Best lens for studio/portrait

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connersz

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Jamie
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Hi,

I am looking to buy a Nikon D5100 shortly and was wondering what sort of lens is best for my main interest.

I will get the kit lens with it but I mostly like to do studio stuff and want to start having a go at portrait.

I am a beginner but have built up a good set of studio equipment so far.

I was looking at one, i think the 50mm 1.8f VR, would this sort of thing be suitable?
 
Learn with the Kit Lens 1st ,, thats what everyone says to do

i didnt - i went head in with 50mm 1.4 ,, yes it was great ,, thou what i then found out ,, u need to move a round ,, fine if u can ,, thou a lot of times studios are 3ft to short :lol:

i then went for 16-85 mm ive never looked back ,,

all down to what your shooting i guess ,, full length ,, head shoulders etc
 
It all depends on your style Jamie. I'm shooting a lot of portraits with my 15-30mm on D3 (full frame). But yes, for traditional portraits: 50mm, 85mm, 80-200mm
 
I used a 70-200 F/2.8 in a studio the other day, on my 5D mk2, I absolutely loved it. Perfectly sharp corner to corner when stopped down and very versatile!

But yeah, with the crop on your Nikon a 50mm f/1.8 is a perfect combination for portraits :)
 
a 50mm 1.8 is a great lens to learn studio/portraits. A lot of lens for not a lot of money.

it's what I started out with, and even now I don't stray too far....a 17-50 2.8 and 70mm 2.4 are my portrait lenses :)
 
Not a expert but learn what you can do with the lens's you have and find what works for you
Before buying more lens's
 
connersz said:
Hi,

I am looking to buy a Nikon D5100 shortly and was wondering what sort of lens is best for my main interest.

I will get the kit lens with it but I mostly like to do studio stuff and want to start having a go at portrait.

I am a beginner but have built up a good set of studio equipment so far.

I was looking at one, i think the 50mm 1.8f VR, would this sort of thing be suitable?
Click to expand...

Unless you really want to kick-off with very shallow DoF portraits (nice, but not for everything) start off just using the kit lens.

It's mainly about distance - not too close to upset perspective and make the subject uncomfortable, but close enough for good communication. That usually means something like 50-80mm on crop format cameras for solo portraits, but there's a big difference between a tight headshot and head & shoulders of a couple, so there are no hard and fast rules.

Give it a go, then make your lens decision based on that experience.
 
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