The 5 Best Lenses For Family Portraits

As a photographer, you know how important it is to get the perfect shot! Clients trust your expertise and have seen your work. They expect you to deliver a certain amount of quality with your images. In order to please families, you need to have the best lens for family portraits. Below are my top five picks, along with an in-depth buyer’s guide, and more information to help you find the perfect lens to add to your kit.

1. Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L

The first lens we’ll be diving into today is the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L lens. Canon is easily one of the most popular manufacturers of camera equipment in the world. The company makes high-quality products and this lens is no exception! Oftentimes photographers struggle with lighting. Thankfully, you’ll be able to shoot photos of a family on a cloudy day with this lens.

Out of all of the lenses, Canon has to offer, this is one of the best ones for family portraits. It has the widest aperture of all Canon lenses. This means that you can shoot in very low lighting and still get great photos. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L has a high-speed processor, along with an ultrasonic motor, and improved autofocus algorithms.

This makes for a lens that can take photos quickly, quietly, and accurately. There’s no denying that kids and pets move a lot in family portrait sessions, which is why having a fast auto-focus is crucial and the new and improved ultrasonic motor plays a part in this as well. With an amazing depth of field, you’ll end up with crisp and clear photos that the client will love!

What I Like:

• Performs effortlessly in low-light
• Has a high-speed processor
• New and improved ultrasonic motor
• Images come out incredibly sharp

What I Don’t Like:

• Auto-focus could be faster
• Image stabilization could be improved

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2. Nikon NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.8

Speaking of popular camera brands, Nikon makes the list with their NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.8 lens. This is easily one of the best Nikon lenses for shooting family portraits that the company has. This universal lens is a bit more budget-friendly than some of the other options on the market. It delivers amazing quality photos without breaking the bank.

By turning the aperture as high as it can go, you’ll be able to snap great photos, even in dim lighting. The sharpness this lens brings to the table is pretty great as well. Having sharp and clear photos is crucial to family portraits.

Because there will be more than one person in the photo, you want to make sure that everyone is in focus and is separate from the background. One thing that makes this easy to do is the autofocus system on this lens. It’s quick, accurate, and doesn’t require you to fine tune the focus for several seconds.

Like most lenses, it has a ring that smoothly moves, making it easy to change focus at the last second. The autofocus system is quite smooth and silent as well. It has an AF-S motor that allows you to easily pop this sucker on any Nikon-body camera.

What I Like:

• Can be used on any Nikon body
• Lightweight and portable
• Shoots quickly
• Comes with a lens hood
• It’s quiet

What I Don’t Like:

• Poor quality at the f/1.8 mark
• Requires high ISO in low lighting

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3. Sony FE 90mm f/2.8

Another one of the best lenses for family portraits is the Sony FE 90mm f/2.8. One thing to mention right off the bat about this lens is that it is designed to be used on mirrorless cameras. This is crucial to know so that you don’t end up buying something that you can’t use if you don’t have a mirrorless Sony body.

Something that stands out about this lens is that it is incredibly comfortable to hold, thanks to the way it’s designed. The gliding focus ring on the lens makes it easy to quickly switch focus whenever needed. There are also large switches on the lens that allow you to easily go from manual focus to autofocus.

It’s surprisingly lightweight for its size. Making it perfect for photographers with a larger kit who don’t want to add a ton of weight to their camera bag. This lens is great for family portraits because it focuses quickly on subjects that are closer to the camera.

That being said, this wouldn’t be the best lens for sport or concert photography. This lens delivers sharp images and will make you stand out from other photographers. Lastly, when using this lens, pay close attention to the color channels while editing.

What I Like:

• Ergonomic construction
• Amazing stabilization
• Works well on micro shots
• Incredible sharpness

What I Don’t Like:

• Color scheme doesn’t match other Sony lenses
• Could improve on macro shots

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4. Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II

Out of all the lenses on this list, the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II lens stands out. It can be used for much more than family photos. This lens is great for landscapes, sports photography, and wedding photos as well. If you’re like me, you know how hard taking family portraits at a wedding can be!

