which lens for portraits?

shanlea

shanlea

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hey guys, ive just sold my d70 and an old lens to get funds for a new lens for my studio portraits, trouble is i know not much about lenses and i only have £200 to spend on one, any suggestions? its for my d90 btw, thanks xx
 
A 50mm in a studio is a little restrictive, for that budget you wont get a 24-70 2.8 granted, but it will get you an 18-70 and change. A great lens for the money
 
whats the difference between d and g on the lenses? there is a big difference in the price so im guessing g is better lol
 
For studio portraits your aperture setting will likely be in the sweet zone of even consumer lenses at f8 or f11. So an 18-70 would be a decent choice if you are on a budget.
 
my 2p...


35mm f1.8 nikon (at around 170 in jessops). Useful outside and in the studio... but may be too wide? Depends on your studio space?

50mm f1.4d (the older one) - around 200 ukp
50mm f1.4g (newer one) - around 300ukp


g is meant to be nicer/crisper and good for full frame *
If I recall the G are also bigger (thread of 72 or 67mm) vs the d at 52 mm thread... So more and better glass with nicer coatings... Oh and I think the G might have a motor in it too for AF on the cameras without the motor. But that might mean no manual focus...



*guessing ;)
 
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thanks guys, ive got 3 weeks till my first studio day with paying customers so will get cracking this week and choose one, im so excited lol
 
If you get a good deal and are prepared to spend a bit more, you might be able to get an 85mm f/1.8 AF - a true portrait lens.

ecniv said:
g is meant to be nicer/crisper and good for full frame *
If I recall the G are also bigger (thread of 72 or 67mm) vs the d at 52 mm thread... So more and better glass with nicer coatings... Oh and I think the G might have a motor in it too for AF on the cameras without the motor. But that might mean no manual focus...
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The G lens has had very mixed responses - and OP is shooting on a DX body anyway. The G has a 58mm thread, the D a 52mm - besides, that doesn't mean that it is 'better' glass at all. A high quality fast prime with a small filter size could easily destroy a larger zoom lens with a larger filter size. Nicer coatings? Both the D and G are multicoated, and the G hardly incorporates any of Nikon's recent lens technologies - no Nano coating, no ED elements, no aspherical elements. The G does have an autofocus motor, but the D90 can autofocus the D lens just fine because it has it's own autofocus motor built in to the body. There is manual focusing on the G lens; wrong information is at best misleading, at worst becomes picked up and ends up becoming the norm - please don't spread it :shake:
 
ive found some 85mm f/1.8's and some 85mm f/1.4's i can afford but not sure what make to go for, samyang ones are cheaper so im guessing its best not to get them lol
 
shanlea said:
ive found some 85mm f/1.8's and some 85mm f/1.4's i can afford but not sure what make to go for, samyang ones are cheaper so im guessing its best not to get them lol
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If you don't mind manual focussing the Samyang is reputed to be very good indeed.
 
In fact yes, the Samyang might be a good choice. If it's in a controlled studio setting where the subject is unlikely to be moving much backwards and forwards, you'd hardly need to change the plane of focus much anyway.
 
Although 85mm on a crop body would need a bit of space unless we are talking head shots only. I use a 24-70 on FF and couldn't cope with a prime myself, but I shoot little ones most of the time so I'm generally on the floor rather than standing so would need to roll around on the floor to frame a prime LOL. Really depends what/who the OP is shooting.
 
The samyang is pointless if you're not using it wide open. Better off with an autofocus 1.8.
 
freecom2 said:
If you get a good deal and are prepared to spend a bit more, you might be able to get an 85mm f/1.8 AF - a true portrait lens.



The G lens has had very mixed responses - and OP is shooting on a DX body anyway. The G has a 58mm thread, the D a 52mm - besides, that doesn't mean that it is 'better' glass at all. A high quality fast prime with a small filter size could easily destroy a larger zoom lens with a larger filter size. Nicer coatings? Both the D and G are multicoated, and the G hardly incorporates any of Nikon's recent lens technologies - no Nano coating, no ED elements, no aspherical elements. The G does have an autofocus motor, but the D90 can autofocus the D lens just fine because it has it's own autofocus motor built in to the body. There is manual focusing on the G lens; wrong information is at best misleading, at worst becomes picked up and ends up becoming the norm - please don't spread it :shake:
Click to expand...

The 50mm 1.8G does have an aspherical element though! see here
 
would either of these 2 be any good?

Nikon AFS 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G ED DX SWM Aspherical Lens
or
Nikon fit Sigma 28-70mm D f2.8 EX Aspherical Pro Lens
 
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