In my decade long career, I’ve photographed with dozens of lenses, across various genres of photography. Choosing the right lens can sometimes be confusing, as there’s hundreds of lenses out there and many new ones being released every year.

Here’s a look into 12 full frame lenses that I think are great to consider for your portrait needs (shared in no particular order as well).

If you're someone who may not be able to afford ZEISS or Sony G Master lenses right now, then this blog will still be helpful for you. Follow the focal lengths listed here to help guide you on what to look for in the brand of lenses you choose to utilize. If you're someone that's using a crop camera sensor, such as APS-C then use the crop factor of "x1.5" and divide that by the focal lengths here in this blog, to figure out what focal length equivalent you'd need for your camera system.

Sony α7C II, Sony 1.4/85mm G Master II

1. Sony 1.4/85mm G Master II

This is the latest and greatest from Sony, that replaces the Sony 1.4/85mm G Master from 2016. In all honesty it was a lens that I was not a fan of and deemed to be one of the weakest lenses in the entire Sony G Master line up.

Things have taken a major turn with the release of the new second generation of this focal length. The 85 GM II is now by far the most incredible Sony GM I've utilized to date! This lens is like optical crack, because it's extremely good and hard to process how amazing it is! The color from this lens is stunning and the sharpness is razor sharp! The background blur (bokeh) from this lens is buttery smooth as well. Like its predecessor it features a 77mm filter thread, but in a slimmer body and less weight at 642g (down from 820g of the original).

Most may know that I'm a big fan of the 85mm focal length, with the ZEISS Batis 1.8/85mm OSS being my go-to lens for many years. The technology of that lens has become aged, but the optics still remain stellar as expected from a ZEISS but overall, the Sony 85mm G Master II is far more advanced. This lens comes in at the same price the original did at launch of $1,799 USD. Where that may be hefty for some the alternative lenses out there may still suit your needs, even like my beloved ZEISS 85 but without the overall precision in focusing and speed that's designed for the cameras of today and the future, while offering incredible sharpness and color!

B&H Photo

Sony α7C II, Sony 1.8/135mm G Master

2. Sony 1.8/135mm G Master

During Sony Kando 2024 I decided to finally get my hands on Sony's 135mm G Master lens. Somehow this is a lens in the GM line I had never used, therefore I made it my mission to try this out during the retreat.

My goodness, I was blown away at how the images looked straight out of the camera from this lens! What was most impressive was the smooth bokeh from this lens! It looked so close to the blur you obtain from an STF lens, like the Sony 100mm STF that I list a little bit latter in this article.

Coming from the now defunct Sony A-Mount line of cameras I remember the days of the old Sonnar 1.8/135mm ZA. It was a gorgeous lens (but my was it large and heavy) and one that when Sony developed the E-mount system I had hoped they would bring over to this line. They didn't for years and when this was finally announced I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't a Sony/ZEISS lens, but this lens doesn't disappoint. One thing about Sony in recent years is they've drastically improved their lens technology and have been producing more consistency in their lenses, with performance, colors and sharpness being more even across their lenses, compared to early iterations.

At $2,098 USD you will have to drop some cash for this lens but great glass costs and this is a lens that's certainly worth the money!

B&H Photo

Sony α1, Batis 1.8/85mm

3. ZEISS Batis 1.8/85mm

There’s no surprise that the Batis 85mm would be my first choice. This is certainly a favorite for me among the ZEISS lenses and a lens I use across numerous genres.

There’s a lot of companies offering an 85mm lens for the Sony E-Mount system and I must admit that you honestly can’t choose a bad one either. What makes this lens so special compared to those other 85mm lenses? I simply love the sharpness and color reproduction from the ZEISS lenses and being that their family of lenses are color matched I know I’m obtaining the same quality across the board by remaining in their family of lenses. The focusing from this lens is incredibly precise and quick as well (but it is showing its age in comparison to newer lenses with even faster autofocusing, yet it can still hold its own quite well).

It’s not incredibly expensive as some of the other 85mm lenses on the market but does sit sort of in-between that and more affordable 85mm lenses, such as Sony’s variant of this lens – but lacks the color reproduction but shares relatively equal sharpness.

Again, there’s many 85mm lenses to choose but I would make the Batis 85mm one you consider. It’s my oldest Batis lens and one you’re sure to obtain great use out of.

Read my full review or purchase this lens by clicking the links below:

Amazon | B&H Photo | Review

Sony α7 III, Sony 2.8/100mm STF G Master

4. Sony 2.8/100mm STF [T/5.6] G Master

I’m sure many will be surprised to see a non-ZEISS lens listed, being that I’m a ZEISS Ambassador and I’ve exclusively used ZEISS lenses prior to becoming one, but I’ve tried many Sony lenses over the years, and I do own Sony G Master's too! I’m always sharing my honest unbiased opinion to help people and provide various options.

