Lens Choice?

[[Dillz]]

Hello!
I am wanting to buy a Nikon lens that will really give my photos a good look. I know half the battle is composition but the lens is a big part in that aswell.

So I hear the 50mm is really good, but why? Should I go for a telephoto lens like 50-200 or a lens similar to 50mm?

 

[NateWagner]

well, tell us a little more about yourself and the types of images you like to take?

what draws you to a given image?

 

[Samanax]

Can you post a few samples of the kind of shots you take?

 

[[Dillz]]

These are the types of photos I want to take.

I want to be able to have the sharpness in the forground and blur out the background. Sharpness is the mand thing I want.

Here are just a few of my own so far.

 

[bigtwinky]

Looks like you are getting a decent deal of sharpness. While a 50mm f/1.8 might help to get you a faster shutter speed in lower light conditions, most of the photos you posted are finished photographs that have been post processed in photoshop or similar softwares, and using good light setups to nail a good shot.

You posted examples of what you like, which are all close face shots, but yet you haven't posted anything of your work that is similar. Have you tried shooting close to someone's face to see the results?

 

[SushiWarrior]

50mm for sure. Lots of DOF, very fast and very sharp. And very cheap

 

[[Dillz]]

Looks like you are getting a decent deal of sharpness. While a 50mm f/1.8 might help to get you a faster shutter speed in lower light conditions, most of the photos you posted are finished photographs that have been post processed in photoshop or similar softwares, and using good light setups to nail a good shot.

You posted examples of what you like, which are all close face shots, but yet you haven't posted anything of your work that is similar. Have you tried shooting close to someone's face to see the results?

Yes I have tried it and for some reason it get out of focus. I don't know why. The lens wont focus right. :/

 

[SushiWarrior]

It's probably just a far close focus distance. Some lenses don't go as close as others.

 

[Derrel]

Dillz,
I would suggest that you buy an 85mm f/1.8 AF-D Nikkor lens. It will give your photos some selective field of view,and will tend to minimize the background. I looked at your first shoot,and I think you have a lot of potential,as long as you watch the top space and try and stop cutting off peoples' feet. Your photos have a real theatrical quality about them, which is kind of rare for a beginner.

I think you have a D60; I'm not sure what you have, money wise, but the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 and the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-S G models both have nice background blur or bokeh--both are quite a bit better than the 50/1.8 AF-D,and if you want to work in a shallow depth of field style, both of those lenses would be good choices.

Another lens I think you might want to try is the Lensbaby, possibly with a telephoto converter. I think you have the makings of a fashion photographer, based on how old you are and how you see and shoot images.
I see your potential as being tremendous,and one or two or three lenses that have a real "look" to them would help your images. The 50mm 1.4 Sigma or the new 1.4 AF-S G Nikkor, or the Lensbaby Composer or the original Lensbaby with a 1.4x or 2x teleconverter, or an 85mm 1.8 AF-D, or a 105mm f/2.5 AiS Nikkor lens...any of those lenses would give your images a "look".

The D60 can use OLD lenses too--very old ones. The 35mm f/2 O.C. Nikkor, and the 85mm f/1.8 H.C. Nikkor manual focus lenses will fit on the D60 in pre-Ai condition,and both those two lenses would give your fashion-style images a real "look" that more modern,more-perfect lenses do not have.
if I were you, I might look into getting some of the old, silver-ringed metal barreled Nikkor lenses that have old,crappy coatings and which will give glowing, diffused highlights when shot toward that California sunlight. These old beater lenses are selling for $35-$250 each in what KEH.com calls BGN condition. I mean it--I think your work has potential with just a bit of effort and some *distinctive* lenses. The 35mm f/2 is a pre-Ai lens sold in O or O.C. versions,and is about $75 in BGN shape. The 85mm 1.8 is also a pre-Ai manual focus lens. Here it is KEH Camera: Nikon Manual Focus - Fixed Focal Lengths - 85 F1.8 H NON AI (52) NIPPON KOGAKU 35MM SLR MANUAL FOCUS TELEPHOTO LENS

 

[SushiWarrior]

Why use the F/1.4 50mm when the f/1.8 is generally sharper and F/1.4 isn't even really enough to get a subjects face in focus? Especially with manual focus. Even F/1.8 is plenty.

 

[Plato]

Why use the F/1.4 50mm when the f/1.8 is generally sharper and F/1.4 isn't even really enough to get a subjects face in focus? Especially with manual focus. Even F/1.8 is plenty.

Because the f/1.4 lens is much sharper at the f/2 and f/2.8 settings than the f/1.8 lens.

