Rajnish Duara
(K=1142) - Comment Date 11/1/2004
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Dear Carlos, The ideal lens for portrait is 50 mm.
Try Hasselblad its the best.
Regards, RD.
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Adam E. J. Squier
(K=9803) - Comment Date 11/1/2004
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I don't understand Rajnish's reply, so I'll give it a shot. 18-70 lens is really good for portraits on the long end (70), but it's a bit slow, so you might want a faster lens if it's only for portraits. If you want one for macro, too, your best bet would be the 60mm Micro that Nikon has. Rajnish's recommendation of the 50mm lens is a good one. It's fast and you can blur out the background easily. Whether you get the f/1.4 for f/1.8, you won't be sorry.
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Matej Maceas
(K=24381) - Comment Date 11/1/2004
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Depends, do you want to make close-up headshots or broader environmental portraits or something in between, all sorts of lenses can be good for portraiture, it's up to you the photographer to pick the one that best suits the photo you have in mind.
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Marcy Massura
(K=1848) - Comment Date 1/3/2005
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Well, I unconventially use a Canon 17-40 for most all of my portrait work. I have learned, that for the best DOF (or out of focus backgrounds) a longer lens is best. SO I have a 40-70 and even a 70-200! BUT, I have to interact with my subjects. Sometimes I need to be close enough to tickle a smile out of them-so I can't be across the room while shooting! Visit my portfolio to see the type of portrait work I do.....best luck
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Anthony Gargani
(K=4527) - Comment Date 1/3/2005
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Hi Carlos,
Something you need to keep in mind regarding the D70 and other digital slr's is that there is a field of view crop involved. What this means is that while the focal length of the lens and it's particular attributes will remain the same, the actual 'view' that reaches the cameras imaging sensor will be cropped. This gives you a smaller captured area than you would get if you were using 35mm film (or a full-sized sensor).
In other words, in the case of the D70 (which has a 'crop' factor of 1.5) a 50mm lens will give you a cropped field of view equal to 75mm.
Typically portrait lenses will range from 50mm to around 135mm on the long end depending on what you are looking for-as has been mentioned, full body, head and torso, headshot.
Most manufacturers offer the best bang for the buck with their 50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4 lenses. A 50mm lens on your D70 would be a great place to start and will give you a 75mm perspective. This is right in the middle of the 'portrait' range.
I can't give you specific recommendations on Nikon lenses because I've never used them. Hopefully someone who has can give you direct feedback on which Nikon lenses would be best for portraits and macro.
Take care...
ps-If anyone else can give a better explanation on the crop factor of dslr's-please do! I tried my best lol.
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Milos Hadzi-Stevic
(K=160) - Comment Date 1/3/2005
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In my opinion the best lens for portraits is 100mm macro...
Until recently i have had Canon A-1, and 4 lenses: 17mm wide, 35mm, 50mm and 100mm macro, and the best results i've had with my 100mm macro. With it you can get that extra blurrines you want when your making portraits... Ofcourse my lens was not AF...
And as you want the macro lens too you would be killing two flies whith one strike :)
As of manufacturer... Canon has always been my first and the best choice, Nikon is next, and Olympus is now very good - their ED lenses are excellent.
Ofcourse it's up to you to make your choice, and as Mataj said depends on what kind of portraits you wanna make...
But i think this 100mm macro is the best one you can buy, as you won't have to be too close to your model when you're shooting and still have great DOF.
best regards Milos
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Adam E. J. Squier
(K=9803) - Comment Date 1/4/2005
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Remember, Milos is writing about 35mm format, not APS-sized digital format. So his 100mm macro on his camera would have the same angle of view as a 65mm lens on your D70. That's why I suggested the 60mm Micro lens for you.
If you were to use the 100mm Micro lens on your D70, you'd need to be too far away from the subject for most applications.
My portrait lens for the D70 and D100 is a 24-120 VR lens, which works very well, but won't really give you the shallow depth of field. For that work, I use my 50/1.4 or my 85/1.8 lenses.
