best portrait lens for a NIKON

[vcuhockeygirl]

I've been learning all I can about photography over the past year. I'm still a newbie and looking for some direction on what lens to get that would be the best for portraits. I have a Nikon D7000 and already have a 18-200mm f3.5-5.6, a 50mm f1.4, and a 70-300mm f4-5.6. I want to get more into portrait photography but I think I need a faster lens - maybe a zoom lens with a better maximum aperture? what are your thoughts?? Thanks for any help/suggestions you can lend!!~Jacqui

[maani]

1. Nikon Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 2. Nikon Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR

You can check out these...may be it helps!

"

[TomLK]

For no apparent reason, Nikon seems to have abandoned the 'classical'
135mm portrait lens in favor of the offbeat Defocus Control (DC)
version. Since a portrait lens is a prime almost by definition, my vote
goes to two 85mm Nikkors, f/1.4, with a superb bokeh, and f/1.8, almost as
good at less than half price.

[RABaker]

Hmmmm... which lens is *best* for portraits?

Probably the most respected and prized "classic" Nikon lens for portraits is the Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF lens. However, this lens is fairly expensive, so Nikon also released the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D lens at about 1/2 the price. The faster f/1.4 lens gives luscious, creamy out of focus areas (referred to as excellent "bokeh") that is highly sought after for portraits. The f/1.8 lens does not render the out of focus areas quite at nicely as the legendary f/1.4 lens, but it is still very good and many photographers love it for portraits. Either of these lenses (or, probably, third party equivalents) will serve well as a portrait lens. There are also more recent (updated) versions of these two lenses: 85mm f/1.4G AF-S and the 85mm f/1.8G AF-S - at higher prices than the "D" lenses. These updated versions will autofocus on Nikon's entry level cameras (like the D3100 and D5100) while the somewhat older D lenses will not. However, your D7000 is fully compatible with both the G lenses and the D lenses. While this 85mm focal length was originally designed as a portrait lens for 35mm film cameras, many photographers still prefer them for the smaller DX-sensor cameras (such as your D7000). A significant difference is that to obtain the same view of your subject you must shoot from a little farther away - say, 12 feet with the D7000 where the same view of the subject would occur at 8 feet with a 35mm film camera (or a modern FX-sensor camera). A related significant difference happens because the distance to the subject is one factor that affects depth of field. Therefore, the 85mm lens on your D7000 at 12 feet will have a little more depth of field than the same lens at the same aperture on a film or FX-sensor camera.

The "classic" focal lengths for portraits on 35mm film were probably from about 75mm to 105mm, although portraits were (and are) often created by lenses both shorter and longer than this classic range. The angle of view of 75mm to 105mm on film (or FX sensor) is achieved by 50mm to 70mm with your D7000 (and any other DX-sensor camera). So if you are interested in a zoom lens for portraits, it would be good to select one that includes the 50mm to 70mm range and has a relatively large aperture so you can limit the depth of field. The best example I know of is the Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AFS lens. This lens is often used by professional portrait photographers as well as wedding photographers, but is very expensive. Note also that sometimes f/2.8 won't limit the depth of field as much as you might like.

If you don't mind shooting portraits from somewhat closer range, then the 50mm lenses can also work well. Since they provide the angle of view equivalent to a 75mm lens on a full-frame camera, they are right at the bottom of the classic portrait lens range. They are also available in f/1.4 and f/1.8 versions. If you are interested in these lenses you can check out the following Nikkor lenses: 50mm f/1.4D, 50mm f/1.8D, 50mm f/1.4G, and 50mm f/1.8G. As above, the newer G lenses are more expensive than the D lenses. Probably the best bargain in all of Nikon's lens lineup is the 50mm f/1.8D lens. Again, the f/1.8 lens does not render the out of focus areas as nicely as does the f/1.4 lens but the f/1.8 version is still prized by many photographers as a portrait lens.

Ultimately, only you can determine how deeply you want to get into portraits and which lens will "fit" you best - in other words, what compromises you have to make between performance and cost. You can shoot portraits with an inexpensive 50mm f/1.8D, or you can jump in whole-hog with one of the 85mm f/1.4 lenses.

Good luck,
Richard

[vcuhockeygirl]

Thank you for your posts! I really only have the money to get one more lens and I want to get something that would give me the best results for portraits and that would fit in with what I already have (50mm f/1.4) and (18-200mm f3.5-5.6) and I don't want to feel like I have to buy another lens in a little while to fill another gap. That's why I was thinking a zoom lens would be the best??? But do you think all I really need for good results is a prime 85mm?

[RABaker]

Jacqui,

Let's approach this from a little different direction... I assume you have taken portraits with your existing lenses. In what way do you feel that previous portrait attempts were lacking? If you can do some serious analysis of previous portraits and then give us some idea about what lenses you used and what you would have liked to have seen different in the results, then we can probably offer some pretty well-focused advice.

For instance, you mention that you may need a faster lens, but you are not going to find much that is faster than your 50mm f/1.4. Did you try shooting portraits with the 50? If so, is there something you didn't like when shooting portraits with the 50? Your 18-200 and 70-300 both cover often used portrait focal lengths - from about 50mm to around 100mm for DX cameras. Have you tried shooting portraits with these lenses? If so, what focal lengths did you use, and what did you like and what did you not like? If you can help us understand what you have already tried and what more or different you would like to see, we should be able to make better recommendations.

Good luck,
Richard

[TomLK]

V-hockeygirl, indeed, I'd stay with the 50/1.4 for a while: this lens has ample
aperture to control the depth of field, and, on a DX body with a
narrower angle of view (something like a 75mm lens on a FF body), will
keep you at an appropriate and non-intrusive distance from the subject. Later on,
who knows, you might opt to upgrade to an FF body.