D7100 - Lens for Street and Portrait Photography - Your help needed

Whilst 35mm might be okay for street I'm thinking it's a bit wide for portraits, the 50mm would be better but many folk use 85mm and above for portrait work - if it's just the option of the two I would say the 50mm to cover the portrait work :)

The older Nikon 35-70 2.8 is a very good lens for the money and would cover both genres but might top the £200 budget.
 
Badger8 said:
I've read someone where that the 50mm is like how we see. Is that right?
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On full frame it's supposed to be, although I find 35mm to be more natural. As a result I prefer a 24mm on a crop as a street photography lens.

The 35 and the 50 are both technically capable lenses, so unless you know which focal length best suits your way of shooting there's not much help anyone else can be. I'd rather use aso-so lens of a focal length that suits me than a technically fantastic lens that is wrong for the way I see pictures.
 
Because you already have the 70-200, I'd choose the 35mm on the D7100 (effectively almost 50mm on the DX body)
 
The 50 will give you lovely focus separation, far more than the 35 ... mate of mine bought the 50 for his 7000 and is happy ... just saying.
 
60mm, nikon do a 60mm macro and so do tamron, plus you can do a quick cheap test with a holga lens, also 60mm :)
 
For not much over 200 you can get the 35f1.8 DX and a 50 f1.8 D second hand - I like 50 for portraits and 35 for street
Both Crackingly sharp lenses Grommit
 
Not sure what the rationale is behind lumping together street and portrait into one lens. Street needs a wide angle for powerful results (tele for street adds a remoteness, an unpleasant voyeuristic look IMHO) - someone like Peter Turnley, arguably one of the most successful documentary photographers working today - uses a wide angle exclusively. And obviously portraits require tele, at the very minimum 85mm equivalent, preferably longer.

So, 35mm too long for street and not long enough for portraits, and 50mm even more so! Ideally Nikon would make a 24mm f/2, but they seem not to be bothered about DX primes. The 60mm macro's not a bad idea, but lacking in DOF control due to relatively slow f/2.8 aperture.

In short, DX doesn't offer the solutions you require. Switch to m43, get the 17mm f/1.8 and 45mm f/1.8 lenses and be happy :-)
 
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Cheese Scientist said:
Defo the 50mm IMHO as you can be further away, so less intimidating for the photographed.
I rarely take off my 50mm from my D7100 - although it's a 1.4 as I want the narrowest dof (that I can afford...).
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I'd give a different perspective on the "further away is better" point. Closer is better for your pictures. Don't be intimidating, but get close. Ask permission if necessary, develop street shooting skills so people don't notice or don't mind you being there. But don't choose a focal length on factors like "less intimidating" - you're compromising your photography.
 
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