portrait lens suggestions

[bcarlson87]

I currently used a nikon d5100.

I am in the market for a portrait lens.

Looking at the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f 1.8G Lens

any thoughts or comments?

 

[robbins.photo]

Ok, well by portrait lens are you looking for headshots, full body shots, etc?

Two of my personal favorites are the 50 mm 1.8 AFS G and the 85 mm 1.8 AFS G

 

[Derrel]

Well...it sort of works as a short focal length, fast aperture telephoto lens of a single focal length. The lens is fairly compact and does not grab a lot of attention from regular people, so it does not look like the lens is invading one's privacy. I own one. It's a very adequate lens, and it is optically pretty good for the price. On APS-C, like the D5100, the wide-open corner issues the lens has at wide apertures like f/2 to f/2.2 or f/2.5 to f/3.5 on full frame will be entirely eliminated.

The drawback would be no focal length flexibility, no zooming. On the plus side, the lens is sharp, and fast in aperture, so it can be used in lower light, and it is not so long in length that it's "too tight" in normal shooting scenarios. It's in fact short enough that you can shoot a bit loose, and then crop the images a bit at the computer.

For the D5000- and D3000-series shooters, this is one of the better choices as a portrait prime lens at a reasonable price.

 

[PaulWog]

I currently used a nikon d5100.

I am in the market for a portrait lens.

Looking at the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f 1.8G Lens

any thoughts or comments?

Get the 50mm is you want a 50mm length, get the 85mm if you want an 85mm length. If you don't know which focal length you want, visit a store or borrow from a friend. Purely based on technical performance, the 85mm is better.

The 50mm is more forgiving and easier to work with, and the 85mm is a little more specialized (on DX-format cameras). You might find either focal length awkward depending on your style (since the FX equivalents are 76mm and 129mm, approximately), or you might want both.

 

[Designer]

I currently used a nikon d5100.

I am in the market for a portrait lens.

Looking at the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f 1.8G Lens

any thoughts or comments?

How big is your studio? How much distance do you have between the camera and the subjects? What do you consider a "portrait"? If just head and shoulders, and if you have about 20 feet of space, then you might want the 85mm. If your space is limited, then the 50mm for sure.

 

[ak_]

85/1.8 is nice on DX for portrait, even some landscape shots. Much better blur and separation compared with a 50mm.

 

[shadowlands]

On DX, the 50mm would be great for you.... DB

Im looking at the Nikon 80-400 lens and wanting some opinions. I know its not Pro glass but it is at the top of what I want to spend. Thanks in advance for your comments.

Mike

 

[DadSportsCamera]

I currently used a nikon d5100.

I am in the market for a portrait lens.

Looking at the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f 1.8G Lens

any thoughts or comments?

I own the 50 & 85 and used them with d3100 and d5200. Really love the 50. May be too wide for head shots, but great for everything else. Tiny, light, and should be 1/2 the price of 85 1.8. Front element is set deep in lens body so i rarely use filter or lens hood for protection.

 

[psreilly]

Get the 50mm 1.8 or 85 1.8, but to pick one i'd say the 50mm.. i've shot with the 1.4s before and honestly the difference between the 1.4s and 1.8 isn't worth the price hike. Especially with the 85mm. I believe you can get an 85mm 1.8 on B&H for something in the 600 range and a 1.4 is twice that, not worth it

 

[Mr.Photo]

Get the 50mm 1.8 or 85 1.8, but to pick one i'd say the 50mm.. i've shot with the 1.4s before and honestly the difference between the 1.4s and 1.8 isn't worth the price hike. Especially with the 85mm. I believe you can get an 85mm 1.8 on B&H for something in the 600 range and a 1.4 is twice that, not worth it

The Nikon 85mm 1.8G lens goes for $497 as listed on Nikon's website. I picked this lens up a couple years ago when Nikon started offering their "instant rebates" on select lenses and picked mine up for $397.

