly sold a Nikon 200mm F/2 AIS and almost bought it again recently, but went with the 300mm.

These days, my glass selection is limited somewhat.

50mm f/1.4
28-70mm f/2.8
300mm f/2.8

Setting will be hour before sunset, a mix of available light and off camera flash, while overlooking a vast marsh. Going to be a fun outing with my wife.



Apr 05, 2014 at 11:55 PM
Shepherd_in_CO
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · 300mm as a portrait lens?


I use my 300 2.8 for fashion and senior portraits when the situation calls for it, and it works beautifully. As everyone knows, the best portrait lens is the one that does the right job for the shoot on hand. Joel Grimes uses a wide angle lens for his composite portraits, as rodmwcha pointed out, a lot of fashion work is done with the 300, and we all probably have used everything from a wide angle to telephoto to make sweet portraits from time to time. fstopperdown, that is a nice list of available lenses, each one is capable of making a great portrait, I'm sure you'll have fun shooting with your wife at that time of day in the marsh. Let us see some of your results with the 300, its a stellar lens.


Apr 06, 2014 at 09:14 AM
bcguy
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · 300mm as a portrait lens?


I quite like the 300mm focal length for portraits. My 300mm f/4L IS is as close to a 200mm f/2L IS that I'll ever get. The perspective it gives and the background blur are quite impressive when you have the space.


Apr 06, 2014 at 01:35 PM





FM Forums | People Photography | Join Upload & Sell

    
 

You are not logged in. Login or Register

Username       Or Reset password



This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.