The BEST Cameras & Lenses for PORTRAITS on a budget 

Do get great deals on gear go to KEH.com Get 5% more for your gear! Sell to our sponsor KEH: SDP.io/SELL code NORTHRUP-SELL Get the best prices with a warranty at SDP.io/BUY + 5% coupon NORTHRUP-1 Cameras: Older DSLR cameras have less tech but more savings: SDP.io/kehdslr Full-frame DSLR fro more background blur and better low-light: SDP.io/ffdslr Mirrorless cameras for newest tech: SDP.io/kehmirrorless Lenses: general lenses: SDP.io/kehlenses A 50mm prime for affordable, fast, and sharp: SDP.io/keh50mm a 24-70 that does everything: SDP.io/keh2470 A 70-200 for a classiv look: SDP.io/70200 An 85 for a unique look and bokeh galore: SDP.io/keh85 Lighting: Flashes for budget lighting: SDP.io/kehflash flash with TTL, more money but easier to use: SDP.io/kehttl Strobes for more light options: SDP.io/kehstrobe

I've spent my photography life trading "up" to bigger and better gear. Now I find myself trading "down" to smaller and lighter gear. Bigger isn't always better.

I’ve never really delved into portrait photography, but this is a fantastic video! A ton of great info in a short time. Terrific job as always. Appreciate you guys. 😊👍🏼

Yesssss…… Thank you for this video. It’s refreshing to see a video not based on the latest and greatest . Well done and very appreciated 😎📷

Y'all are indefatigable. Thanks for always delivering content that's timely and instructive.

Been watching you guys since I was in highschool and now fast forward, I have my own studio. Time flies and your content and humor always keeps up, Proud and thankful for you both

Thank you for the heads up on the used equipment!

You both have been amazing help with learning all about photography. Thank you so much.

Thank you for the great tip with the manual focus lenses. And those photos of Chelsea are fantastic!!!

It has been really helpful, thank you, Tony and Chelsea !

I've been searching for such information everywhere on ytb. Excellent stuff! Great job as always! Thanks

Huge fan of the reflector/defuser in portraiture. Great tips for beginner photographers who shouldn't and don't need to spend a lot of money to get started.

The first portrait of Chelsea on the 5D mark II is so beautiful! It's so funny how the editing gives it away as a late 2000's portrait. 5D mark II can make modern looking portraits too just so the people know. ❤

Love all your videos, but this one in particular (for me anyway) is really good. Very informative as well as entertaining!

I bought a TTArtisan and use it on an APS-C camera so it is a 50mm equivalent. It is a great lens for portrait and street photography. I was concerned with not having stabilization or autofocus. The lens comes with a 30 day trail. I found that it worked for me from the first day and I am extremely satisfied. On sale I got f1.4 lens for $63. Hard to beat.

Many thanks, Tony and Chelsea. Great video as always. GOD bless you both.

Noti gang!!!!! Best photography RU-vidrs

Great video as always. I learnt so much.

What I love in this vid is how you guys play and tease (without being obvious about it) but if you look good at the vid and body language then you see these things which it actually makes sweet between you two :)

In most systems the 50 1.8 is practically a steal especailly for Canon R where I've seen it as low as $250 or less on sale. Nikon's is a bit more but still a good value for the money (or you can get the older F-mount version for about $220 vs the $629 for the Z version). But my point is if you want portraits on a budget, you really can't go wrong with a 50 1.8. If you're really on a budget and cannot afford even a cheap softbox, get a stand with a clamp and you can also use a reflector/diffuser disc as shown earlier in the video, as your "soft box". It's not quite the same, but still should give you nice results (better than what you'd probably get with bare flash, even off-camera. In fact, you're probably going to get a reflector anyway so if you're on a budget, you could start with that and then work up to a softbox when you need to (plus reflectors are cheap so if you destroy them, not a big deal usually -- but softboxes can be expensive, as well as a good quality stand).

Good old canon plastic fantastic nifty fifty best starter 50mm 1.8 lens. I learnt so much using that lens.

60p hdr looks great. What made you change to hdr?

Beautiful portraits! Chelsea makes such a good model 😊

Congeniality personified, watching your channel is more a visit with a couple of friends that happen to know more about what interests me than I do.

