lens for my Nikon D80? (Studio & Portraits.. really good quality)?

Question

I have a 50mm lens but its hard because there is no zoom and looking through the lens I get such a small chunk of what I actually see in front of me.. I also think its the ''standard'' and I want a lot better than that! I would like to take high quality studio photographs because I have a studio in my school that I could use for free.. But I also want something that is good for on location...

I want the best of the best!! well the best I could get for a D80? hahaha

please help me! :) thank you!

Answer 1

Yup, the good ol' daze of film photography and lenses, lenses and more lenses to do the job needed... The 50mm you have is indeed a good lens for many things, however, for portraits you have to be - in their face - quite a bit, and this can make a few people antsi....



Yes, there is this darn crop factor between digital and film size but don't mistake it for any kind of a telephoto effect, cause it aint..! Your 50 is still a 50, period.. If your dead serious on wanting 'the best quality' for the image you need to find a prime lens, NOT a zoom of any kind, a 1 focal length lens between 80 or 90mm to no longer than 135mm and make it at least a 2.8 or faster. You may want to look into a 90 or 100mm Macro lens in 2.8. Sigma and others have such and they are sharp all thru their focal range from infinity to close up. You would have to just walk in or out to compose your shot.



Nikon made a beautiful lens for portraits, their 105 f/2.5 and it was sharp..! In auto everything lenses these days tho, prime lenses are hard to find and expensive. Technology HAS helped a LOT in contrast and sharpness on zooms so having a zoom lens to fit this bill may not be all that bad..



To say which one would be good for you could be hard and the fact almost any lens today start around $500 and go up fast. Normally you would want a fast lens. F2.8 or better if affordable. The shallow DOF (depth of field) at maximum open aperture would allow selective focusing on the eyes, throwing the back ground and for ground objects (if any) out of focus. Not to mention easier TO focus for you and extra watts of hot lights would not be needed in the studio.



A lens going too long, like a 200mm (and if your too close) will have a flattening effect and the model will not look good, and too wide and you have to get either way too close or you have distortion from the wide effect of the lens.



So, which zooms..? Any of the newer ones with IF (internal focus) ED (low dispersion) glass or the now new nano-coatings would be a good choice. www.dpreview.com has reviews on lenses that may help you choose a good lens. Nikon's 18~200 has quite a zoom spread but max app is 3.5, however, the reviews are not too shabby and it IS a good all purpose lens.



Remember, the D-80 will take any AF Nikon mount lens you wanna throw at it be it a cheaper Pro Master to an expensive Zeiss, however, it is you, the creative photographer than can make or break the image faster than any lens...



Bob - Tucson

Answer 2

The 50mm is probably the best for portraits. On film cameras portrait lenses are 85-105mm. With a cropped sensor DSLR like yours you have to multiply the focal length by 1.5 meaning a 50mm lens would be the equivalant of a 75mm lens on a film camera. This is pretty close to the normal portrait length. The 50mm prime is also much sharper than a zoom lens. Prime lens are going to give you the sharpest shots. If you want something else you can look at the following. You asked for the best of the best so here you go. I hope your wallet is fat.



24-70 F2.8G ED $1,700



85mm F1.4 D $929



85mm F1.8 $399



24-120 F3.5-5.6 $509.00



24-85mm F2.8-4 $564



60mm F2.8 macro $394. Yes it makes a good portrait lens as well as macro.

Answer 3

I have one lens that's what I call my "Swiss Army Knife" lens.



It's the Nikkor 28-105. It's not one of the newer lenses you'll hear a lot of talk about these days (been around since 1999).



It's on my D80 virtually all the time! In fact, the only other lens I carry is a Tamron 19-35.



This lens has moved with me through three cameras - the F100 (my last film camera!), the D100 and now the D80.



It's great in studio. has a very good macro feature, travels well. sturdy construction. outstanding glass.



If you look on my main site or my flickr site, probably 80% of the shots you'll see there were taken with this lens.

Answer 4

The good old days everyone started out with 50 mm lens. Since your camera's cropped factor turns this lens into a 75 mm, which basically is a short telephoto, it's really is perfect portrait for headshot. You won't be so close to the subject--and yet, not too far.



The problem with not having a "zoom" feature is that you have to use your legs. If you want to zoom in, simply walk closer to the subject. If you want to zoom out, walk away from the subject.



The lens is very sharp, and since it's very fast, compared to any zoom lens, you'll be able to see very clearly in the optical viewfinder (to compose and focus). Did you notice that it's very bright, too?



So you have what you need already. It's not a zoom - and you have to work around that.

Answer 5

It doesn't get much better than a "standard" lens.



The term "Standard" refers to the focal length and NOT the image quality.



You already own the best of the best!