85mm - Why I HIGHLY Recommend It! | More than Just Portraits!

what's going on hybrid shooters it's Jason Vaughn currently in Japan right now today I want to be talking about my favorite focal length the 85 millimeter now to most people this probably wouldn't be their second length nor their third lens probably not even Ford hell I probably went through ten levels before I got my first 85 millimeters I would probably say the 50 millimeter is a lot of people second lens just because it is the most common lens to recommend and then after that probably a very versatile zoom lens like a 24 to 70 or 24 to 105 if not a pancake lens just because it's incredibly tiny but an 85 millimeter prime not really I'm currently traveling around Japan right now and I hardly see any tourists shooting with an 85 millimeter so that's why today I want to share with you guys some of the reasons why I highly recommend an 85 millimeter Prime sponsored by Zeiss so I feel like I should address this really quickly just because I know there will be people already leaving comments down below before watching the whole entire video thinking that I'm just here to sell them a Zeiss POTUS lens in this video I'm actually not gonna be talking too much about the characteristics of this specific lens rather I'll be talking about the concepts of using the 85 millimeter lens so while I am partnered up with Zeiss to bring you guys a monthly educational content at the end of the day they are educational a lot of it is just to improve your photography and your videography not so much a sales pitch on the lenses so take what you'll learn today about the 85 millimeter and apply to whatever 85 you choose to buy but I have to say if you are a Sony shooter the zeiss batis 85 room table of contents so we're gonna be talking about the 85 millimeter look based on different sensor sizes so how you can get the 85 millimeter look if you're not using a full-frame camera and then we're gonna be talking about the practical application of an 85 millimeter and how you can use it for more than just portraits and then when you're somewhat convinced we're gonna be talking about what you can expect when you first pick up the 85 millimeter and if you can't buy an 85 millimeter what are some of your alternative options and then lastly want to talk a little bit about how an 85 millimeter prime compares to a telephoto zoom lens like a 70 to 200 so just a heads up we are talking about you an 85 millimeter on a full-frame camera you see 85 millimeter on a crop sensor aps-c camera as a test fit to close in my opinion you'll be roughly getting about 130 millimeters although this is not a bad setup and I know there are a lot of people out there who are using this setup for portraits it does require you to step further back than normal to get your shot so if you're shooting with an aps-c crop sensor camera and you want that 85 millimeter look then you want to consider something like a 50 millimeter or a 56 millimeter for your aps-c camera and if you're shooting with a micro 4/3 sensor camera then you want to consider the forty two point five millimeter lens what I love about the 85 millimeter lens specifically the 85 millimeter F one point eight lenses is that they all tend to be pretty damn tiny they give them super easy to carry around for sizing reference here's how big my head is and here's how small the lenses so wow it's not the most recommended lens to pick up it is still highly regarded in the wedding and portrait community the 85 millimeter is said to be the most flattering for human subjects especially their faces so because of that most beginner photographers assume that the 85 millimeter is just for portraits after hearing about that particular application so much but it's actually very handy in a lot of different photography and video situations my good friend professor Heinz while he specializes in a lot of photography genres does a lot of street photography with an 85 millimeter lens now most beginners have this misconception that street photography has to be done with a 35 millimeter when in reality you can really use whatever you want and Professor Heinz and puts it the best so the way that I tell people is when you walk into a store like B&H and you look at the box doesn't matter who makes the lens on that box it says aperture it has two focal lengths nowhere on that lens does it say landscape lens wedding lens portrait lens people have given that these classifications just because you know an 85 millimeter people see it as a portrait lens why not try it for Street why not try it for landscapes don't classify yourself in this little box to where oh I have a 50 millimeter I have to do use that for Street or I have to just use that for portraits expand that if you see everybody using a particular lens for everything but this this and this do that that people aren't doing that's how you get different photos from everybody else if you know your gear you're comfortable with it and you know what type of images you're gonna capture with that specific lens you can utilize whatever lens you want to for any application and we did an amazing segment on street photography which I published just last week you can click on the link up here to queue it up to check it out later so yeah just keep in mind an 85 millimeter is not limited to portraits you can use it for street photography product shots animal portrait photography really whatever