Love this. A nice will rounded video. I find most RU-vidrs who give portrait advice are always hung up on the latest and greatest of everything. I've always thought, how the hell did they get to afford all the latest full frame cameras and lenses... And most are just like any one of us, that they started out possibly with an apsc or an entry level full frame and grew from there. I love how they're able to still give advice for the beginner/ amateur.

Great vid as always. Laden with gems. Cheers guys ❤

You guys have really improved since your first videos. Has it been ten years already? You’re so relaxed and even more dynamic now. Sorry Tony you’ve still got that mannequin look when Chelsea is on but wow your photography has truly excelled. Both of you actually. It’s been a pleasure and a joy watching you grow. You’ve always been my favorite go to hear heads. Thank you for your guidance over the years.

Definite yes for the 80-200 f2.8 on my Nikon. D7000. The most versatile lens I have with spectacular results. This is an older lens with no image stabilisation or built in auto focus, but is simple and rugged. Downside, it is heavy.

Been wanting to jump to the mirrorless world for the two reasons you mentioned but it has been cost prohibitive. Even tho it’s more work my nikon D700 and nikon 85mm 1.4 has given me years of enjoyment. I then added the nikon 50mm 1.8g which has increased in price but still a very affordable solution for indoor shots.

Thank you. Great advise

Here's an idea for a portrait photoshoot if you're not gonna use strobes and reflectors etc. Go to an art gallery, get the subject to stand say 10 feet or more in front of a large painting(s) then use a long focal length with wide aperture to take your shots. Don't know how this might turn out but I think it would work well.

You can get a 1Ds MK III, EF 50mm f/1.2, and an 85mm f/1.2 for sub $3k these days. Maybe closer to $2k. If you can’t make a good portrait out of that kit, I can’t help you.

Great video, as always. No reason to go with brand new unless you have surplus money or need/want some new feature, or have a special application that needs the new technology (like the insane new bodies with 100+ FPS for sports or Birds in Flight). All of my gear was purchased used, and I'm very happy with my results.

More on posing, please.

No frills, just one of Your best vids. Hope to see You rockin‘ the BlaBla world for a long time.

So much "cheap" stuff has lasted me for years. Probably used a nifty fifty for 6 years before upgrading. My only critique of buying an older DSLR now is that if you upgrade later, you need to rebuy lenses too, but some things like especially long lenses for wildlife or sports lenses, DSLR will be much cheaper. 1.8 lenses instead of 1.4 can be much cheaper. Third party lenses will often be cheaper with similar quality and you might loses some performance like AF speed or total sharpness, but with primes even the third party options will be generally sharp. I also usually buy a top end camera but get one model behind and/or used when new camera comes out because lots of people are interested in selling to upgrade.

Helps to have a good subject :)

Half of my lenses are used. Recently got Viltrox 85mm (Nikon Z) for 300€. Not the best but fits the budget.

Nikon D300, Nikon DX 35/1.8, Nikon AF-D 50/1.8, and AF-70-210/4 with an SB-600 flash will set you back all of $400. If you need to go wider, the Tokina 12-24/4 is like $65 used.

Video camera used for kitchen scene has a dust spot on sensor

👍 Good reminders 👍

Where did you find an AD600 pro and softbox for $300?

i have a question about the video here itself, i've noticed a few youtube videos way over exposed compared to the others and this is one of them, not like a bit but 10 stops etc now the video itself is shot and edited properly but for some reason its showing as well over exposed, so my question is is there anything different your side that may cause it compared to others as its like one in 3 months videos i see that present like this, never seen it on you channel before i'm using a 2022 macbook

I just purchased a Nikon D850. Wanted to get your thoughts on a 24-70mm lens. Wasn’t sure on the Tamron, Sigma, or the Nikon version. No budget just want something that works best.

You can bounce the light off of the ceiling and get really nice photos 📸.

great video I was looking for a lot of time before.. well done! A little late for me jajaja Next make a guide for apc sensors and thats complete

😮 the beard is slowly coming back! I wanna see a full bearded Santa Tony.

I must say, I have been really happy with KEH. I have only purchased, but what an excellent experience. I enjoyed this episode on portraiture. Thank you both.

