My favorite camera lens for interviews

I call it the magic lens. It’s the 50mm and I love how it looks for sit-down interviews and portraits. Here’s what you should know about this camera lens. P.S. This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more information.

I started off with standard lenses when learning how to shoot: the 24-105mm, the 16-35mm, the 70-200mm. All of those lenses are great too, but a few years into shooting I discovered the beauty of the 50mm for interviews.

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Almost every time I use it, I get compliments on the ‘well-shot’ interview. It provides great depth of field and, in my opinion, a movie quality look.

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If you’re going into a shoot needing more than a sit-down though, definitely take other lenses with you. The 50mm will give you a beautiful framing for your character’s interview, but it could be very limiting outside of that. And you should know that the framing for your interview will look best with the 50mm shot tight. What that means is your character’s face will be prominent and fill the frame from about their shoulders up.

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The main reason it’s limited (if you aren’t too familiar with lenses) is it doesn’t have any range. Unlike the 24-105mm, you are stuck at a range of 50mm with this camera lens. So test it out before you try it out in the field!