Some photographers like to have a wide range of lenses that cover every conceivable focal length, from extreme wide angle to long telephoto. However, in practice, this is more often a sign of gadget mania than a real necessity and most will find that working with a few excellent quality lenses is a much better strategy.
When photographing a nude model, most photographers will try to produce an image that is aesthetically pleasing without distortion or unflattering effects. With a distant scene, such as a nude figure in the landscape, it’s perfectly possible to use a wide-angle lens, but as you zoom in, that same lens is likely to cause unwanted distortion and this is particularly prevalent with cheaper lenses. When working in the studio with a 35mm full-frame camera, I tend to shoot with a lens no larger than 35mm max, and even that isn’t ideal most of the time.
Perhaps surprising some, one of the best lenses available for nude photography is the oft-discarded standard 50mm lens, which is generally the cheapest option in every camera manufacturer’s range of lenses, but invariably of excellent optical quality, with almost no distortion or chromatic aberrations.
When photographed in relative proximity, the female nude will often appear slightly curvier than in reality with a 50mm lens, but not in an ugly or exaggerated way and the same rule would apply equally to glamor photography. This is roughly equivalent to the medium format Hasselblad 80mm lens, which is my first choice when shooting nudes, as I tend to prefer the less elongated proportions of medium format.
Another alternative lens would be the 85mm, although it is often considered more of a portrait lens by major camera manufacturers such as Canon and Nikon etc. produce an optically excellent version and this can be used in almost any situation with good results. Like the 50mm lens, it also usually has a fast maximum aperture which allows the photographer to easily blur the background if desired.
An alternative option that should not be overlooked is a good quality zoom lens, such as the Canon 24-105L for example, which covers all the necessary focal lengths for most requirements and eliminates the need to change lenses every 30 seconds during a session. There was a time when zoom lenses weren’t really an option for high-quality professional use, but today the best lenses are actually very good and extremely convenient. Lenses with built-in image stabilization are also useful for handheld photography in low-light conditions. For more information visit http://www.nudephotopro.com/