The Sony 100mm STF lens is the most beautiful lens that Sony has produced, in my opinion! This is an STF lens, which stands for Smooth Trans Focus. What is this exactly? That means this lens includes and apodization filter to create a buttery smooth bokeh. The filter darkens as it nears the edges and gives a smooth natural bokeh, which your normal fast aperture primes don’t have and tend to show more disk like or cat eye bokeh.

Being an STF lens there’s one thing that most people aren’t familiar with on such a lens. The lens is an f/2.8 in aperture but light wise it’s a T/5.6, meaning the actual light going through to the camera sensor is 5.6. In low light situations this lens may not be your best choice, but I tried this lens for nighttime street photography, and it did quite well in that situation, so don’t count it out completely. It’s a lens worth having.

This kind of lens is one I wish ZEISS offered but Sony does, and they blew this one out of the water! If you’re photographing portraits and don’t use this lens, then you’re totally missing out!

Read my full review or purchase this lens by clicking the links below:

Amazon | B&H Photo | Review

Sony α1, Sony 1.2/50mm G Master

5. Sony 1.2/50mm G Master

6. Sony 1.4/50mm G Master

It was a delight to get the opportunity to photograph with both of these lenses upon their releases, that I had to update this article with these incredible 50mm G Master lenses from Sony!

Both of these lenses are beautiful, with amazing reproduction in both color and sharpness. I did find in my usage of these lenses on the Sony Alpha 1 and new Sony Alpha 7C II that the 1.2 GM isn't "as" spot on with focusing as its 1.4 sibling. The 1.4 also had better control with lens flares. The 1.2 seems more of just a blob of light where the 1.4 retained more color and produced a look comparable to what I'm used to with ZEISS lenses.

Overall, they're both amazing and it will simply come down to which aperture you want, size, weight, etc... The 1.2 lens is a far heftier price than the 1.4 ($1,998 vs $1,398 respectively). I personally opt for the 1.4 version as it pairs nicely with the 1.4/24 and 35 GM lenses I already own, is much lighter and fits my needs best. 1.4 is extreme enough for portraits and I'm usually stopping down my aperture when I'm photographing up close portraits. The extra price for having the extra 2/3rd's in light isn't justifiable enough for me but either direction you go you certainly can't go wrong. These are just amazingly well-built lenses from Sony and shows their progression in optics over the years.

1.2/50: Amazon | B&H Photo

1.4/50: Amazon | B&H Photo

Sony α9, Batis 2.8/135mm

7. ZEISS Batis 2.8/135mm

The ZEISS Batis 135mm was the last of the Batis family I ever utilized and was what you'd expect from ZEISS, beautiful color reproduction and build quality.

The first thing people are quick to find fault with this lens is in the aperture, being “only” a f/2.8. I myself was the same way. I mentioned in my review of this lens that I was given this lens by ZEISS. Would I have purchased this lens if it wasn’t given to me? More than likely no, as the range for one is not something I really photographed often and secondly for primes I like f/1.8 and f/2 lenses and for its price it would just be too much to have invested for me personally but someone doing a lot more portraits than myself probably wouldn’t mind. The f/2.8 primes I don’t buy as that’s an aperture I can obtain in a zoom lens. My image quality will be a bit better in the prime than zoom but I just always like obtaining something different in a prime that I can’t in a zoom.

With that said it doesn’t mean this is a lens to skip, because honestly this is a BEAUTIFUL lens! I can’t deny that. I’ve used this lens and I’ve been surprised at how much I’ve fallen for this lens and have utilized it in many different applications, from portraits to worship to even street photography in the time that I had owned it. I’m sure many will want to think twice on this lens and go for the Sony 1.8/135mm G Master lens, which is a much heavier and larger lens than the ZEISS, but also much more expensive as well! I think once you try it, you’ll see that the f/2.8 isn’t a bad thing from this lens and is probably more than enough for most, but should you want a bit more out of this focal length then the Sony G Master will be the better solution for you!

Read my full review or purchase this lens by clicking the links below:

Amazon | B&H Photo | Review

Sony α7C II, Sonnar 1.8/55mm

8. Sonnar 1.8/55mm ZA

Another great additional lens I simply had to mention is my beloved Sonnar 1.8/55mm ZA lens. This was my first lens I purchased for the Sony E-Mount. To this day this is still one of the most elegant pieces of glass I’ve owned and it’s still one of the best lenses ever produced for Sony E-Mount.

At 55mm it’s a bit tighter than your typical 50mm range, giving it a bit of a bump in portrait use for some photographers, who may prefer longer range lenses for such work. It’s extremely compact and lightweight and among all the other lenses is a great single lens prime option for anyone wanting to purchase one lens. It’s quite versatile and useful for other things outside of portraits as well. If I had to select only one lens this would be the lens I’m choosing.

Read my full review or purchase this lens by clicking the links below:

Amazon | B&H Photo | Review

Sony α1, ZEISS Otus 1.4/85mm

9. ZEISS Otus 1.4/85mm

This lens is one that’s designed for the Nikon F and Canon EF mounts and is a manual focusing lens, but with an adapter like the Sigma MC-11 you’re able to adapt this to the Sony E-Mount system.

