BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Answers

Nikon D100 portrait lense???

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March 30, 2007

I find it best to work with my 200mm
when doing portraits 100-300 is recommended, you do not want to be switching lens alot in a portrait sitting and you are working with a space that allows you little control of your background.
Typical "portrait" lenses are therefore between 90 and 135 MM long.
most professionals use 70-200/2.8 or 80-200/2.8 zooms as portrait lenses,
or better yet 100 or 105 macro.
A lot depends on where you want to start and you pocket book.
I hope this helps,
Debby Tabb

* In my reg portrait sitting camera bag I have:
Nikon D200 and Fugi S2
Nikon 24-120mm 1:3.5 Vr Lens
Tamron 28-300 AF 1:3.5 macro lens
Tamron 28-200 AF 1:3.5 macro lens
on site extras:
SB800s
Polorizers, soft focus and Centre Soft and asst. other filters depending on the job.

heres a 200mm:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tamron-Lense-for-NIKON-SLR-28-200-AF-EXCELLENT-COND_W0QQitemZ130095145738QQcategoryZ3343QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Heres a Tamron lens I use as well:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=013&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=230109156583&rd=1&rd=1

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March 30, 2007

That said, you might want to investigate a fast prime lens rather than a zoom. In the old days of 35MM file, the 85MM and 105MM lenses were considered excellent portraiture lenses in that they allowed you to stand 6-8 feet from the subject (thus giving them their "personal space" while filling the frame with their head and shoulders. The 85MM f1.8 and f1.4 Nikkors are both terrific lenses.

With the Nikon DSLR crop factor of 1.5, the 85MM lens is still a great portrait unit (depending on your style as well, of course). And you could even go for a 50MM f1.4 (effectively like a 75MM on film) which can give you great results as well.

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March 30, 2007