Close-ups are truly an art, and like any other shot type, there are many rules you can follow (or not follow) that will help you get the best look possible. For the purpose of this article, however, I won’t discuss framing, lighting, or aspect ratio, but rather focus on lens choice, as it is arguably the most important element in achieving a beautiful close-up. My personal favorite focal length for close-ups is 85mm, and I’m certainly not the only one using this lens as my go-to CU lens – in fact, it has been a favorite of many cinematographers and stills photographers over the years.
Those with a background in still photography (particularly portraits) will be well aware that the best focal length range for portraits/headshots is 85mm – 135mm, as these lenses flatten your subject perfectly. To help illustrate this, let’s think about what doesn’t work when it comes to lenses, using the two extremes of the focal length range – ultra-wide angle and telephoto – as examples.
If you shoot with an ultra-wide-angle lens (such as a fisheye), your image will be distorted and facial features will stand out in all the wrong ways. Wide-angle lenses are not designed for close-ups, they are most often used for landscape or wide-angle action shots, which is why you can’t expect them to perform well in situations for which they are not suited. Take a look at this photo for an extreme example (assuming it looks cool, but isn’t what you usually want in a traditional close-up):
Telephoto lenses, on the other hand, do the exact opposite of wide-angle lenses: they compress the image and flatten everything in focus, so much so that they also distort the image, just in a different way. A super telephoto lens is great for shooting certain types of footage (such as product photos, since you often want to flatten your hero product for various reasons, or nature photography), but when it comes to close-ups, it can really work with you Be against. Lenses that are too long can flatten an actor’s face too much, making their facial features look less flattering – so unless that’s the look you’re going for, you’ll generally want to stay away from a focal length that’s too long.
The above examples are obviously at the extreme ends of the spectrum (ultra wide angle and telephoto), but the same principles can be applied to any lens outside the 85mm – 135mm range. For example, a 24mm lens may not be considered an “extreme wide-angle lens,” but it’s still far from the optimal range you want to use it for, and will still have some unpleasant effects on facial features if you try it for Close-up.
Other considerations
It’s also important to consider not only what the lens does to the subject, but also what it does to the background. If you are using a 24mm lens as described in the example above, you will need to move the camera very close to the subject in order to take the close-up, which means you will see more of the background. For example, if using an 85mm lens Frame your shot, as a 24mm lens will take in more of your surroundings.
Another important consideration is depth of field. Typically, when shooting close-ups, you want a shallower depth of field so that the focus is entirely on the subject and the background is out of focus, thus avoiding unnecessary distractions in the frame. To achieve this look, you’ll want a nice long lens so you don’t have to worry about placing your subject far away from the background. For this reason and the others mentioned above, a long lens is almost always the way to go for a close-up, unless you have a very unique idea and want to break the rules on purpose.
This is a shot from my upcoming short film “Model”, using a Blackmagic Cinema Camera and an 85mm Rokinon Cine lens:
Rokinon 85mm T1.5 Cinema Lens – $349 at B & H
So why is 85mm better than other focal lengths?
At the top of this article I mentioned that generally the 85mm – 135mm range is great for close-ups/portraits in film and still photography. While this range is actually best suited for CU lenses, I personally have always had a particular preference for the 85mm lens when shooting narrative material. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is that I find the 85mm lens to be much more versatile than longer focal length lenses like the 135mm or even the 105mm. While the 85mm lens is quite long, it’s not so long that you can’t use it in smaller rooms/spaces, or you’ll need to reframe your shot if you want to go a little wider – which is the case with a more telephoto oriented lens Not always. I had issues using lenses longer than 85mm in small rooms where the lenses were too tight and I ended up needing to use 50mm which wasn’t ideal for my scene just because I couldn’t move the camera enough in the room The place near the back. Another benefit of the 85mm focal length is that if, like me, you own a few different cameras with different sensor sizes, it will be more useful on your different bodies. For example, I will use an 85mm lens on a C100 (which has a super 35mm size sensor) and get great results, then put it on my Blackmagic cinema camera (which has a 2.3x crop factor) and still be able to use it . Of course, images will vary due to different sensor sizes, but the lens will work on both cameras. If I try to mount a 135mm lens on my Blackmagic Cinema Camera, it won’t work in most indoor situations unless I’m shooting extreme close-ups or have a very large interior space.
final thoughts
There are many different lenses and focal lengths you can use to capture great close-ups, so you don’t need to stick to any particular lens (whether it’s 85mm or otherwise). For me personally, 80% of my close-ups are suitable for 85mm, but there is no hard and fast rule. Sometimes, when I want something more extreme, I’ll choose a longer lens, or when I want a less flattering/more uncomfortable look, I’ll choose to shoot with a wide angle lens and pull the camera closer . If you do choose an 85mm lens, I highly recommend the Rokinon 85mm cine lens listed above as the quality is very good and it’s very fast – the T1.5, which makes it great for getting a nice shallow depth of field, even on smaller The same is true for cameras with photosensitive elements.
