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The 55-250mm lens is a telephoto lens that can be used for a wide range of events such as wildlife, sports, and macro photography. However, sometimes you might want to use this for portraits too. Therefore, you should find out, is the 55-250mm lens good for portraits?
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Is a 55-250mm Lens Good for Portraits?
A 55-250mm lens is good for portraits because it can zoom out to 55mm, which is an ideal focal length for taking photos of people. Also, this lens is lightweight and has a wide aperture and minimum photo distance, allowing you to capture great portraits. However, the lens distortion and quality might make other lenses more suitable.
Why Is It Good for Portraits
This lens is a great choice for capturing portraits mainly due to the variable focal length. Other reasons include that it has a lower weight than its counter parts and that it allows you a lot of flexibility when capturing portraits indoors.
Focal Length
This lens has a variable focal length. This allows you to capture portraits as well as sports photography. The 55mm length is great for capturing portraits. This length gives almost the same view as a human eye.
It allows you to keep more of the subject in the photo. Also, you can adjust the length, and use it for portraits up to 85mm according to your preference.
Lightweight
Furthermore, this lens is lightweight, weighing only 13.76 ounces. This makes it easier for you to carry it around without getting tired. This makes for extended portrait sessions, which are sometimes required to capture the perfect portrait.
Compared to this, other lens used for portraits include the 50mm, 85mm, and 70-200mm. Only the 50mm lens weighs less at 5.61 ounces, while the 85mm weighs around 15 ounces and 70-200mm weighs a staggering 52.56 ounces. Therefore, the 55-250mm lens is quite good since it has a zoom option.
Wide Aperture and Photo Distance
The camera also comes with a wide aperture at the 55mm end at f/4. This allows you to have a shallow depth of field and capture a beautiful Bokeh, that is, blur the background while keeping the subject in focus. This is very helpful in capturing a portrait.
The minimum photo distance is only 3.35in. That is great for portraits as you can capture photos in enclosed rooms. Therefore, this lens can be used in studios to capture great portraits. This gives you a lot of flexibility in capturing portraits both indoors as well as outdoors.
Why Is It Bad for Portraits
One of the downsides of this lens which can prove to be very detrimental for portraits is distortion. There is a barrel distortion at the 55mm end of this lens. This is an ideal length for portraits on this lens, and this might ruin several photographs.
Moreover, this lens’s quality of pictures is not as good as a 50mm prime lens, which is specifically built for portraits.
Advantages of Using 55-250mm Lens
There are several advantages of using this lens which include:
- Zoom: This lens offers a zoom magnification of 4.5x. This allows you to capture moments from afar. These include candid moments at weddings as well as animals in the wild.
- Compact: The lenses are light and compact. They can thus be packed for your travels and be used for extended periods without the photographer feeling tired.
Disadvantages of Using 55-250mm Lens
There are many disadvantages that are associated with using this lens that include:
- Chromatic Aberration: There are issues of chromatic aberration in this lens. These issues become more prominent as the focal length increases. You might see some color distortions at the edge of some images.
- Vignetting: There are problems with vignetting or shading in this lens. You might see the edges of the images slightly darker than the rest of them. This problem is the worst at the 250mm length.
- Build Quality: This lens is usually made out of plastic. They have a poor build quality and are prone to damage.
Related Questions
What Lens Focal Length Is Best for Portraits?
The 50mm or nifty fifty is the best for portraits. This is thanks to a field of view which is similar to a human eye. Also, these lenses come with a wide aperture, this gives you the ability to capture bokeh thanks to the shallow depth of field.
Moreover, this lens does not have a problem of lens distortion, again making it a great choice for portraits. Lastly, it is light, compact, and fast, which are admirable qualities to have in any lens.
What Is the Difference Between 55-250mm and 18-55mm Lenses?
The main difference between the 55-250mm and 18-55mm lens is that the former is a medium to long telephoto lens while the latter is a wide to moderate telephoto lens. The 18-55mm is good for landscape photos and portraits. On the contrary, the 55-250mm is best for portraits and sports photography.
Conclusion
The 55-250mm lens is good for portraits as it has a variable focal length. However, some problems, such as lens distortion and chromatic aberration, might make it a bad choice for portraits.