 

[SushiWarrior]

From what I have heard the F/1.8 is a bit sharper than the F/1.4. However, since it's half the price he could get the F/1.8 and a tele for almost the same price.

 

[Derrel]

There are three current Nikkor 50s: the 50mm f/1.8 AF-D and the 50mm f/1.4 AF-D and the brand new 50mm f/1.4 AF-S G. The 1.8 and the 1.4 models are over 20 year old designs, and have clunky, 7-sided diaphragms,and have basically, horrible bokeh. On a scale of 1 to 10, both render bokeh at about a 3, just like the Canon 50mm 1.8 EF-S II cheapie 50.

But the Sigma 50mm 1.4 HSM and the new Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-S G are new, modern lenses, and both have rounded apertures, and both have smooth, creamy and well defocused backgrounds. Both of these newer, somewhat expensive 50's give nice bokeh. It's not so much about sharpness, he wants a lens that gives a "look". These would rate 7 to 8 in my book. On his D60, ONLY the Sigma 50 and the new Nikon 50/1.4 AF-S G will autofocus.

Some lenses have what is called a unique style of "drawing". Many Japanese photographers have studied bokeh and lens drawing; some lenses create a very unique visual impression or imprint on the images they capture, especially when used at wide apertures. It's not just about sharpness, it is about a lens that will create,as the OP requested, a *look*. A good example of a lens that creates a look is the Canon 135mm f/2 L, or the Nikon 135mm f/2 Defocus Control lens; both have sharp in-focus areas, but the transitional zones where the depth of field fades from sharp to out of focus is very creamy,and smooth,and the background is also magnified due to the long focal length, and that creates a sort of compression of distance,and causes the backgrounds to be rendered well out of focus, and can take large expanses of a cityscape or a flower garden and render it as large,pastel areas of color and light, like the OP's second example of the Japanese woman in the yellow hat,kissing the white bunny: that type of background rendition looks like a 300mm telephoto, but could also have been done with a 135mm shot at f/2.5 let's say, from 7 or eight feet on a FF camera.

Nikon's regular, old-school 50 1.8 and 1.4 AF-D lenses are not "pretty" imagers. Dscience here uses the new 50/1.4 AF-S G--it is a pretty imager.

 

[[Dillz]]

Everyone thank you so much for your help. After a few hours of researching tons of lenses, i think im going to go with the [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-S. It has great sharpness and good bokeh! I think for now this is what I need. Thanks again for you recommendations!
[/FONT]

 

[shortpballer]

There are three current Nikkor 50s: the 50mm f/1.8 AF-D and the 50mm f/1.4 AF-D and the brand new 50mm f/1.4 AF-S G. The 1.8 and the 1.4 models are over 20 year old designs, and have clunky, 7-sided diaphragms,and have basically, horrible bokeh. On a scale of 1 to 10, both render bokeh at about a 3, just like the Canon 50mm 1.8 EF-S II cheapie 50.

But the Sigma 50mm 1.4 HSM and the new Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-S G are new, modern lenses, and both have rounded apertures, and both have smooth, creamy and well defocused backgrounds. Both of these newer, somewhat expensive 50's give nice bokeh. It's not so much about sharpness, he wants a lens that gives a "look". These would rate 7 to 8 in my book. On his D60, ONLY the Sigma 50 and the new Nikon 50/1.4 AF-S G will autofocus.

Some lenses have what is called a unique style of "drawing". Many Japanese photographers have studied bokeh and lens drawing; some lenses create a very unique visual impression or imprint on the images they capture, especially when used at wide apertures. It's not just about sharpness, it is about a lens that will create,as the OP requested, a *look*. A good example of a lens that creates a look is the Canon 135mm f/2 L, or the Nikon 135mm f/2 Defocus Control lens; both have sharp in-focus areas, but the transitional zones where the depth of field fades from sharp to out of focus is very creamy,and smooth,and the background is also magnified due to the long focal length, and that creates a sort of compression of distance,and causes the backgrounds to be rendered well out of focus, and can take large expanses of a cityscape or a flower garden and render it as large,pastel areas of color and light, like the OP's second example of the Japanese woman in the yellow hat,kissing the white bunny: that type of background rendition looks like a 300mm telephoto, but could also have been done with a 135mm shot at f/2.5 let's say, from 7 or eight feet on a FF camera.

Nikon's regular, old-school 50 1.8 and 1.4 AF-D lenses are not "pretty" imagers. Dscience here uses the new 50/1.4 AF-S G--it is a pretty imager.

+1 for the 135 f2L --- My new favorite lens. And a true keeper. Never getting rid of this baby.