Low light portraits

MLeeK · Dec 16, 2011

Me? I shoot sports, portraits and weddings. As little weddings as I can get away with! I love to hate them. I'd like to try the 50-500 for sports. Heavy and all. The 70-200 f/2.8 is a rock to lug around too. I have tennis elbow from it!

If a lens reads just one number for the aperture it's not variable. Doesn't mean you can't change it from 2.8, just that it does not change through the zoom.

Peperone · Dec 17, 2011

Excellent a constant 2.8 is great!!!!! Think I will get the Sigma from B&H in NY. Love that store!!! I know what you mean about weddings. I did one not long ago and was a very stressful day!! The massive zoom takes a great pic but yes it is very heavy. When I use it I make sure to take a male camera buddy to carry it. Hahaha!!! That is so bad isnt it??

jake337 · Dec 17, 2011

Peperone said:
Good to know it is a constant 2.8mm. I thought I read somewhere at midnight last night it wasn't!! Must hv been half asleep!! Haha!! At the moment I have the kit lense Nikkor 18-105mm, Nikon 105mm 2.8 macro, Nikkor 70-210 4-5.6, kit 35-70mm 3.3-4.5, and the one I bought second hand last Chrissie Sigma 50-500mm 4.5-6.3. Good lense but only used a few times as so heavy!!! I love macro work the best and then portraits. What are ur specialties?

You already have some lens, I would put your money into lighting. Lighting will help you far more than another lens in a focal length you already have in 3 of your current lens.

Mostly for dog portraits, right? You will love that 105 macro for that. If it were me, I'd have my garage open, the sigma at 500mm f8, and some radio trggers!

Remember with shorter focal length lens you will get distortion. Object closest to the camera will appear larger than they are. I wouldn't think this a good thing for all those pooches noses.

Do you have a tripod for that beast of a sigma?

Kerbouchard · Dec 17, 2011

As others have said, if you know about the shot before hand, there should be no such thing as 'low light portraits'. You already have a fairly extensive lens line up. If I were you, I would buy a light stand, a softlighter II, and a reflector and put the rest of the cash aside until you really know where you want/need to invest it.

rexbobcat · Dec 17, 2011

Look at an 85mm f/1.8 or f/1.4I shoot Canon but I know Nikon has an f/1.8 and I think they have the faster one as well.If not, Sigma makes an 85mm at f/1.4. The only issues that might be troublesome with these is that the crop will be pretty close unless you step back, and the DoF might be a little bit too shallow for some portraits.A fast 50mm prime also works just as well. Try not to go below 50 though, because the wider angle lenses distort facial features and cause them to become disproportionate.

rexbobcat · Dec 17, 2011

Look at an 85mm f/1.8 or f/1.4I shoot Canon but I know Nikon has an f/1.8 and I think they have the faster one as well.If not, Sigma makes an 85mm at f/1.4. The only issues that might be troublesome with these is that the crop will be pretty close unless you step back, and the DoF might be a little bit too shallow for some portraits.A fast 50mm prime also works just as well. Try not to go below 50 though, because the wider angle lenses distort facial features and cause them to become disproportionate.

9ballprodigy · Dec 17, 2011

you said you have a d90 right? with a 50mm 1.8g, that would put your focal range at 75mm (a good portrait length. esp if you are shooting inside a garage). i have a d7000 and my 50mm 1.8g is my portrait lens. if you have the money and the compulsion, i would get the 85mm 1.4g and be done with it. it don't get any better than that (and if you plan on shooting outside your garage, it will be a very flattering lens). if you have a smaller garage, you might want to test out the 40mm 2.8g micro that nikon just put out, it kinda sucks at a macro lens, but it's pretty awesome as a portrait lens.

jake337 · Dec 18, 2011

9ballprodigy said:
you said you have a d90 right? with a 50mm 1.8g, that would put your focal range at 75mm (a good portrait length. esp if you are shooting inside a garage). i have a d7000 and my 50mm 1.8g is my portrait lens. if you have the money and the compulsion, i would get the 85mm 1.4g and be done with it. it don't get any better than that (and if you plan on shooting outside your garage, it will be a very flattering lens). if you have a smaller garage, you might want to test out the 40mm 2.8g micro that nikon just put out, it kinda sucks at a macro lens, but it's pretty awesome as a portrait lens.

A crop sensor does not change your focal length. A 50mm is a 50mm. Your field of view changes, your focal length does not change.

Again throwing money into lens at focal lengths you already have covered would be a waste of time for you right now, especially when you are setting up a small studio with lighting equipment. For the price of the 85 f1.4g($1,699 new) you could have a very nice lighting setup started. I'm sure for that much you could pick up two more sb800's, stands, modifiers and triggers. Or go with some cheaper manual flashes and triggers and more modifiers!

You should put money towards lighting. Learn photographic lighting! Much more important.

Once you have a grasp on your lighting, you will then start to find the weakpoints in your lens lineup, then you should upgrade the glass that is lacking.

Peperone · Dec 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!!! Haven't been on for a while as sooo busy! Thanks for all your advice!

cgipson1 · Dec 25, 2011

In tight quarters on my crop sensor.. I use my Sigma 50mm 1.4 a lot for upper body stuff (usually at around F4 or so). I have a space about 16'x8' and find it works well. If I need more "room" I do go to my 24-70 2.8 (nikon).. and it works well also. With most "solid color backgrounds" you may use in your garage... having the really large aperture may not be as important, as it is when doing outdoor portraiture.. when you want Bokeh/softness in the background.

A lot depends on how you shoot, what lights you have.. and what kind of background you have / want. If you use a white background, and light it properly.. your subject will need to be a good distance from it (8-12 ft), or the light will bleed onto your subject. If you are using any other backgrounds, space doesn't matter quite as much.