Can a 90mm f/2.8 macro lens also be used for portraits, and how is it different from an 85mm f/1.4?
Asked 12/27/2016
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I’m considering a lens like the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro. Can it also work well for portrait photography? If so, what makes it different from a lens commonly thought of as a portrait lens, such as an 85mm f/1.4? Is the main difference just the maximum aperture, or are there other design differences between macro lenses and portrait-oriented lenses?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
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Macro and portrait lenses are generally designed to do two different things that require different design characteristics.
Macro lenses are designed to focus at very close distances and they typically render a fairly flat field of focus. There are a few very specialized macro lenses that can only focus at the very close focus distances required by macro photography and would not be suitable for other types of photography. Most macro lenses, however, can also double as general purpose lenses. These can be used to focus at more typical focus distances and many photographers have a 90-100mm macro lens that they also use for portraits.
Other lenses specifically designed for portraiture often have a more spherical shape to their field of focus. The Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L II is one such lens. They typically can not focus anywhere near as close as a macro lens can. There are reasons some photographers prefer to shoot portraits with a lens that has field curvature.
The field curvature that is a characteristic of many lenses purposely designed for portraiture would make most everything except the center of the frame extremely blurry due to the very shallow depth of field if used at the extremely close distances involved in macro photography.
On the other hand, the narrower maximum aperture of most macro lenses remove the option of wide aperture bokeh and shallow depth of field when compared to many prime lenses designed particularly for portraiture. The correcting elements needed to render a flat field of focus also tend to make out of focus blur, often called bokeh, a bit harsh. Macro lenses are also generally designed to be sharpest at close focus distances. Sometimes, but not always, they are also very sharp at longer focus distances.
Such macro lenses with very sharp performance across the frame, even at longer than minimum focus distances, are excellent choices if your goal is to make the highest quality photos you possibly can of flat test charts. They're not always the best choice to get the characteristics many portraitists are after.
A perfect example of why a Macro lens is not always a good idea for portraits:
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
9y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes — a 90mm f/2.8 macro can absolutely be used for portraits, and many photographers do exactly that.
The reason it’s marketed as a macro lens is that “macro” describes a specific capability: very close focusing with high magnification, typically 1:1. That’s an objective feature. “Portrait lens” is more of a use case than a strict technical category.
Compared with an 85mm f/1.4, a 90mm f/2.8 macro is usually designed with different priorities:
- close-focus performance and high magnification
- very sharp detail at short distances
- often a flatter field of focus
A portrait-focused lens is usually optimized more for:
- wider maximum aperture for shallower depth of field
- stronger background blur separation
- rendering/bokeh that many people find flattering for portraits
So the difference is not only aperture, though aperture is a big part of it. A macro lens may render lots of fine detail and can be excellent for portraits, but it may not give the same subject isolation or character as a fast 85mm portrait lens.
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