Recommended portrait lens for D600 to take baby photos
- Thread starter loneberg
- Start date
U can get either sigma 34/1.4 or 50/1.4 Art lens. Meets yr budget requirement n one of d best prime 35/50 for now.
Agreed with all the bros here. Unless you are gg for something light or zoom lenses, the above suggestions are highly recommended.
Congratulations
Suggest getting a 35mm lens.
1) Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG
2) Nikon 35mm f/1.8G FX
IMHO, getting the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G FX is a good choice as it is light and smaller and does very well at f/2 to f/2.8 and you can use the remainder of the cash to get a 85mm f/1.8G for head and shoulder shots with you missus carrying your bundle of joy.
The 85mm f/1.8G at less than half the price of the 85mm f/1.4G is near the performance of the 85mm f/1.4G.
Suggest getting a 35mm lens.
1) Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG
2) Nikon 35mm f/1.8G FX
IMHO, getting the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G FX is a good choice as it is light and smaller and does very well at f/2 to f/2.8 and you can use the remainder of the cash to get a 85mm f/1.8G for head and shoulder shots with you missus carrying your bundle of joy.
The 85mm f/1.8G at less than half the price of the 85mm f/1.4G is near the performance of the 85mm f/1.4G.
Luminare has a very valid point there. :thumbsup:
It depends on how much space you have & how close up you want to take the baby picture. 28mm / 35mm will be nice for close up shots. 85mm is the typical portraiture focal lenght. The f/1.8 primes from Nikon are very good optically.
It depends on how much space you have & how close up you want to take the baby picture. 28mm / 35mm will be nice for close up shots. 85mm is the typical portraiture focal lenght. The f/1.8 primes from Nikon are very good optically.
I agree with Luminare and Light Machinery. Second their recommendations. For not much money add 50mm f/1.8G. In fact the 35mm FX, 50mm and 85mm f/1.8G all add up to about $1600 (I have the 50mm and 85mm and can vouch from personal experience, but do not have the 35mm f/1.8G FX)
Only trouble is the need to change lens.
Generally 50mm to 85mm focal length is not too hard to use indoors on FF and does not have much distortion when used for portraits.
It does not mean you must need the fastest lens as its often more important to have enough DOF.
I have taken a few such shots of my own children and the ones I find go for A3 printing have mostly been the ones with enough DOF rather than the absolute least DOF.
So it does not matter if its a f2.8 zoom lens either.
Of course the faster lens has more options to play with.
My advise is to start with a 50/1.8.
Its cheap, its fast for low light and DOF control and its very sharp when stopped down (most 50mms are)
After you have used it and find that you need a tighter crop w/o going too near or need less DOF or more compression, you can consider a 85/1.8.
You can afford both since its within a $1600 budget.
Otherwise, add a nice 100mm or 105mm f2.8 lens if working space allows.
Could even be the Nikkor 105/2.5 Ais, which is not much money 2nd hand.
More importantly, find enough light from natural sources or use a bounced flash, or softbox/umbrella to get enough lighting and good quality light.
My few cents.
20130929-IMGP4472-50 mmPENTAX K-30-1 by jenkwang, on Flickr
With a 50mm at f3.2 and on aps-c
It does not mean you must need the fastest lens as its often more important to have enough DOF.
I have taken a few such shots of my own children and the ones I find go for A3 printing have mostly been the ones with enough DOF rather than the absolute least DOF.
So it does not matter if its a f2.8 zoom lens either.
Of course the faster lens has more options to play with.
My advise is to start with a 50/1.8.
Its cheap, its fast for low light and DOF control and its very sharp when stopped down (most 50mms are)
After you have used it and find that you need a tighter crop w/o going too near or need less DOF or more compression, you can consider a 85/1.8.
You can afford both since its within a $1600 budget.
Otherwise, add a nice 100mm or 105mm f2.8 lens if working space allows.
Could even be the Nikkor 105/2.5 Ais, which is not much money 2nd hand.
More importantly, find enough light from natural sources or use a bounced flash, or softbox/umbrella to get enough lighting and good quality light.
My few cents.
20130929-IMGP4472-50 mmPENTAX K-30-1 by jenkwang, on Flickr
With a 50mm at f3.2 and on aps-c
Fantastic photo.
One can achieve good results when stepping down the aperture. Wide open not as sharp unfortunately.
