Nikon 50mm lens ?

Getinthehole!

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Loving my Nikon D90 set up and the three lenses below. Do I buy a 50mm for better portraits?

What other lenses would you add to this arsenal?


Nikon 10 - 24mm
Nikon 16 - 85mm
Nikon 70 - 300mm
 
Everyone loves the 50mm, its cheap & sharp.
 
Everyone loves the 50mm, its cheap & sharp.

Try out your 16-85 for portraits first - the extra reach can be useful - and then get a 50mm if you want a wider aperture lens for portraits and can "live" with 50mm....

Jim
 
As with most people I find a wide aperture prime useful particularly for shooting in low light where you want to squeeze as much light into the camera as possible. On the DX bodies the 35mm F1.8 gives the traditional 50mm field of view which may make the lens a bit more versatile for your needs although the slightly longer focal length on the cropped 50mm lens is probably better for portrait shooting.

John
 
With your existing lenses you won't get the narrow depth of field which give good portrait shots their 'pop'. This is where the 50mm (F1.4 and F1.8 variants) and the 35mm F1.8 come in to their own.

Agree the 35mm is a tad more versatile, and you have enough pixels to crop if you are not close enough to the subject.
 
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I'm in exactly the same boat as you right now. Trying to decide between the 50mm and the 35mm f1.8

Im likely to go with the 35mm, since that will give me more room to move about when shooting indoors (portraits)
 
I used my 50mm f1.8 solely at my cousins wedding in Spain outside last weekend. It was very dark in the party garden and I was very glad I choose it as the color, sharpness turned out amazing. Some of the images straight out of the camera just pop and are fantastic...Yep you need a little space, but that is quite nice not to be intrusive to take the photos...
 
I would get the 16-85, as it is the most useful range for portraits and sits well with the 50mm. However, consider getitng a 70 - 200 / 70 - 300 and learning how to shoot candids at a range. The VR varients help a lot
 
I would get the 16-85, as it is the most useful range for portraits and sits well with the 50mm. However, consider getitng a 70 - 200 / 70 - 300 and learning how to shoot candids at a range. The VR varients help a lot

The way I read his post, he already has the 16-85 and 70-300mm lenses.

John
 
Correct I have those lenses.

Major differences in performance between the 3 lenses below?

Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.4G £300

Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 under £100

Nikon AF 50mm f/1.4D £235

Will there be a huge leap forward over my 16-85 ? I think not but will happily be told otherwise thanks in advance
 
I've just received my 50mm F1.8 for my Nikon D80, haven't tried it yet (having to work is a bummer), but very surprised how small it is, hopefully it's as good as people are saying.

I already have the 18-70 kit lens.
 
I've just received my 50mm F1.8 for my Nikon D80, haven't tried it yet (having to work is a bummer), but very surprised how small it is, hopefully it's as good as people are saying.

I already have the 18-70 kit lens.

Please let us know how you get on with it.
I am looking to buy this week too!
 
Used my 50mm f1.8 last night, build quality pretty good for such a little bit of money. Photos are very sharp and focusing is lightening fast. Oh and it takes a very good photo.
 
Correct I have those lenses.

Major differences in performance between the 3 lenses below?

Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.4G £300

Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 under £100

Nikon AF 50mm f/1.4D £235

Will there be a huge leap forward over my 16-85 ? I think not but will happily be told otherwise thanks in advance

I'm not familiar with the F1.8 version of the lens as I've never looked into it so I don't know how it compares with the other two lenses. The F1.4D is the older version of the F1.4G lens, the 'D' lens has no onboard AF which makes it quite a bit smaller and also faster to focus which will work fine on your D90 as it has an AF motor built into the body. The main issues with the D version of the lens were soft images at wide apertures and vignetting also on wide apertures on the larger FX sensors.

In short if you can find the F1.4D cheap I think it's definitely well worth considering because there's been some good low prices now it has a successor.

John
 
well I had a go with new lens last night, it's great, thought it would have felt to light on my camera after using the 18-70 for three years but it's fine, great to take some shots without the flash indoors in the evening, could have maybe done with the tripod, but still good!

Some pics attached!
 

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Nice - that first shot is a good possible entry for this months photo com,petition theme "colours" BTW ;)

Jim
 
Thanks Jim, how do I enter competition then?

How do a post a question here, having problems with my D80 and I can't see where I creat a new post?

Cheers

Ivor
 
Thanks Jim, how do I enter competition then?

How do a post a question here, having problems with my D80 and I can't see where I creat a new post?

Cheers

Ivor

RE: Compo entry - just pop over here :-

Photo Competition Forum at AVForums.com

Read the rules and create a new thread with you post of the shot - remember to include the Shooting/EXIF info. and keep a copy of theioriginal for verification purposes if yourb posted shot has the EXIF stripped out. :)

Regarding your Problem Query - just create a new thread over here :-

Digital Photography Forum at AVForums.com

and create a new thread asking your questions.

Hope this helps. - any problems just post back :smashin:

Jim
 
:smashin:

Check it out with the saturation and contrast tweaked up a bit as well and see what you prefer before entering ;)

Jim
 
So........ I went out and bought myself a 50mm F1.8 this afternoon!

I compared it in the shop to the 35mm AF-S F1.8 and even though the 35mm gave me more potential movement, the 50mm was just so damn sharp I couldnt say no.

Taken a few test shots tonight too, and it is superb.

Very happy :smashin:
 

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