Whether it’s bad lighting or kids moving around, it can be difficult to get a great photo. Thankfully, this lens will make it much easier! You’ll be able to quickly go from taking a head-shot to a full group photo in a matter of seconds with the Canon EF 23-70mm f/2.8 II lens. It can easily focus on objects that are as close as 1 ¼ feet away!

If you’re looking for something that is quick, this is a great option. You’ll be able to snap motion without any blur using this lens. The aperture can be widened if the client wants a more shallow depth of field to the photos. It has a telephoto feature that allows you to get the background as finely blurred as you’d like it to be.

What I Like:

• Amazing sharpness
• Not much distortion
• Fast shutter
• Quick autofocus
• Dirt and dust protection built-in

What I Don’t Like:

• It’s heavy
• Lacks image stabilization

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5. Tamron SP 45mm F/1.8

The product taking the last spot for the best lens for family portraits goes to the Tamron SP 45mm f/1.8! The last spot definitely doesn’t mean it’s the worst of the five either, in fact, it’s one of the best! This is an amazing portrait lens, whether you’re shooting individuals, couples, families, or an entire sports team!

It has a ton of amazing features, including incredible image stabilization. Something unique about this lens is that it has weather protection! This keeps it safe from dust, dirt, and even rain. This is thanks to the Fluorine coating on the front element that also repels fingerprints and oil!

The nine aperture blades make it easy to get a shot that’s bright enough, even in gloomy weather or dark rooms. This can’t be one of the best portrait lenses without giving you crystal clear images as well. You’ll be able to easily separate the subject of your photo from the background when you use this lens.

If you’re shooting during the holidays, you’ll be able to add lights in the background and get an amazing bokeh effect that will add a bit of cheer to the final photos! This can make a great photo to add to gifts! Overall, this is a lens you’ll want in your kit so that you can grab it whenever needed!

What I Like:

• It’s small and lightweight
• Fast aperture
• Amazing focusing capabilities
• Weather sealed
• Can shoot in low lighting

What I Don’t Like:

• Images could be sharper

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Buyer’s Guide

There are a lot of things to consider when you’re buying something like a camera lens. Some people save up for a long time in order to get the perfect lens that meets their needs. In order to make sure that you get the exact lens that you want, below is a buyer’s guide.

This guide is designed to show you which features to look out for and whether or not you want a lens that has these features. Let’s take a look at what’s important in the best lens for family portraits.

Focal Length

One of the first things that you’ll want to pay attention to is the focal length. When a focal length is higher, the lens is going to be more zoomed in. The focal length is something that can always be found before “mm” in a lens name.

Because there are so many different focal length options to choose from, I wanted to break it down even more to help you! It’s important to keep in mind that each focal length is best for specific needs. For example, you wouldn’t want to use a 50mm lens to photograph a concert or sporting event. For that you’ll need a telephoto lens, which we’ll get into later.

Ultra Wide Angle 14-24mm

If you’re shooting something very specific, you might need one of these lenses. This could be great for landscapes or weddings with a very large number of people who need to be photographed. The human eye isn’t used to seeing a range like the one that 14 to 24mm lenses put out.

Because of this, images may appear distorted, making it not a great lens for family photo sessions. If you’ve ever seen a fisheye lens or a photo taken with one, that’s a little wider than one of these lenses. Now you can properly visualize how an image with this focal length may appear distorted.

Wide Angle 24-35mm

Next is a standard wide-angle lens with a focal length of 24 to 35mm. If you have a full-frame camera body, this is a great lens to have. This lens is best for photojournalism because it’s easy to get a lot into the frame, without any unnecessary distortion.

Standard 35mm-70mm

The standard focal length is what our eyes naturally see. While this can vary from one person to another, it tends to fall within the 45 to 50mm range. This is one reason why 50mm lenses are a staple to most photographers’ kits.

