How do I focus on the eyes for portraits with a 50mm f/1.8, and what aperture should I use?
Asked 1/7/2018
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I’m learning portrait photography with a Nikon D3300 and a 50mm f/1.8 lens. At wide apertures like f/1.8, I want the eyes sharp, but when I use focus-and-recompose it seems easy to lose focus. My camera only has 16 AF points, so should I always use the AF point closest to the eye and compose around that? Also, how do I choose the right aperture for portraits versus other situations?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
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The answer always comes down to personal preference, location, lighting etc with no definitive answer.
Personally I always shoot the focus point closest to whereI want their eyes to be in frame (so usually the top most), half press (or back button) to focus on the eyes and then frame my shot. It doesn't matter how many focus points you have, usually in a portrait scenario due to the subject being stationary compared to say sport it's less of a problem.
As for what aperture to shoot it comes down to artistic intent, available light and then focal length/distance between you and the subject.
- If you're outside you may want as much differential between the subject and the background as you can, so want a wider aperture to give you a nice background blur.
- If you're inside and it's dim, you have no external lighting you may want to shoot a wide aperture to allow as much light in as you can. However you may want to get the surroundings somewhat in focus too.
- If you're in a studio setting with the power of a small star with you, you may want to shoot at the lens sharpest point, as you probaly won't want to care too much about the background. Due to the ISO, and lighting power you may not be able to shoot the widest aperture anyway.
- Me. I'm crazy. I shoot 1.2 (on a 50mm, it can be a bit too much on 85mm) in a studio. But I love that crazy depth of field with the features in focus and then it slowly blurs away. But this is my personal preference.
Originally by user55814. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user55814
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For portraits, use the AF point closest to the subject’s eye, focus on the eye, then shoot. With a relatively still subject, focus lock or back-button focus can work fine, but at very wide apertures depth of field is very thin, so large recomposition can shift focus noticeably.
Aperture choice depends on your goal, subject distance, and light:
- f/1.8 gives the shallowest depth of field and strongest background blur, useful for subject separation or low light.
- For close head-and-shoulders portraits, f/1.8 can be too shallow, leaving only part of the face sharp.
- f/2.8 to f/4 is often a strong starting point for portraits, balancing eye sharpness with pleasing background blur.
- Many lenses are also a bit sharper stopped down than wide open.
So there isn’t one “correct” aperture. Choose wider apertures when you want more blur or need more light, and stop down when you want more of the face in focus or maximum sharpness. For landscapes, smaller apertures are commonly used when you want more of the scene sharp.
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