There are numerous 85mm lenses on the market and majority of them will be much more affordable than the Otus version, such as the ZEISS Milvus, that's also for Nikon F and Canon EF mount, but is nearly $3,000 less.

What makes this lens standout among the rest? It's truly the best lens piece of glass you could obtain in this focal length. I normally don't follow DXOmark, as I don't really know how accurate their testing of lenses are, but they interestingly enough have this lens listed third for best lens. The Otus 55 happens to be the lens right above it. It really is a phenomenal lens and the entire family of lenses provides stunning image quality right out of the camera.

This lens is quite a hefty lens and it may be tiring to hand hold for a long period of time. This will become more of an issue if you're utilizing this on an older and heavier DSLR camera body as well. It's the con of having a lens that doesn't compromise on quality, at the expense of having a smaller more compact lens. At the very least it's a lens you should at least rent to try it out. It won't be a lens many may buy, but it's one you have to at least experience once in your life. If this lens is out of reach for you then consider checking out the ZEISS Milvus 1.4/85mm version as well.

Purchase this lens by clicking the link below:

B&H Photo

Sony α9, ZEISS Otus 1.4/100mm

10. ZEISS Otus 1.4/100mm

Just like the Otus lens above, this too is a lens that’s designed for the Nikon F and Canon EF mounts and is a manual focusing lens, but with an adapter like the Sigma MC-11 you’re able to adapt this to the Sony E-Mount system.

Don’t be afraid of this lens because it’s a manual. It’s one of the beautiful things about it. The main reason I included this one is because it’s the most gorgeous lens I’ve ever utilized for portraits! This is ZEISS’ no compromises lens line, meaning that whatever was available to make the perfect lens was done so with the Otus line of lenses (which currently includes 4 lenses in total).

I’ve used ZEISS optics for over a decade and their image quality has always been astounding, but this lens better than any ZEISS lens I’ve ever used! It really is perfect! That’s why it does come with a near $5,000 price tag, but it’s the best glass you’d probably ever buy. I used this lens ones and I was sold and had to get this lens! It’s so good that I seriously am doing more portraits just to use this lens for now!

It’s not going to be a lens you’d use for everything, like you might for the lenses above, but it’s a portrait lens that anyone who shoots with will never want to put down! This lens actually has made me want to do more portraits and for those that are familiar with my work will know I don’t do many portraits.

Purchase this lens by clicking the link below:

B&H Photo | Review

Sony α9, ZEISS Batis 2/40mm CF

11. ZEISS Batis 2/40mm CF

The Batis 40mm was the latest addition to the Batis family and is a very unique focal length at 40mm. It's a nice in-between choice for those who may find 35mm lenses too wide for portraits, but may not be a fan of the nifty fifty lenses.

This is a very compact and lightweight lens, that offers stunning colors and sharpness. It has an added advantage of being a close focusing lens (not to be confused with a macro lens), which gives you a closer minimum focusing distance a lot of other lenses. This is useful for those who may not own a macro lens, but want a closer reproduction of something like wedding rings. I actually decided to use this as opposed to a macro and it does perfectly fine for the detail shots I'm wanting to obtain.

Back to the portraits however, this lens gives a very pleasing ability to incorporate things that are around your subject(s), while not feeling too distant from there like you may feel with wider focal lengths. They're still front and center and can fill the frame quite nicely and not have them distorted if placing them along the edges of the frame. It's a very fun lens to use and if you're like me, it may take some time getting used to this focal length initially. Once you figure out its placement then its one you thoroughly enjoy!

Read my full review or purchase this lens by clicking the links below:

Amazon | B&H Photo | Review

Sony α9, ZEISS Loxia 2/35mm

12. ZEISS Loxia 2/35mm

I decided to add this beauty of a lens, the Loxia 35mm. Many people may not choose to go this wide for portraits, but it really is a great focal length when you utilize in properly for your portraits. This range is great for more environmental inclusion around your subject and with the abundance of various 35mm lenses on the market you can find a wide range of varying apertures to suit your needs.

This lens is close in focal length to the 40mm, which many may find more suitable for them than a 35mm, but I love this lens, the Loxia 35mm specifically as its an incredible piece of glass! With the f/2 aperture I find that to be plenty for the images that I capture, by giving me just enough bokeh behind my subject with the compositions I produce, such as the above image.

This is also a manual lens, but the one advantage the Loxia has over the Otus lenses is that they're far more compact and lighter to manage and are great to utilize for a full day of shooting and still offers stunning image quality, just like any ZEISS lens!

Read my full review or purchase this lens by clicking the links below:

Amazon | B&H Photo | Review

Sony α7R II, Batis 1.8/85mm

I hope this blog was informative and gives you some additional choices in lenses to consider for portrait photography. What lenses do you presently use or have considered? Share with us in the comments below. If you have any more questions, leave a comment below as well.

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[Updated: November 3, 2024]