Lens for Portrait Photography

[shashin]

Hi all,
I am a newbie to CS and wish to check some info with all the experts here

Actually i just bought a Nikon D70s (with prime lens) recently.
I like to take human photo, and need to check if which lens is more suitable and good for portrait photography so that i can invest into correct lens

Cheers,

[catchlights]

Originally Posted by shashin Hi all, I am a newbie to CS and wish to check some info with all the experts here Actually i just bought a Nikon D70s (with prime lens) recently. I like to take human photo, and need to check if which lens is more suitable and good for portrait photography so that i can invest into correct lens :P Cheers,

what lens you have now? can consider the 50mm f1.8, it's sharp, light, good and cheap too.

[erizai]

50 mm F1.8... Won't be wrong... cheap and good.

[daveheng]

The 50mm AFD 1.4 or 50mm AFD 1.8 is a very good lens for portraits.

You may also consider the 60mm Micro Nikkor or the 85mm Portrait lens.

Do consider in the 1.5x cropt factor and your likely to get half body portrait or close up.

Have Fun..

[shashin]

wow... really thank your for the fast info

know from my friends that 50mm/f1.8 is a good lens, but he mentioned that it
maybe good only for taking model's face due to 50mm, for whole body shots
it might not the ideal one, issit true?

humm... how about the 105mm lens huh?

[shashin]

Originally Posted by catchlights what lens you have now? can consider the 50mm f1.8, it's sharp, light, good and cheap too.

actually i only hv the prime lens now lor
btw, can prime lens take good portrait huh?

[erizai]

It depends on how you use your lens.. for full body can consider 24mm or 35mm..

Originally Posted by shashin wow... really thank your for the fast info know from my friends that 50mm/f1.8 is a good lens, but he mentioned that it maybe good only for taking model's face due to 50mm, for whole body shots it might not the ideal one, issit true? humm... how about the 105mm lens huh?

[shashin]

Originally Posted by erizai 50 mm F1.8... Won't be wrong... cheap and good.

too bad, cos seem like no stock in the market now

[catchlights]

Originally Posted by shashin actually i only hv the prime lens now lor btw, can prime lens take good portrait huh?

all fixed focal length are consider as prime lens, so prime lens can range from 8mm lens to 1200mm lens, but most commonly use as portrait lens are short tele.

[shashin]

Originally Posted by catchlights all fixed focal length are consider as prime lens, so prime lens can range from 8mm lens to 1200mm lens, but most commonly use as portrait lens are short tele.

yes sir, info noted
oops i wrote wrongly in the previous post, actually i only hv the kit lens ;P

by the way, which is good for the full body shots huh?
e.g. can produce good DOF effect, etc...

[catchlights]

Originally Posted by shashin yes sir, info noted oops i wrote wrongly in the previous post, actually i only hv the kit lens ;P by the way, which is good for the full body shots huh? e.g. can produce good DOF effect, etc...

18~70 kit lens?
can lar, open up and shoot a tight head shot and see. you will surprise what this lens can give you.

beside 50mmf.18, the next two lens you can consider is nikon 85mm or the tamron 90mm.

some shots with 18~70 kit lens, some shots with tamron 90mm

[tltan]

Yeh, I think both nikkor 50mm f1.8 and Tamron 90mm f2.8 is a good start. But if you have the moola, go for nikkor 85mm f1.8 or f1.4 or 135mm f2. But if the studion is small, I think 50mm more appropriate then 85mm. Otherwise, you stand right at the back of the studio still can only get IC photo shots as heard from my friend. this is because of crop factor.

I am using the Tamron 90mm a lot nowadays. And my 50mm for low light. Kit lens can also produce some nice portriats. Try 70mm as catchlight says and smallest aperture. Push yourself closest to the minimum focusing distance and you can get a nice blur background too.

Good luck. No matter what, a 50mm f1.8 or f1.4 is a must have. =) sharp, cheap, light, convenient, increase ur composition creativity, all in one!

Regards,
tltan

[tltan]

Just show one example of kit lens at 70mm f4.5. Not exactly human portriats though.


But my own nitpick on the above picture is eyes sharp (but eye close leh) and the nose is not. But then, human no such long nose bridge loh. so its fine.

Another one

Also 70mm f4.5. But because dog face side ways, so DOF can capture nose and eyes (only one leh) sharp. hehe.

In case you want to see 90mm at work on portriats, heres one.

Longer focal length. easier to pull background away.

Hope you can get the right lens for your use!

Regards,
tltan

[raptor84]

I am a canon user but i think its applicable here.. I favour the 70-200 range for portraits as it gives good b/g blur and DOF. I have shot quite a few portraits with a 28-90 kit before (film body) and it can work out pretty well.

Like what t|tan mentioned you have to watch the DOF and know your lens well. This was taken with a 50/1.8 and even at 2.8 the DOF was not enough. Keep in mind this is provia on a canon body so theres no crop factor.


With the kit(28-90) I shot this at 90mm @ f/6.3 (superia 400) and the DOF was about nice.


For the shorter focal lenghts it helps greatly if you can get as close to your subject as possible. Even with my 70-200 i try to get as close as possible. If you want a good alternative you can try the cheaper 70-300 f/4-5.6 lenses. They work great in good light and when stopped down can produce good pics. I shot this one with canon's 75-300 @ 300 f/6.3 and yes i screwed up the DOF again (eyes harp can laio ) but it would work ok with humans. This was on a film camera too.



Best if you can try out a few lenses to see what shoots your style and budget. I'm sure that you have nikonian friends who would'nt mind lending you some of these 'cheaper' lenses to try out...

[westwest1]

Originally Posted by shashin too bad, cos seem like no stock in the market now

Did you try go Lords camera?

[westwest1]

Originally Posted by shashin wow... really thank your for the fast info know from my friends that 50mm/f1.8 is a good lens, but he mentioned that it maybe good only for taking model's face due to 50mm, for whole body shots it might not the ideal one, issit true? humm... how about the 105mm lens huh?

105mm also not bad... but whats your budget for the lens?

[shashin]

thank you all, really appreciate your information

also thank catchlights, tltan and raptor84 for your photo, your works are really nice,
i really learn a lot from your he he

[shashin]

Originally Posted by westwest1 Did you try go Lords camera?

only visited MS and CP, both don't have...

[tltan]

call to reserve. The 50mm is hot property.

[Artosoft]

I just bought Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 micro afd. Good lens for Macro, also for portrait. Sharp, light, affordable price also.

Regards,
Arto.