THE definitive portrait lens . . . .

PeteMo

PeteMo

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Pete
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Probably been asked loads of times, but since I'm new on here :wave: , lets have eveyone's FIRST CHOICE portrait lens for CROP sensor only please as I have no plans (or funds) to go FF.

I'm going dizzy trying to decide which additional lens to plump for :bonk: for under £500 - Tamron 17-50 2.8, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Sigma 24-70, Nikon 24-85 2.8 .....

Off you go ...:lol:
 
Oops - was viewing in "Lighting" and posted. Should have been in "Equipment" DOH !:bonk: Sorry !
 
why a zoom? for portraits a 50mm f1.8 is great giving in effect a very sharp 75mm lens, and for around £100!
 
Dave Pickett said:
why a zoom? for portraits a 50mm f1.8 is great giving in effect a very sharp 75mm lens, and for around £100!
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Cheers Dave, already have a nifty-fifty f1.8 and I agree. Just want another lens I can also double-up as a walk-around. Sorry, should have said. :cuckoo:
 
85mm F1.8 is the beans for portrait stuff, but since you want a zoom that's not much use to you.... you're suffering what all of us suffer at one time or another... you'll torture yourself about this for eons, then make a decision; then once you have your ideal lens will convince yourself that you should have picked the 'other one' and promptly sell, and on it goes... :D
 
DekHog said:
.....you'll torture yourself about this for eons, then make a decision; then once you have your ideal lens will convince yourself that you should have picked the 'other one' and promptly sell, and on it goes... :D
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I have to agree, it's what we come on here for ! :lol:

I too would go for 85mm, and would love the f1.2, but the 1.8 makes a great substitute for those of us who don't have the odd £1,500 lying around.....

Steve
 
On a crop, I don't think there's much that can beat the Sigma 30mm f/1.4
 
If on a tripod then 17-50 Tamron non VC is damn good value!
 
To answer the OP's question...

Depending on the focal length you prefer you MAY get a Nikon 105 DC f2 lens second hand. Otherwise the 50mm 1.4AFS or the 85mm 1.8 would be the way to go.

For a zoom, the Nikon 28-70 2.8 is probably about £50-£100 more than your budget and very close to the newer 24-70 in quality. Next I would say the Tamron 28-75, unless the focal length you need is better suited to the 17-50.

An outsider would be the Tamron 70-200 2.8. Very sharp but slow AF.
 
Varying opinions indeed ! :lol:

Thanks all.

Simon, just out of interest, which lens do you use mainly to shoot kids ?
 
JasonRS said:
I've got a spare Sigma 70-200 2.8 MK1 which is ideal for portraits.

70-200 is a better range than 24-70 due to less feature distortion and also the ability to do clever stuff with compressing the background.
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I assume by "spare" you mean "for sale" ?? :lol:

I don't have anything with that reach at present. How much you want for it ???
 
just grabbed a mint sigma 24-60 f2.8 on ebay for £170, pin sharp centre at f2.8 after micro focus adjust on 50d. I look forward to tring it on a job.
 
50mm 1.4AFS probably around 90% of the time. If outdoors or in a large venue the 70-200 which is good. 1-2% of time I may need wider than 50mm so use the Tamron.

Ideally I would like an 85mm 1.8 so I dont need to get in babies faces, or the lovely Nikon 105DC f2. If I had the funds I would look at thw 24-70 Nikon, by all accounts its not far off a prime although primes are great for making you think more about each shot.
 
Cheers Simon, appreciate the replies (you've responded in my other posts too :thumbs:)

Just don't want to repeat myself and due to a restricted budget, I want to try to get value for money. ( Don't we all ! )

I fancy something with a bit more reach for general use, away from portrait stuff, but most of the 70-200's aren't cheap :thumbsdown:

Anymore advice is appreciated mate. Ta :thumbs:
 
50 f/1.4 is the bee's knees. In fact; it's the bee's sisters knees!

But each to their own; 85mm is good too, as is 100mm. I like to get up close and personal, so that's why I prefer the 50mm.
 
Cheers Toby, I must say I do like my 50 mil. Just can't help feeling there's something more ! ......
 
On crop, I like 50mm but since you want a zoom, for me it would have to be a reasonably fast one that covers the 50mm length, so a 24 (or 28) - 70 f/2.8. I would say that 70-200mm was too long for portraits on a crop sensor unless they'll all be outdoors or you have a biggish room/studio so can get a decent distance away from the subject.
 
Petemo, I'm not sure whether Nikons have problems with autofocus on large aperture Sigmas, I find canon's always do and you need to adjust camera's micro autofocus and maybe your camera does not have this option.

All best John
 
I have a 24-70 f/2.8 and a 70-200 f/2.8, both Sigmas and neither has any problems with focus (or anything else!) on my D70 or D700.
 
Sorry to hijack the thread but how about on a 1.3 crop like the 1D3?
 
PeteMo said:
Cheers Toby, I must say I do like my 50 mil. Just can't help feeling there's something more ! ......
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This feeling with stay with you for as long ad you're into photography. Unfortunately the camera companies are tapping into this bit of psychology and keep feeding us with new things that we "need". :)

Stick with what you have and make the most use of it. When you know that something is missing you can start thinking about what you need to get to fill that gap.
 
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