you can and however you can to make the 85 millimeter at work for you for me personally I love using this focal length for a landscape for whatever reason it's just something that I naturally gravitated towards over time shooting with this lens you see the 85 millimeter has a look it somehow magically makes everything more interesting I could literally point at anything find a good angle and my god what a shot it could literally make a boring thing look mediocre it also has the ability to make things not few too far away thanks to the lens compression this lens can single out your focus no pun intended and creates attention on it check out the shot I took with a 24 millimeter versus an 85 millimeter of Mount Fuji in Japan the wider photo looks pretty cool but the closer photo hyper focuses on the red autumn leaves it's seemingly brought Mount Fuji closer as well you can of course take the wider shot and crop it like crazy to get similar results but it's gonna look pretty bad and let me tell you about this great photo I've gone with the 85 millimeter I had initially framed for the red autumn leaves and Mount Fuji in the background I didn't want the cars in the shot but I saw this couple positioned perfectly right in between the cars I knew I had to take a shot right away I quickly move my focus point to them and snap a few shots before they were done taking their selfies this was all unplanned here coincidence and this ended up being my most favorite shot from that day I am incredibly incredibly proud of this one and one thing you might have noticed when I enlarge the area where the couple is they are tack sharp had I shot that same photo with a wider lens that couple would have been like this tiny they would literally would have been lost in the pixels but again the 85 millimeter just draws the attention on them draws the attention to the leaves and the mountains and I apply a lot of these same principles when I'm shooting videos with the 85 millimeter and if this is gonna be your first 85 millimeter length outside of your kit lens you will soon discover what real sharpness looks like oh do I really need to talk about the bouquet things just look super creepy and dreamy with this lens oh boy that that that sounded weird so what is it like to be using an 85 millimeter for the first time I'm not gonna sugarcoat it because you're gonna be taken aback how close everything is it's gonna feel incredibly frustrating especially when you find yourself often in tight spaces where you can't back up anymore to get your shot to be quite frank with you when I first experienced this look at this this focal length I was kind of turned off by it for a couple of years it was with a 50 millimeter lens on an aps-c camera I actually made a whole video talking about it linked right up here right up here long story short though at the time I was simply just a beginner I didn't really understand how to use my camera nor do I understand the concept of focal lengths but when I visited an actual 85 millimeter on a full-frame set of a few years later knew exactly what I was getting it for I started falling in love with all the photos I was taking with that lens so trust me once you start getting the results that you want with this lens it's gonna be worth it over time you will instinctively know how far you need to back up to get your shot for me personally I try to make the shot work with an 85 millimeter lens and I am consistently rewarded with great results and I love finding ways to incorporate foreground elements into my shots just because it adds so much more to the photo but what if you can buy an 85 millimeter right now what can you start doing to achieve very similar looks now you might have a zoom lens in your that has telephoto capabilities you can probably sue up to 70 or 75 millimeters again aps-c shooters that's 50 to 56 millimeter for you while the aperture may not be 1.8 you'll still be getting that similar look in that compression at that range I shot this photo here with the zoom lens at 55 millimeter on a crop sensor body and damn does it look good so another big question that you might have is what's the difference between using the 85 millimeter F 1 point 8 and getting a telephoto zoom lens like a 70 or 200 honestly it just comes down to form factor inside the 85 millimeter is a lot smaller and lighter and easy to carry around Plus is a lot more discreet compared to the 70 to 200 though the 70 or 200 millimeter it does offer you a lot more flexibility just because it's a zoom lens and the 85 millimeter is a prime lens which forces you to move your body again it doesn't really matter which lens you end up choosing just pick the one that fits your photography style if anything just take the principles of what you learned today about the 85 millimeter lens and apply it to any telephoto lens of your choosing make sure to tag me on instagram at Jason bee media when you're about to purchase your 85 millimeter lens and definitely tag me in the photos that you've taken with the lens on Instagram as well let me know in the comments down below what other fullfilling should I be talking about on this channel guys thank you so much for watching this video I'll see you guys in the next one peace [Music]

Channel: Jason Vong

Views: 986,294

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Id: oiMwtRK6D0s

Length: 10min 13sec (613 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 27 2019