Natural Light Portraits with the EF85mm F1.8 | 5D Mark III × BMPCC 6K

Natural Light Portraits with the EF85mm F1.8

Shot on CANON 5D Mark III with the EF85mm F1.8 USM.

I shoot my own promotional stills, and lately the 85mm F1.8 has become my go-to. Since I mostly shoot with natural light, the F1.8 aperture is forgiving even as the sun drops. And the bokeh is beautiful.

Natural light, 85mm F1.8 — soft, creamy bokeh

Shooting at Night with No Lights

I use the CANON 5D Mark III for stills and the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K for video. Neither camera has exceptional high-ISO performance, so fast lenses are essential.

On small-scale productions, you can’t set up multiple large lights, so I make the most of sunlight until the very last minute.

CANON 5D Mark III / EF85mm F1.8 USM

Why 85mm?

The 50mm and 85mm are both classic portrait lenses, but I choose 85mm for one key reason: the distance from the subject.

With a 50mm, you’re too close. Especially on a drama set, if the camera is too near when an actor is in the zone, it changes the atmosphere. The 85mm lets you stay a step back and capture natural expressions without intruding.

The other reason is background compression. At 85mm, the background melts away beautifully, making cluttered locations disappear. When you can’t afford set design on a small budget, the lens picks up the slack.

Stills from the BMPCC 6K

I also use frame grabs from the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K as promotional stills. The cinema camera brings a distinct depth of color and shadow retention that you don’t get from a DSLR.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K

Where the 5D Mark III stills feel “soft and dissolving,” the BMPCC 6K has a “filmic, lingering” quality. Same 85mm lens, completely different impression just by switching the body.

Photography: Buzz Tyler
Cast: Ririka Fukui, Shuri Yonami
From the set of “Winter Cherry Blossoms, Spring Snow”