Great video as usual. You guys rock!! 💪

I kind of notice the details, thank for the video and for using stuff that’s within financial reach of the average enthusiast and not all that profoto stuff.

I would recommend the Canon 5D and Mark II for an older DSLR, really cheap now but fantastic image results in controlled situations. I think of them as like a classic car, might not be what you need everyday but worth to have for a special day

@ 9:30 thr 1.2 wud have been good if the bright window was not coming in frame, look at his shoulder getting soft at that side and difference in contrast on both arms

I've been watching these two long enough that when Chelsea said she "skipped old lady school" I was able to laugh along sympathetically.

Chelsea pls make a video for posing we can show to new models or family asking for portraits! Thx.

Canon 5d mark II with Canon EF 100mm f2 USM, best price-performance ratio for the portraits, extremely sharp lens even by today' standard with great look of a bokeh. I challenge you all to find something better for 700€.

We've learned a lot over the years from these two. An awesome couple and fun people too👌And..great books too! We're not even related (say hi to mom)! Take care you guys..back out to move more d... snow.....🙃

7:09 was the best shot!

Alfred Krupp by Arnold Newman... 12:08

"Date the Rate"... lol. That caught me off guard😊

thank you for this video, this comes to me in an exact moment, yesterday a family in the small town i'm living saw me taking some pictures and asked me to take pictures of them near the river, they want to have some prints. i just have a sony alpha 6000 and a sigma 30mm 1.4, i just need the difusor and reflector kit and i think i'm ready to try to make my first camera "work" (just training for free), they are not demanding, but I'm ready to give my best. thank you

I love how I am a professional photographer who has owned all sorts of expensive gear and am watching this. Ah well... I'm a Camera nerd I admit it.

Old lenses with less elements/groups have more character than modern lenses.

Tell your subject to say "Cheese Fart" and be ready to hit the button that'll get a great natural smile lol

Soooo i need rf 85 1.2 ??((

I sometimes wonder how I was able to take good pix with just a film camera and manual focus lenses in the 70/80/90's. Autofocus with the Eos 1 was a game changer for me as my eyes not the best but the MOST important talent/skill is the ability to see. Perhaps AI will fix that in next 10 yrs!

If only I knew where I could go to get affordable used cameras and lenses....

But U can't compare (under science conditions) from Tony wt the Kitchen (natural light / cheap flash / Strobe Softbox)... the first both are shooter against the Background light from the window and the last one is taken with the light from left side window.... ;) It would look also better against No1 with the cheap flash, if you shoot it straight in his face.... ;)

Old lady school! LOL

Cheap? 2nd hand Olympus 45/1.8 and some EPL-5, EPL-6.. small, easy to use and results are very good.

Make a video comparing cheap camera with expensive lens and expensive camera with cheap lens.

If it makes you feel any better, that sensor/lens dust at 8:15 was distracting, but on a recent episode of Bosch: Legacy, they had sensor dust in a scene. And I think their budget per episode was a little bit higher than yours.😉

Tony is a handsome Golden Retriever.

iPhones' signature "jaundice/tomato" skin tone at 1:43. Chelsea deserves better than that garbage iOS auto-processing.

Tony says KEH like CAGE

Nice video on lighting. Chelsea looks hot

I'm only a minute in and I'm like... this doesn't look good? I hope it's SONY. Tony should have been on the left. White hair and a blown out background.

That was funny, the realtor from hell.

Please stick to SDR videos, HDR becomes uncomfortable in small screen specially at night

The realtor from hell....LOL

where are the second party lenses? if there's first party lenses and third party lenses...

If you've got to accept things like lens flare, then don't just "accept it" and try to ignore it. Play around with it and practice with it so YOU learn to control where that lense flare shows up. Then you can use it with intention to add style to your photos rather than simply allowing it to ruin your shots at random.

Noooo please no HDR, it's driving me nuts!!! It's aaalways on full brightness and I hate it

This is a perfect example of the truth that gear doesn't equate to quality results. Know-how does!

without watching this I can tell you right off the basic Sony 50mm full frame lens is hot garbage. The APSC 50mm is amazing but they phoned it in with the full frame one.

Love skipped old lady school

Enough of KEH already!

HDR videos suck!

Got Free Photography Tips with information on Best Portrait lenses.