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jennifer armstrong
(K=6688) - Comment Date 1/22/2005
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hi Carlos - this is a little late but i just came across your question. I have the same camera & also needed a good portrait lens, but i also wanted one with macro capability. I did some research & decided on & bought the Tamron 90mm SP MACRO f2.8Di AF (for Nikon)& i've been incredibly happy with it. There are some really great reviews out there on the net about it, which are worth reading through, for sure. I find it incredibly lightweight & the quality is just amazing, for portrait work & also for macro shots. I would hightly recommend this lens & at least would recommned you considering it & doing some of your own research. Hope this helps. all the best - jennifer
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jennifer armstrong
(K=6688) - Comment Date 1/22/2005
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hi carlos...me again. In my experience & reading, i've always known/heard that a 120mm lens is the best for shooting portraits - that focal length, i understand, has the very least distortion, & therefore creates a very 'actual' representation of someone's face, body, etc. However, with the focal-length 'change' that comes with using a digital slr, like the nikon d70, the 90mm lens will give you pretty close to 120mm on a standard 35mm camera. That was another reason i opted to purchase the tamron 90mm. Plus it has 1-1 micro capability.
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Zoe Wiseman
(K=822) - Comment Date 2/5/2005
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I actually had the same question. Funny. I had the same standard lens too. Same Camera.
I tried my Nikkor 35-105mm zoom lens 3.5 - 22 the other day for headshots and got pleasing results. Attaching a photo from a couple days ago for example.
Since I mainly shoot film I really don't understand what everyone is saying about the "crop" factor that happens with digital. Can someone explain? Sorry... I might be a little dense here.
With 35mm film.. I've been told that a 105 or a 135mm lens are good places to start for portraits. Why is it different with digital?
Thanks!
Zoe
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Adam E. J. Squier
(K=9803) - Comment Date 2/6/2005
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Hi Zoe,
The crop factor is because the size of the sensor on most digital SLRs is smaller than the frame of film that goes through your camera. Thus, it would be like taking your negative and cutting off 1/8 inch (or so) all around it, and then printing that.
The angle of view is smaller.
I used my Nikkor 35-105 AFD for all of my portraits prior to going digital. It's a fantastic under-rated lens. It was discontinued because the 28-105 came out and had more range and is a good lens, too.
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genald tungol
(K=17) - Comment Date 3/13/2005
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dear carlos,
i use 50mm 1.4,85mm 1.8, and 70-200mm 2.8vr for my images...3 of them have different results.my fav is e 70-200vr.amazing sharpness and speed.or u might consider e 17-55mm dx since ur using d70.
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genald tungol
(K=17) - Comment Date 3/13/2005
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dear carlos,
for your macro lenses...i suggest e 200mm ed 2.8 if u have e working distance.it does great images w my d70 as well.
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Sony Kusumo
(K=7190) - Comment Date 4/8/2005
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Agree with you Jennifer. I got myself a Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 macro. An older version, not a DI one, but it's very good!
Quite slow in the macro section, but for portrait it focuses quite fast.
One important thing about portrait & macro lens is that it has [an almost] the same clarity and reproduction along it's entire opening. And this one does have...
Btw, I use this lens on EOS 30, EOS 300D, and EOS 20D, and it works perfectly well on either film and digital bodies, albeit the crop factor of 1.6 on Canon digital [prosumer] SLR...
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Carlos Silva
(K=12) - Comment Date 12/25/2008
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For me, the best lens for portraits is the 85mm f/1.8, with no doubt. Try and take home. You will be love the final image quality.
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Glenda portrait with nikkor 85mm f/1.8
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Jeroen Wenting
(K=25317) - Comment Date 12/28/2008
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Carlos, next time check the dates on posts. The original question was almost 5 years ago, the last reply a belated 20 months after that.
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Denise Sims
(K=5) - Comment Date 10/9/2010
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Jeroen, I'm glad Carlos responded, it's 2010 and it's the answer I was looking for - also good info for someone!
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