Portrait Lens?

[bdavis]

I really want to buy a new portrait lens and was thinking about the Nikon 85mm f/1.8...anyone have this lens? How does it perform? Are there any other lenses that would be a good portrait lens?

I'm looking for something fast, with sharp focus, and nice bokeh.

 

[Captain IK]

IMHO an 85mm lens is a good portrait lens for 35mm or full frame cameras, but it may be a little long for a D90. The 50mm lens you already have should work very well.

 

[bdavis]

IMHO an 85mm lens is a good portrait lens for 35mm or full frame cameras, but it may be a little long for a D90. The 50mm lens you already have should work very well.

I know and it is a good lens, but I was just hoping for something with a little more range than the 50mm.

 

[Kegger]

The 85 1.8 is a good pick, but you already have an outstanding portrait lens in your bag. That 105 2.8 would work excellently, I use an older 105 2.5 for a lot of portraits and it always keeps me happy.

 

[Captain IK]

When I used to shoot 35mm, I used 85mm lenses for portrait, but now I use a 50mm with my D90. I prefer a longer focal length, but you need a fair amount of space to use it with a D90...which I don;t have when shooting indoor portraits.
If you have the space, then I would agree a 85mm is excellent. So is the 105mm for that matter.

 

[kundalini]

Really depends on how much room you have to work with. I love my primes. I have only recently gotten the 105mm f/2.8.... and it does take a bit of room to work with. My next favorite is the 85mm f/1.8. The bokeh out of these two lenses is pretty spectacular. The build quality of the 35mm f/2 is on par with the 85mm and the 50mm build quality is definetly sucking hind tits, but the IQ is pretty damn good.

Bokeh on the 105mm..... a recent thread of mine.

 

[bdavis]

I really do want to get the 85 f/1.8 though. I was doing some test shots last night with the 105 macro and trying it out as a portrait lens. I found out if I use a wider aperture, the point I focus on is tack sharp, but the depth of field is so shallow that all around that would be a little blurry. In order to get more of the subject sharp, I would have to use a small aperture, but then the background wouldn't have that nice bokeh effect.

 

[blash]

What other people said - if you have the room, it's not a bad choice, but it's a bit long on non full-frame/35mm. You do already have a f/1.8 lens in your bag though, I'd think getting a 50mm f/1.4 would be a nice choice because that lens is superior.

 

[bdavis]

I dont believe I really need the 1.4, the 1.8 is already a good, sharp performer. Getting a 1.4 is pretty much overkill in my opinion.