Newbie getting into portrait photography - needs help on gear

[tirediron]

...That is outright insane... its all about the lens...

No, portraits are all about PHOTOGRAPHY! That is, knowing how to control the situation and record the light reflecting off of the subjects to best possible effect. Between lens and flash, I would agree that the flash is far more important, since even the most basic kit lens when used with good lighting and optimal settings will produce good quality results. I don't agree however that you necessarily need to blow the budget on one flash.

 

[sovietdoc]

For portrait photography indoors I'd say that a good flash is more important than a very good lens.

The only problem is, a good flash costs as much as your whole budget...

That is outright insane... its all about the lens. Portraits are usually close up photos of people, headshots, sholders up, waist up, whole body etc. Using a crappy lens and a great flash is going to give you a poor quality picture. The human eyes sees in 50mm, roughly. Pick yourself up a prime 50mm 1.8 and it will teach you how to compose pictures by making you move around and think. you can always adjust for ISO, shutter speed and aperture to play with light, The on camera flash is not that bad if you know how to use it.

What I am trying to say is: If you do indoor portraits, 50mm f/1.8 + a good flash will give you better results than 50mm f/1.2L with popup flash. No?

A servicable flash unit can be had for less than $75 - Yongnuo YN-560 Speedlight Flash for Canon and Nikon

For making professional quality portraits you would need some stands and light modifiers too - Impact Digital Flash Umbrella Mount Kit

Nikon entry-level DSLR's that have the screw drive auto focus system in the camera - D50, D70, D70x, D80, D90, D7000.

Nikon entry-level DSLR's (compact) that do not have the screw drive auto focus system in the camera - D40, D40x, D60, D3000, D3100, D3200, D5000, D5100.

Recommended reading - Light Science and Magic, Fourth Edition: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

Ah yes, I forgot about the knockoffs. That's definitely a way to go.

 

[AaronLLockhart]

Ah yes, I forgot about the knockoffs. That's definitely a way to go.

I use one by Neewer that is the same exact series flash: TT560 Speedlite. I love mine. It sucks that you have to calculate flash strength depending on distance to the subject and configure it manually, but it works just fine.

Amazon.com: Neewer TT560 Flash Speedlite For Canon/Nikon Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo

 

[curveshooter]

Thanks for all the responses.

OK, I get that skill level is a lot more important than the particular camera. With that in mind, and without spending months researching camera gear (time better spent acquiring skill), would something like the following be sufficient for my stated goals?

Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm kit lens; I'd start with this and then add:
+ Nikon 35mm f/1.8 (from a little reading, seems this is a good lens for full body and half body shots)
+ SB-400 flash

As I mentioned I've got a 43" tripod, and I guess I'd need some kind of remote for low light - I assume this is to avoid touching the camera so it stays perfectly still.

A bit over my budget, but I can pick up all this stuff used or refurbished.

 

[rokvi]

Thanks for all the responses.

OK, I get that skill level is a lot more important than the particular camera. With that in mind, and without spending months researching camera gear (time better spent acquiring skill), would something like the following be sufficient for my stated goals?

Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm kit lens; I'd start with this and then add:
+ Nikon 35mm f/1.8 (from a little reading, seems this is a good lens for full body and half body shots)
+ SB-400 flash

As I mentioned I've got a 43" tripod, and I guess I'd need some kind of remote for low light - I assume this is to avoid touching the camera so it stays perfectly still.

A bit over my budget, but I can pick up all this stuff used or refurbished.

I'd change the lens to a 50mm 1.8 rather than the 35mm.

 

[AaronLLockhart]

Thanks for all the responses.

OK, I get that skill level is a lot more important than the particular camera. With that in mind, and without spending months researching camera gear (time better spent acquiring skill), would something like the following be sufficient for my stated goals?

Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm kit lens; I'd start with this and then add:
+ Nikon 35mm f/1.8 (from a little reading, seems this is a good lens for full body and half body shots)
+ SB-400 flash

As I mentioned I've got a 43" tripod, and I guess I'd need some kind of remote for low light - I assume this is to avoid touching the camera so it stays perfectly still.

A bit over my budget, but I can pick up all this stuff used or refurbished.

I'd change the lens to a 50mm 1.8 rather than the 35mm.

I agree with this 110%. If you're going to be shooting portraits, 35mm will probably be too wide of an angle. I would suggest a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4... or even an 85mm 1.8.