I have both the 50 and 85mm 1.8G lenses and use them both regularly on my D3100, and D7000. I like them both for different reason's, the 50 is good if you want to add some atmosphere to the portrait by using the background. The 85 really works great for isolating the background both from the reduced field of view as well as the longer focal length and fast aperture.

Edit: Apparently the retail price for the 85mm 1.8G has dropped a bit as Nikon's website now list it for $449.95. The 85mm 1.8G still comes in at more than three times that at $1699.95 which is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[psreilly]

Get the 50mm 1.8 or 85 1.8, but to pick one i'd say the 50mm.. i've shot with the 1.4s before and honestly the difference between the 1.4s and 1.8 isn't worth the price hike. Especially with the 85mm. I believe you can get an 85mm 1.8 on B&H for something in the 600 range and a 1.4 is twice that, not worth it

The Nikon 85mm 1.8G lens goes for $497 as listed on Nikon's website. I picked this lens up a couple years ago when Nikon started offering their "instant rebates" on select lenses and picked mine up for $397.

I have both the 50 and 85mm 1.8G lenses and use them both regularly on my D3100, and D7000. I like them both for different reason's, the 50 is good if you want to add some atmosphere to the portrait by using the background. The 85 really works great for isolating the background both from the reduced field of view as well as the longer focal length and fast aperture.

Edit: Apparently the retail price for the 85mm 1.8G has dropped a bit as Nikon's website now list it for $449.95. The 85mm 1.8G still comes in at more than three times that at $1699.95 which is absolutely ridiculous.

That's absolutely sickening. I can't understand that at all. I mean yes the 1.4 is a little better by the tiniest margin. To be that much more over the 1.8 is sickening and hysterical actually

 

[MRnats]

I have both and love them. The 50 comes in handy indoors or where space is tight in general. The 85 is amazing when you have the real estate to use it. If I had to pick one I'd say the 50 because it's a good balance.

 

[Mr.Photo]

That's absolutely sickening. I can't understand that at all. I mean yes the 1.4 is a little better by the tiniest margin. To be that much more over the 1.8 is sickening and hysterical actually

And unfortunately it's only going to get worse. Nikon just recently announced some new lenses of which one is going to be the AF-S 16-80E 2.8-4 ED VR which while it will be the first DX specific lens to have Nikon's Nano Crystal Coating it is not worth nearly $1100 in my honest opinion.

This is one of my main reasons for getting my D7000 as it has the ability to use basically every Nikon lens made (manual or auto focus) from the mid 1970's on. I have some manual focus lenses that I use for portraits and general picture taking that match or in a few rare instances surpass many of today's lenses. Not to mention I picked up most of these lenses used in excellent condition for less than 1/4 the cost of a modern Nikon lens (New or Used).

 

[cgw]

For the $$$, Nikon's current line-up of "Poverty Primes" is tough to beat. Of the 35/50/85, there's really not a dud in the bunch. Provided you can supply zoom functionality with your feet, the optical quality of these three f1.8 lenses pretty much kills the sub-top shelf Nikon zooms. If you can live without AF, the chipped Rokinon 85/1.4 is on sale for around US$270 and delivers huge value.

 

[Derrel]

That's absolutely sickening. I can't understand that at all. I mean yes the 1.4 is a little better by the tiniest margin. To be that much more over the 1.8 is sickening and hysterical actually

It's pretty shocking that the new 85mm f/1.8 G-series is one of the very sharpest lenses priced under $4,000, according to the 75 or so prime lenses DxO Mark tested on the D800 and D800e. In the real of short telephoto primes for D800 and D800e, the 85mm f/1.8 is ranked fourth, behind the Zeiss Distagon OTUS 55mm in first place, and the Carl Zeiss 135mm f/2 APO Sonnar--which is considered by some to be an almost perfect lens. In third place is the 85mm f/1.4 G...so, yeah...it's amazing what Nikon has done with the 85mm f/1.8 G lens...its performance in terms of sharpness, even at wider f/stops, and across the entire frame, is really, really astounding. I have one, and am blown away by how crisp its images are!

Best standard and short telephoto primes for the portrait studio | DxOMark