This is mainly for you portrait shooters.
I have found the 135 f/2L and my 24-70 f/2.8L II to be my favorite portrait lenses. I bring those two particular lenses up because they do a great job to my eye, so I use them most. I also have the 70-200 f/2.8L IS II, but I always defer to the 135L. Admittedly, I don't get much practice with anything I have.
Here's my problem, if it can be called a problem: Balancing bokeh and DOF... then how do you do this with a faster lens?
We all see the portraits where one eye is in focus and then the subject just starts to melt into the background. They are nice. However, stopping down to get a deeper depth of field causes the bokeh to not be as smooth.
Is there too much emphasis on creamy soft bokeh and extremely shallow depth of field? I see some beautiful photos with both eyes in focus and the background not so smooth. They are still great photos. Some of them are quite breathtaking (Some portraits by Pookie come to mind.).
All this makes me wonder: If a person has flash, then why the need for anything faster than f/2 if the faster lens is going to be stopped down anyway (Though I shoot the 135 wide open with flash all the time.)?
My question mainly concerns portraits. I know there are many more uses for fast primes than portraits.
I have found the 135 f/2L and my 24-70 f/2.8L II to be my favorite portrait lenses. I bring those two particular lenses up because they do a great job to my eye, so I use them most. I also have the 70-200 f/2.8L IS II, but I always defer to the 135L. Admittedly, I don't get much practice with anything I have.
Here's my problem, if it can be called a problem: Balancing bokeh and DOF... then how do you do this with a faster lens?
We all see the portraits where one eye is in focus and then the subject just starts to melt into the background. They are nice. However, stopping down to get a deeper depth of field causes the bokeh to not be as smooth.
Is there too much emphasis on creamy soft bokeh and extremely shallow depth of field? I see some beautiful photos with both eyes in focus and the background not so smooth. They are still great photos. Some of them are quite breathtaking (Some portraits by Pookie come to mind.).
All this makes me wonder: If a person has flash, then why the need for anything faster than f/2 if the faster lens is going to be stopped down anyway (Though I shoot the 135 wide open with flash all the time.)?
My question mainly concerns portraits. I know there are many more uses for fast primes than portraits.