 Chris Owen |
lenses I am buying a Nikon D80, my first DSLR and am a little hesitant to buy any lenses yet. I do a lot of scenery and portraits but I dont know what lenses to purchase first that will be good universal ones. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks for your help.
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A C |
what is your budget? A great beginner lens for portrait work is the 50mm f.18. It is around $100!!!! It doesn't zoom (that's what your legs have to do) but you can use it indoors with natural light ... great for portrait work! You can get beautiful portraits outdoors as well with the shallow depth of field that this lens can offer. If you have a little more to spend, I've heard great things about the 85mm lens! I wish someone would have told me about this lens a few years ago. I didn't discover it until last summer. I don't use it for scenery photos ... but at that price you can buy this for portraits and something else for scenery!
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Pete H |
Chris, As a "universal" lens, it is hard to beat Nikon's 18-200mm VR. Many reviews on this lens, mostly good reviews at that.
Pete
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Sarah G |
I've got both of the above mentioned lenses to use on my D80 and LOVE them. They are both Nikkor lenses. I also have a Nikkor 105mm micro lens because I love that kind of photography. I always hear that wide angle lenses are great for scenery/landscapes. I don't have one of those, so I can't comment on those.
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Debby A. Tabb |
For Portrait Work 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 Fuji 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 Polarizes, soft focus and Centre Soft and asst. other filters depending on the job.
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Chris Owen |
Thank you all for your input. It sure helps out getting advice when making such a big decision. Thanks!!
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Andrew Livelsberger |
I think that everyone should look at the 50mm f/1.8. It is such a versitile lens. Also, if you need something in a wide zoom, I do recommend the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8
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