D5100 - looking for a good portrait lens with good Bokeh

[sonicbuffalo]

I have a kit lens and a telephoto which is decent. I am looking for a good protrait wide angle lens that I can use and will produce good bokeh. I am not totally a newbie, but still learning my way around the Nikon lenses. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[jaomul]

50mm f1.8g

 

[D-B-J]

I have a kit lens and a telephoto which is decent. I am looking for a good protrait wide angle lens that I can use and will produce good bokeh. I am not totally a newbie, but still learning my way around the Nikon lenses. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!

What type of portraits? Fully body? Mid-body? Headshots? For a good all-around one, the 50mm 1.8D works really well and is rather cheap. For a little bit longer, I have read the 85mm 1.8G is excellent, and I plan to get that soon. OR, depending on your budget, you could get an 80-200 2.8 or a 70-200 2.8 zoom, and that will give you a lot of versatility, and be useable for many other types of shoots. I use my 80-200 for portraits quite often, and it is a solidly performing lens.


This was taken with the 50mm 1.8D (f2.5 @50mm)

Carley by f_one_eight, on Flickr

This was taken with the 80-200 2.8D (f4 @200mm)
Hannah by f_one_eight, on Flickr

As you can see, they both create nice and smooth bokeh. But for me, the 50 1.8D is a winner, simply because it cost me about 100 bucks. Hope this helps.

Jake

 

[jaomul]

50 1.8d won't af on 5100

 

[sonicbuffalo]

yes....the pictures are nice but I need an AF.....for the 5100.....thanks!

 

[goodguy]

50mm f1.8g

What the man said

 

[D-B-J]

50mm f1.8g

What the man said

I didn't even think of that. Then i'll put in my vote for the 50mm 1.8G, yes, that's a G! Haha.

Jake

 

[goodguy]

50mm f1.8g

What the man said

I didn't even think of that. Then i'll put in my vote for the 50mm 1.8G, yes, that's a G! Haha.

Jake

Yes, for the 5xxx body the G is the right choice but just like you I adore the 50mm D lenses, you portraits are very nice.
To be honest though I love the 1.4D even better, about same optical performance, only 80$ difference used and you get more light.
Still the 1.8D is simply killer lens!

 

[KmH]

50 1.8d won't af on 5100

Auto focus is not an end-all-to-be-all, but with it's limited number of aperture blades the bokeh the $109 Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens
produces is somewhat less than desirable.

Bokeh is an aesthetic quality of how background blur looks, and is not the blur itself.

Depending on the OP's unstated budget the $469 Nikon 50mm f/1.4G SIC SW Prime AF-S Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras may do the job better.

I personally don't often use a 50 mm lens or a wide angle for portraiture, and the inexpensive 'nifty fifties' often get recommended because of their price rather than their suitability for doing portraiture.

I usually used an 85 mm or longer lens when shooting up to 4 people.
Nikon 85mm f/1.8G AF-S NIKKOR Lens

For really smooth 'cream cheese' bokeh I would recommend on of Nikon's 85 mm f/1.4's:
$1599 - Nikon 85mm f/1.4G AF-S Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR
$1199 - Nikon 85mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

The ultimate Nikon lens for portraiture bokeh is the $5820 - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200mm f/2G ED VR II Telephoto Lens 2188 B&H

 

[PaulWog]

If you want an all-purpose telephoto lens, the 70-300 VR is good at 70-150mm for portraiture. The bokeh on it is good. It is a slower lens though.

The 50mm 1.8G is a lens that you can't go wrong with.

The 85mm 1.8G is probably *the best* portraiture lens for the money that you can buy, dollar-for-dollar.

 

[JTPhotography]

85 1.8g is a no brainer here, depending on your budget. As Paul said, best bang for you buck, hands down. I am going to get one even though I probably won't use it much just because based on all the reviews I have read it is has virtually no bad points. Yes, it has alot of plastic but that is a plus for me, my friggin camera bag is heavy enough.

 

[PaulWog]

85 1.8g is a no brainer here, depending on your budget. As Paul said, best bang for you buck, hands down. I am going to get one even though I probably won't use it much just because based on all the reviews I have read it is has virtually no bad points. Yes, it has alot of plastic but that is a plus for me, my friggin camera bag is heavy enough.

It's a fun lens to play around with even for purposes other than portraiture. Super sharp at f1.8. Took this earlier today: http://oi40.tinypic.com/xntbb8.jpg

I just love how you really have to try hard to make the bokeh look bad.

 

[Braineack]

For a D5100, I'd lean just a little more towards the 50mm 1.8G just because of the extra working space you need when using the 85mm. If you have the working space, then go for it.

 

[Designer]

I am looking for a good protrait wide angle lens that I can use and will produce good bokeh.

The term "bokeh" refers to the "look" of the blur, not the blur itself.

Most people would select a medium-length telephoto for portraits to minimize distortion. A wide angle can be used of course, but there might be more distortion than you want.

When you find a lens that produces the degree of blur that you want, you can then judge its bokeh by comparing it with another lens of the same focal length. Shoot the same subject with both lenses and all settings the same.

 

[yioties]

The 85mm 1.8g might be too long for the D5100. It will become 127mm which is long for a small indoor space. I have the 50mm 1.8g on my D5100 and thing the focal length is great. The 35mm 1.8g might be a good choice too