If you plan on shooting a lot of portraits, you’ll want at least one lens that has this focal length. If you can find a 50mm lens with an F stop of 1.8, that’s a great lens to have on hand, especially for family portraits. Lenses like the 50mm can’t zoom, because they have a fixed focal length.

If you ever see one number, like 50, instead of a range, like 35mm to 70mm, it won’t be able to zoom. The same thing can be said for a wide lens, such as a pancake lens.

Short Telephoto 70-105mm

Most kit lenses won’t go beyond 105mm in terms of focal length. That’s because when the lens surpasses 85mm, it is considered a telephoto lens. Telephoto lenses are great for a number of things including portraits, weddings, wildlife, landscapes, and more.

This focal length will give a beautiful depth of field when shooting portraits as well. It’s a great lens to have in your kit if you shoot a wide range of subjects.

Telephoto 105-300mm

The last focal length I’ll tell you about is a full-on telephoto lens. This is a lens that is between 105 and 300mm. While the range can vary, any focal length within that range makes a lense a full telephoto lens.

These lenses are fantastic for just about anything. The only two downfalls that come with telephoto lenses is that they can be bulky and they tend to be heavy. It’s not necessarily something you’d want to shoot with for 12 hours during a wedding.

Acronym Meanings

You’ll see a lot of acronyms on lenses, no matter the brand. To make it a little easier to understand, I’ve included a graph, along with a description of what some of the more common acronyms mean.

Brand	Full Frame	Crop Sensor	Image Stabilization	Silent Motor	Pro Lens	Low Dispersion Glass
Canon	EF	EF-S	IS	USM	L	ED
Nikon	FX	DX	VR	SWM/AF-S	N/A	ED
Sony	N/A	DT	N/A	SSM	G	ED
Tamron	Di	Di-II	VC	USD	SP	LD

 

MF or AF

MF stands for manual focus, while AF stands for autofocus. Both of these acronyms will be used across every brand. When a camera is marked with MF, it may mean that it only has manual focus capabilities. This is usually found in very old lenses.

II

If you ever see lenses with roman numerals after them, it stands for the version of that lens. This can be found in the Canon Mark line with bodies like the Canon Mark II or the Canon Mark III. Many people don’t like replacing their lens when something happens to it. This is why companies will make it new and improved, thus coming out with a new version of it.

Best Lens for Family Portrait Brands

Canon

Established all the way back in 1937, Canon is one of the lead corporations that specializes in camera gear. The headquarters can be found in the same place the company started – Tokyo, Japan.

Nikon

Nikon is another company that comes from Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1917 and is best known for making optics and imaging products like camera lenses.

Sony

Keeping with the theme, a Japanese company by the name of Sony was founded in the mid-1940s. This business makes everything from televisions to financial services, to camera equipment.

Tamron

Established in 1950, Tamron is another company that makes photographic lenses, industrial-use optics, and more. The headquarters are currently located in Saitama City in Japan.

Sigma

Sigma was founded in 1961 in Bandai, Fukushima, Japan. This company is known for making high-quality cameras, flashes, lenses, and other types of photographic equipment.

Bottom Line

I hope that after this article you have a better idea of which lens you’d like to get. Photography is fun and getting to use a new lens is always a thrill. Whether you’re shooting photos of a family of two or a family of 20, it’s important to have a high-quality lens that has all of the features to get the job done.

If I had to choose the best lens for family portraits out of the five options reviewed above, I’d opt for the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II. It has amazing sharpness, you can shoot in low lighting, it’s fast, and has a wide focal length. While it’s a bit heavier and less compact than other lenses available, I think it’s well worth it.

If that’s out of your budget, consider the Tamron SP 45mm F/1.8. This lens is a great budget option that will work almost as well as the Canon lenses. You’ll get a weather-sealed lens that is small and lightweight. It has an amazing aperture and creates a beautiful bokeh effect in the background where there are lights. Whichever lens you do end up purchasing, I hope it works perfectly for you. Remember to have some fun and don’t forget to take the lens cap off!