Which food photography lens do you need? The answer depends on the type of food stories you're trying to tell. If you plan on shooting a great flat lay photograph or a large table scene the type of lens you choose will change.
In my opinion, this is the best all around lens for food photography and should be at the top of your list. But still there are other lenses you will want to seriously consider for framing up those tasty recipes.
Having a great food photography lens makes all the difference in your art. The sharpness and vibrant colors of a good lens makes for great images straight out of camera.
Out of all of the amazing gear in my bags these four lenses make my life and photography so much better. They will for you too.
3 Things you should look for in a great food photography lens
1. Utility: Look for a food photography lens that is versatile. Make sure you can use each lens you buy in multiple different ways.
2. Sharpness: Some lenses are sharp, some are not. Test out the lens sharpness using multiple different apertures before you buy. Sadly some lenses are only sharp at specific apertures. I once bought a lens that was really sharp at f9, but pretty soft at all other apertures. Total waste of money!
3. Cost VS Construction: The build and quality of the glass in lenses increases the price. Generally, the higher the price tag the better artistic elements like color rendition, sharpness and bokeh become. Although, a good food photography lens is an investment, you still need money for food to eat and food to shoot.
It's hard to pinpoint what makes a great food photography lens.
I personally look for utility over artistic flare. There are a million lenses out there, but you need to fight off buying every lens you see.
Try to stick to 3 or 4 lenses you can use in a variety of ways versus buying specialty lenses that are only good at one thing.
There is only so much space in the camera bag, right?
If you're interested in filling up your camera bag (heck your entire studio!) take a look at my in-depth food photography gear guide
4 Amazing Lenses For Food Photography
Below I've put together a list of my 4 favorite food photography lenses. These lenses go with me on every shoot and they all receive pretty much equal use in my workflow.
All are super sharp, have beautiful color rendition, and are built like tanks, making each a perfect food photography lens on its own.
You can also get the equivalent of these lenses in any brand. So if you're just starting out and you mistakenly bought a Nikon camera, don't worry because you can find the same lens in that brand too!
Just kidding, these 4 lenses are revered by Nikon shooters as well. 😉
#1 Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro Lens
The first food photography lens on the list is the 100mm f2.8L Macro Lens for Canon.
This amazing lens right here, I would have to say is the best lens for food photography!
Nikon, Sigma and all the rest have a version of this lens and they're all pretty much the same, but whichever way you swing this lens will do you no wrong.
It is an absolute workhorse in food photography, probably the most recommended food photography lens and for good reason.
If you are just starting on your food photography journey and looking towards buying some lenses to up your game, I recommend giving the 100mm f2.8L Macro Lens for Canon or equivalent some attention.
Most might think when they see the word “macro” on a lens, it means that it can only really be good for one purpose, but that’s simply not true.
What I love about the 100mm Macro is just how versatile this food photography lens is. The 100mm macro lens for Canon is as great or even better when shooting backed off or above the table, as it is when that story calls for an extreme close up.
Canon 100mm f2.8L IS Macro Lens for food photography | Shot Backed Off @ f/8 1/160 ISO100
This lens is razor sharp, coupled with the natural compression found in telephoto lenses, the 100mm makes your food pop out of the scene.
When the camera is placed in front of the food, I shoot most of my images at an aperture of f4.
Although, this lens opens up to f2.8, for most shot there is no need to shoot that wide.
With the added compression of the 100mm lens, it makes the out of focus areas of my food photography super bokeh-lishious!
Canon 100mm f2.8L IS Macro Lens for food photography | Shot Close Up @ f/8 1/160 ISO100
This compression also makes food photography composition easy.
This lens helps bring my background props closer to the food and eliminates any unwanted negative space.
If you want to capture delicious details, you have the ability to get really close to your food with this lens.
The 100mm Macro Lens for Canon gives a 1:1 view of your food. This means the size of the food in your frame is the same size it is in real life.
Some minor issues I have using the 100mm as a food photography lens is not really the fault of the lens, rather than the size of most rooms I photograph in.
With the focal length of the 100mm lens, you'll have to push that camera back from your food more than with other lenses. This could cause some problems if the room you're photographing in is on the small side.
Also, I would suggest keeping away from f2.8 as the depth of field is just too shallow to get most of the food in focus. However, from f4.0 and up this lens rocks!
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Canon 50mm f1.2L Lens
Besides the 100mm, the Canon 50mm f1.2L lens is the one I use most for food photography.
This lens is on my camera mainly when I’m photographing flat lays above the table. The 50mm is just wide enough to capture a larger scenes, but not so wide I need larger backdrops.
As an extremely versatile food photography lens, I use the Canon 50mm f1.2L for both above and in front of the food.
