Kit guide
A portrait and family camera kit
A short telephoto prime framed like 75 to 90 mm flatters faces and blurs the background; the kit zoom stays on for groups. Here is that pair for each system, with how far back you stand.
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Canon RF
665 g ready to shoot
Canon EOS R50 + Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary
frames like 90 mm at f/1.4 · 665 g with the camera · 55 mm filter
Drawn beside it: the RF-S18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM, 130 g more; the bag then weighs 795 g.
Sony E
683 g ready to shoot
Sony a6400 + Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary
frames like 84 mm at f/1.4 · 683 g with the camera · 55 mm filter
Drawn beside it: the E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS II, 107 g more; the bag then weighs 790 g.
Nikon Z
839 g ready to shoot
frames like 83 mm at f/1.4 · 839 g with the camera · 52 mm filter
Drawn beside it: the NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR, 135 g more; the bag then weighs 974 g.
Fujifilm X
718 g ready to shoot
Fujifilm X-T50 + Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary
frames like 84 mm at f/1.4 · 718 g with the camera · 55 mm filter
Drawn beside it: the XF16-50mmF2.8-4.8 R LM WR, 240 g more; the bag then weighs 958 g.
Why a short telephoto
Faces look natural from a metre and a half to two metres away, and a lens that frames like 75 to 90 mm fills an upright frame with head and shoulders from there. On these APS-C cameras that is a lens of about 50 mm. Each pick below is the brightest such prime under 300 g on its mount.
Brightness matters for two reasons. Indoors, f/1.4 lets in four times the light of f/2.8, so you keep a shutter speed fast enough for a moving child. And at close range it blurs the background. With the Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary on the Sony a6400 at f/1.4 and 1.4 m, the sharp zone runs from 1.38 m to 1.42 m: about 3 cm, enough for a face and little else. Stop down to f/4 for two people at different distances.
Groups need the zoom
A tight portrait lens is the wrong lens for six people in a living room: you would need to stand outside the room. Keep the kit zoom for groups and wider family scenes. Standing against one wall of a room three metres deep, a 24 mm-equivalent view takes in about 4.5 m of the far wall; an 84 mm-equivalent view takes in about 1.3 m.
A note on aperture numbers
A larger maximum aperture is a specification, not a promise of better autofocus or nicer blur; how a lens renders and how quickly it focuses vary by model. We do not test lenses. Read reviews from people who have used the one you are considering.
Build your own kit · Lenses by subject
Facts from the makers' specification pages. How we check