The all around best lens for boudoir photography is the 24-70 f 2.8. That said the true “best” lens depends on the look you’re trying to capture for your photos.
This post will offer a brand agnostic look at the best lenses for capturing a variety of looks. Use these recommendations to give your clients a wider variety of looks from their sessions.
Best Professional Lenses For Boudoir Photography
- Best All Around Lens – 24-70 f2.8: (Canon) (Nikon) (Sony)
- Best Lens For full length portraits – 35MM F1.4: (Canon) (Nikon) (Sony)
- Best Lens For Details & Portraits – 70-200 f2.8: (Canon) (Nikon) (Sony)
- Best Lens for Natural Light – 85mm f1.2 / f1.4: (Canon) (Nikon) (Sony)
All Around Best Lens For Boudoir Photography
The 24-70MM F2.8 is the best all around lens for boudoir photography.
Generally I use this lens when I want to include a little more background into my clients photos. Basically the nicer the location is, the wider angle lens I use so I can include more of it in her photos.
If you’re tight on money and can only afford one professional grade lens for your kit, this would be a very good, boring (in a good way) choice that would give you lots of options.
Recommended 24-70 Professional Lenses
Example Boudoir Photos Captured With The 24-70mm Lens
Best Lens For Full Length Boudoir Portraits
The 35mm prime lens is the best lens for full length portraits and for times when you want to include more background into the photo.
If only had 3 lenses to capture a client with, the 35mm prime lens would be in that collection.
The more years I do photography, the more I’ve come to appreciate the quality of prime lenses. There’s nothing quite like the look of photographing a person with really fast apertures at any focal length. The 35MM prime is no exception to this, especially for low light interior locations.
Recommended 35mm Prime Lenses
Example Boudoir Photos Captured On The 35mm Prime Lens
Best Lens For Details & Cropping Out Distractions
If I could only have one lens to shoot a boudoir session, the 70-200 f 2.8 would be my personal vote as the best lens for boudoir photography.
If I had to guess I’d say most boudoir photographers would choose the 24-70 f2.8 or maybe a 50mm prime. If you look though my portfolio though, probably >70% of my boudoir photos were captured on this lens.
I like to pick out details with this lens. It’s also my go to lens for capturing close up portraits.
Assuming I have the space, it’s also my favorite lens for general portraiture in average to sub par locations. With this lens’s long focal length I use it often to cut out sub par backgrounds and keep the attention on my client.
Recommended 70-200 Professional Lenses
Example Boudoir Photos Captured With the 70-200mm Lens
Best Lens For Boudoir Portraits
For boudoir portraits the 85mm prime lens is magic at wide apertures. This is arguably my favorite portrait lens for photographing boudoir.
Prime lenses just have a unique look to them because they’re almost always faster than common zooms. This gives you a shallower depth of field and thus a different look then say a 70-200 f2.8 will.
If I could only have 3 lenses to shoot a boudoir session with, this would certainly be one of them. It’s a surprisingly versatile and very unique all at the same time.
Recommended 85mm Prime Lenses
Example Boudoir Photos Captured With 85mm Prime
What Lenses Do Professional Boudoir Photographers Use?
If I had to pick just one lens, the 70–200mm f/2.8 would be my choice for the best lens for boudoir photography. I’ve used it in hundreds of sessions, and its ability to isolate details, compress features, and eliminate distracting backgrounds makes it indispensable, especially in average or cluttered locations.
That said, the following are the lenses I bring to every boudoir session:
- 70–200mm f 2.8
- 24–70mm f 2.8
- 35mm f 1.4 Prime
- 85mm f 1.4 Prime
These are the lenses I use on my photo shoots as a professional Bay Area boudoir photographer. The images throughout this post are from real client shoots, so you can see exactly how each of these lenses performs in practice.
If you’d like to learn more about the best cameras for boudoir photography, you can check out this post for the top cameras for every budget.
I am a boudoir photographer located in Sonoma, California, with over 10 years of experience and 500+ sessions captured. Author of posing women for boudoir photos. View my boudoir photos and read clients testimonials to see how my work has helped these women change the way they see themselves.