Best Beginner Camera For Portrait Photography, Which is the Best? - Scott James Reeves

Here’s the deal. Don’t worry about what kind/style of camera that will produce a good portrait shot. Worry more with settings and composition with your current camera. Don’t have one? Use your phone. You should have manual/pro settings. Explore them. See what certain ones do and how they interact with others. Then read about/watch videos about composition. Play with the settings. Don’t be in a hurry. Try b/w and color. Take your time and have fun. I use a rebelT1 and nifty 50. Very cheap and works fine. I am no pro and don’t get paid. I guess if I had made lots of money I’d have those red stripe lenses and 10k cameras. Don’t need it for personal pics. 

You'll get your best portrait photos by shooting constantly and knowing how to compose an image. If your layout is strong and you shoot a lot you'll get WAY more great pictures of people than people with crazy expensive gear, lights, and aesthetically blessed subjects.

The big bonus thing I can tell you outside of that is to just call yourself an "artist" or a "photographer" or a "journalist" and shoot people all the time doing odd shit that will make them ask "why would anyone want to see me doing this?"

If people get used to ignoring you taking pictures they'll become natural in front of the camera and you'll get better shots of them.

I'd stay away from DSLRs. Old, dead and much worse comparing to modern mirrorless autofocus systems. But it's hard without knowing your budget.

An A7IV and a couple of lenses from 35mm to 135mm will do great for both purposes. Especially for art, tripod, good neutral lights and a quality calibration card (ex Calibrite Grey card) might be important. These are things to set you back like 5k easily.

On a budget, you can consider something like a Canon R50/10 or Sony A6700. If being really frugal, the R100 with the kit lens sometimes drops to incredible prices (under $300 in sales, open boxes or used).

Keep in mind buying gear won't make things happen. If you don't put time into learning, it won't matter at all.

Also, the EOS 2000D is a decent enough starter camera. I’d recommend finding a refurbished Canon R50, which is an updated camera using the newer “mirrorless” technology.

The crispness of images has more to do with the lens used and your own technique, including how much light is falling on the subject.

Those are some tips I can give you. Good luck.

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