 

[CCericola]

The 18-55, well it works but, it's not great. But I agree with the others. I would rather have a kit lens and better lighting and light modifiers. Since photography is the manipulation and recording of light. That doesn't mean it has to cost you a lot in the beginning. For portraits off camera flash beats on camera ALL the time. So get a cheap off brand flash and trigger. You can do amazing things with one light. You can also add in reflectors made out of poster board or a fat guy in a white t-shirt.

 

[PapaMatt]

The 18-55, well it works but, it's not great. But I agree with the others. I would rather have a kit lens and better lighting and light modifiers. Since photography is the manipulation and recording of light. That doesn't mean it has to cost you a lot in the beginning. For portraits off camera flash beats on camera ALL the time. So get a cheap off brand flash and trigger. You can do amazing things with one light. You can also add in reflectors made out of poster board or a fat guy in a white t-shirt.

If anyone needs a Fat Guy with a white t-shirt, I work for food :mrgreen:

It is 90% lighting, good luck to you. I would like to see you get a fast prime lens, 1.8 50mm ( around $100.00) or later 85mm 1.8 about 300.00 to 400.00

 

[cgipson1]

I'd change the lens to a 50mm 1.8 rather than the 35mm.

+2 on this.. unless you are trying to do caricatures! Get a 50mm or a 85mm. I wouldn't even bother picking up the 18-55. Get just the body... learn, then figure out what other lenses you need.

The SB-400 is not worth the money.. very wimpy flash. You can get inexpensive 3rd party flashes that will do a better job (yongnuo 560, vivitar 283/285)

 

[amolitor]

You can pick up Nikon manual focus lenses for next to nothing. The 3100 will help you focus in any mode but M, and will only let you shoot in M, but what the hell this is portraits not sports.

I have a 50mm/2.0 that's probably older than you are, and which is sharper than my sensor. Which is not necessarily a good thing for portraits, but still.

Also note that the D3100 is pretty unfriendly about off-camera flash. I dunno if the Nikon units have some sort of remote capability. I bought a little hot-shoe mounted sync output, and it works fine with my mess of crappy flash units. Something with a sync plug might be a better choice, and is more likely to behave reasonably with respect to MF lenses should you choose to go that route.

 

[gsgary]

Canon 5Dmk1 and 50F1.4

 

[curveshooter]

A lot of suggestions to go for 50mm 1.8 over 35mm 1.8. Why?

I'm trying to do full body and half body shots indoors. In my bedroom, for example, to do a full body shot, I'd be backed up against a wall using a 50mm, I would think.

 

[Solarflare]

[...] The human eyes sees in 50mm, roughly. [...]

Err.. yes, but 50mm in FULL FRAME !!!

As he most likely gets an crop factor, he would need a 30-35mm lens to get the same angle of view as a 50mm on full frame.

He doesnt need it for portrait though. There a 50mm (which is about 75mm on full frame) should work nicely.

It is 90% lighting, good luck to you. I would like to see you get a fast prime lens, 1.8 50mm ( around $100.00) or later 85mm 1.8 about 300.00 to 400.00

Err, for the $100 AF 50mm f/1.8D he would need an autofocus motor ! The AF-S version is more like 200$.

A lot of suggestions to go for 50mm 1.8 over 35mm 1.8. Why?

I'm trying to do full body and half body shots indoors. In my bedroom, for example, to do a full body shot, I'd be backed up against a wall using a 50mm, I would think.

You are correct.

 

[AaronLLockhart]

A lot of suggestions to go for 50mm 1.8 over 35mm 1.8. Why?

I'm trying to do full body and half body shots indoors. In my bedroom, for example, to do a full body shot, I'd be backed up against a wall using a 50mm, I would think.

First of all, I would hope you would be shooting in a room/scenario bigger than a standard bedroom.

the 50mm gives you good distance away from the subject. Have you ever had someone up in your face with a camera? Didn't like it did you? Yeah, neither do they.

DoF shallows with a longer focal length and close distance between you and the subject. This is key in portrait photography because you want your subject to be the only thing in focus, specifically their eyes.

 

[sovietdoc]

A lot of suggestions to go for 50mm 1.8 over 35mm 1.8. Why?

I'm trying to do full body and half body shots indoors. In my bedroom, for example, to do a full body shot, I'd be backed up against a wall using a 50mm, I would think.

Lol in that case 35mm on a crop wont be enough to do full body portrait in a bedroom. You'll be needing something like sigma 10-20