D70 Kit Lens for Portrait

[shashin]

Hi,
It's me again for some newbie questions, pls bear with me hor... ;p

May I know if the kit lens can be used to take portrait photo with good DOF?
As heard some in the forum mentioned that to take good portrait,
we need to hv good portrait lens...

However, now my equipment is very standard, one kit lens and one
55-200mm lens... That's why hope to use my existing equipment
to try on the portrait

Hope to get some tips from all the experts here
Arigatoo...

 

[fireframe]

However, now my equipment is very standard, one kit lens and one
55-200mm lens... That's why hope to use my existing equipment
to try on the portrait

Aperture range of your 55-200mm?

 

[longkangman]

May I know if the kit lens can be used to take portrait photo with good DOF?
As heard some in the forum mentioned that to take good portrait, we need to hv good portrait lens...

What is your kit lens that come with your body? :dunno:

 

[photobum]

Your posting is not clear.

 

[kcuf2]

yes the d70 kit lens at f3.5 to f4 is rather good at taking portraits..it has the ability to blur the background and make the subject stand out..

an example with the kit lens 18-70 f3.5-4.5

 

[shashin]

Aperture range of your 55-200mm?

hi fireframe,
the aperture range of my 22-200mm is f4-5.6

 

[shashin]

What is your kit lens that come with your body? :dunno:

hi longkangman,
it a 18-70mm f3.5-4.5

 

[shashin]

Your posting is not clear.

opps... sorry :embrass:
actually the lens that i currently have are kit lens (18-70mm f3.5-4.5) and a
55-200mm (f4-5.6). Just wish to know if which one is better for portrait photo,
as i dun really able to buy those portrait lens tt mentioned by some of the
experts in CS... cos i m a student ma :bsmilie:

 

[shashin]

yes the d70 kit lens at f3.5 to f4 is rather good at taking portraits..it has the ability to blur the background and make the subject stand out..

an example with the kit lens 18-70 f3.5-4.5

hi kcuf2,
really thanks for your photo demo leh :thumbsup: ... btw, wat's the aperture setting of this photo?
i tried this b4 (with 18-70mm lens), if the subject is small, i could achieve the DOF as yours...
however, when i try to use 18-70mm lens to take portrait of my friend (half to 3/4 body photo), but the DOF effect is not really as good as this...

 

[ExplorerZ]

hi kcuf2,
really thanks for your photo demo leh :thumbsup: ... btw, wat's the aperture setting of this photo?
i tried this b4 (with 18-70mm lens), if the subject is small, i could achieve the DOF as yours...
however, when i try to use 18-70mm lens to take portrait of my friend (half to 3/4 body photo), but the DOF effect is not really as good as this...

i think 1/2 to 3/4 body shots even wif 50mm f1.8 would be pretty hard unless the BG is really far behind

 

[Taurean]

Hi Shashin,

Maybe you can consider getting the Nikon 50mm 1.8D, should be ard $180 +/- brand new.

Is good for potraits / everyday use and got nice bokeh too.

 

[shashin]

Hi Shashin,

Maybe you can consider getting the Nikon 50mm 1.8D, should be ard $180 +/- brand new.

Is good for potraits / everyday use and got nice bokeh too.

Hi Taurean and Explorer,
Thanks for the pointers
I tried with my friend's 50mm/f1.8, found that it's something like ExplorerZ mentioned,
quite hard to get 1/2 and 3/4 body photo with good DOF effect, but the face close-up is definitely good if i use the 50mm/f1.8
that's y i m wondering if i could use 18-70mm or 55-200mm to achieve the purpose
once again, thanks for your information :thumbsup:

 

[jnet6]

hi kcuf2,
really thanks for your photo demo leh :thumbsup: ... btw, wat's the aperture setting of this photo?
i tried this b4 (with 18-70mm lens), if the subject is small, i could achieve the DOF as yours...
however, when i try to use 18-70mm lens to take portrait of my friend (half to 3/4 body photo), but the DOF effect is not really as good as this...

You must understand focusing distance, aperture first...
try to use yr Zoom lens and take will give u a different "bokeh".

and of cos the next thing is to change lens (F2.8)... another cheaper lens option is to get a 50mm F1.8 and try out.

 

[Cactus jACK]

explore and understand how to get the nice bokeh - it's not only about the big aperature, distancing between camera and subject and subject to background are also important considerations.

another thing to note is that many lenses (esp zoom), are prone to being a little soft wide open. imho, the 50f1.8 is a good place to start.

 

[jnet6]

explore and understand how to get the nice bokeh - it's not only about the big aperature, distancing between camera and subject and subject to background are also important considerations.

another thing to note is that many lenses (esp zoom), are prone to being a little soft wide open. imho, the 50f1.8 is a good place to start.

:thumbsup: comment!

 

[shashin]

hi jnet6 and Cactus jACK,
really appreciate and thanks for your information
btw, pls bear with my another newbie question hor, when i adjust the zoom ring of
the lens, the aperture value will change accordingly too even if i hv set to certain
aperture value b4, is this correct? cos thought i set it to a aperture value, then it
will be fixed at that value... :embrass:

 

[jnet6]

hi jnet6 and Cactus jACK,
really appreciate and thanks for your information
btw, pls bear with my another newbie question hor, when i adjust the zoom ring of
the lens, the aperture value will change accordingly too even if i hv set to certain
aperture value b4, is this correct? cos thought i set it to a aperture value, then it
will be fixed at that value... :embrass:

becos the lens is not a fix aperture... eg. yr kit lens is 3.5-4.5.
meaning at 18mm widest= F3.5 and till 70mm widest= F4.5.

Unless you get those lens that is fix aperture eg. F4 or F2.8.
lens eg. AF-S 17-35mm F2.8, AF-S 70-200mm F2.8 VR.
AF-D macro 70-180mm ED F4

 

[V.Ramakrishnan]

A portrait lens is a combination of focal length and colour coating. The smaller the focal the better. The colour coating influences the flesh and skin tones. For Asian colours I find the lenses with a green coating ideal; for western tones the blue is better.

On the D70 I get superb results with the 28-200 lens.

Ram

Hi,
It's me again for some newbie questions, pls bear with me hor... ;p

May I know if the kit lens can be used to take portrait photo with good DOF?
As heard some in the forum mentioned that to take good portrait,
we need to hv good portrait lens...

However, now my equipment is very standard, one kit lens and one
55-200mm lens... That's why hope to use my existing equipment
to try on the portrait

Hope to get some tips from all the experts here
Arigatoo...

 

[seankyh]

Nothing wrong with the kit lens at all for portraiture. If you want the blur/bokeh effect, that is achievable with some play on distances between you, the subject and the bg. Bottomline is, enjoy your kit lens. It is very versatile.

Aperture will automatically change with the zoom and distance from subject. Even when shooting macro with a prime 90mm macro lens which says 2.8 on the box, if I go too close to the subject, it will automatically go up to 3.5.

 

[shashin]

thanks jnet6 and Ram,
i will try more and harder with my 18-70mm and 55-200mm again

btw guys and gals, normally wat lens are you using for the portrait shots? ;p