This beauty of a lens gives me some really buttery out of focus areas. And if I wanted to have a little fun, with the wide f1.2 aperture I can get some really crazy, almost abstract images.
Now I don’t use it at f1.2 for food photos, but being able to open the aperture that wide is awesome for video. Perfect for when you're faced with a distracting background.
So if you're shooting recipe videos as well as food photography definitely check out this lens.
Canon 50mm f1.2L Lens for food photography | Grilled Meat: f/8 1/160 ISO 100 / Tomatoes: f/2.0 1/160 ISO 100
Now for Canon shooters you can get their 50mm lenses in f1.2 like mine and also super cheap nifty 50s in f1.4 and f1.8 for nearly a $1,000 less.
All of the versions however are super sharp and great lenses for food photography.
A few downsides to the Canon 50mm f1.2 lens is its price for a food photography lens at over a $1,000 brand new.
It also has very slight distortion and vignetting at the edges similar to wide angle lenses, but this is an easy fix in Lightroom or Photoshop.
No matter what brand you go for, Nikon, Sigma, Voltlander or even Zeiss (if you have the extra dollars) a 50mm lens is a must for food photography.
Canon 50mm f1.2L Lens for food photography | Shot @ f/2.0 1/160 ISO 100
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Canon 24-70mm F2.8L Zoom Lens
When I first started out looking for a food photography lens, the Canon 24-70mm f2.8L Zoom Lens is the first one I bought.
In fact I still have the original one and use it almost 12 years later. It works beautifully just like the day I bought it.
This food photography lens has traveled almost everywhere with me to numerous countries and shoots.
Although, I don’t use it as much anymore, I still think it’s one of the best lenses a food photographer could own.
The ability to zoom in and out on your food without moving the tripod make life and compositions easier.
Plus the Canon 24-70mm Zoom Lens takes up way less space in your bag.
It would take 4 fixed lenses to cover the same focal ranges you get with this great zoom lens.
Canon 24-70mm f2.8L Zoom Lens for food photography | Croissants: 55mm @ f/8 1/160 ISO 100 / Hand Rolling Croissants: 48mm @ f/8 1/160 ISO 100
I own version 1 of the Canon 24-70mm f2.8L Zoom Lens, but now there is a version 2.
The slight changes between the two versions were not enough to convince me to upgrade.
If you are considering this lens you may be able to snatch up a version 1 and save yourself some dough!
This lens is super sharp and gives you the ability to zoom in to your subject without moving your camera or tripod.
I find this extremely useful when my camera is above the table.
Although, one of the biggest cons with this lens is that when you are shooting above the table the weight of all that beautiful glass will cause the lens to zoom in unintentionally, which can be a pain or a blessing 😉
I personally hold the zoom ring in place with a piece tape when shooting overhead, however I don't really think this slight flaw should dissuade anyone from buying this lens for food photography.
Canon 24-70mm f2.8L Zoom Lens for food photography | Shot 70mm @ f/5.6 1/160 ISO 100
If you're the type of photographer that shoots multiple genres like food and weddings or food and travel then I would seriously invest in this lens.
It isn’t cheap, at like $1600 or $1700 dollars brand new. However, I’ve had mine for 12 years and still use it. With that in mind it only cost me a little over a $100 a year at this point and I’ve gotten way more out of it then that.
Canon 24mm F1.4L Lens
The next lens is one of my favorite in the line up. The Canon 24mm f1.4L lens is not your typical food photography lens for shooting stills.
Unless you're shooting with a crop sensor camera, this lens is still a little wide. However, I prefer this lens for shooting food videos and recipe videos especially from above the table.
The 24mm lens allows me to show the food and my hands at the same time when I’m cooking up the recipe.
Canon 24mm f1.4L Lens for food video | Video Still 720p @ f/2.8 1/60 ISO 400
The Canon 24mm is a beautifully sharp lens, with an extremely close minimal focus distance. With that I can get really close to my subject and still have it in focus.
Some other things I love to do with this lens is use it to film myself, the large f1.4 makes it a great talking head lens. Or I use it to film great b-roll and time-lapses for my videos.
So if you’re getting into food videos or recipe videos, definitely check out this lens.
You can find out more and buy the Canon 24mm f1.4L Lens or equivalent brand HERE!
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Want to See These 4 Great Food Photography Lenses In Action? Check out this video
These lenses are 4 of the best when looking for a great food photography lens. I keep them in my bag whenever I go out on a shoot or they’re on my camera here in the studio.
Anyone of them would be great for people looking to get their first lens for food photography especially the Canon 100mm, 50mm and 24-70mm or their equivalent in the brand of your choice.
If you’re hunting for a good video lens to shoot those recipes definitely check out the 24mm f1.4 prime.
Be sure to also check out these other great food photography tips and courses!
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