Portrait lens suggestion, D800

shutterfinger · Dec 11, 2019

My Nikon D800 is on its way and I'd like a not too expensive Nikkor prime portrait lens to compliment it.
Currently I have a AF 60mm f2.8 Macro; AF 35-135mm f3.5-4.5 zoom; a Sigma? AF 20-35 zoom (haven't used it in years); a Nikon 75-300 f4.5-5.6 AF zoom that I do not like the results of.
Sigma or Tokina if they are really good.
New anything is out of the question.

Austintatious · Dec 12, 2019

For a lower cost unit : AF Nikkor 85mm F1.8D
For a bit more $$: AF-S Nikkor 85mm F1.4G
For least cost .... AF Nikkor 50mm F1.8D the nifty fifty.

RalphLambrecht · Dec 12, 2019

Austintatious said:
For a lower cost unit : AF Nikkor 85mm F1.8D
For a bit more $$: AF-S Nikkor 85mm F1.4G
For least cost .... AF Nikkor 50mm F1.8D the nifty fifty.

+1 but
I can also recommend a used Nikkor 85mm f/2 AIS; they are from the 1970s,inexpensive and really good for portraits.

mshchem · Dec 13, 2019

I have a Nikkor AF-D 1.4 That I have used with a D800, now use with D850. It's a great lens. I have seen used in excellent shape for under 400 dollars, that's still a good bit of money but it's a beautiful metal body, ED glass made in Japan lens. The 105 and 135 DC lenses are amazing but usually more money. Fast lens like a 1.4 means you can stop down to 2.8 and have great bokeh, and sharp subject.
MHOFWIW

Pieter12 · Dec 13, 2019

AF DC Nikkor 135mm f/2. Sharp, spectacular lens. Has defocus control to limit depth of focus at smaller apertures.

etn · Dec 13, 2019

mshchem said:
I have a Nikkor AF-D 1.4 That I have used with a D800, now use with D850. It's a great lens. I have seen used in excellent shape for under 400 dollars

You surely mean the 85mm. I agree it is a great lens. $400 is an incredible price, if you find one at this price by all means go for it! (I paid about double that for mine, but it's really in like new condition!)

Another well underrated lens which works well for portraits is the 180 2.8 AF-D. It generally goes for around $300 in good condition. At this price everyone should have one IMHO.

removed account4 · Dec 13, 2019

Austintatious said:
For least cost .... AF Nikkor 50mm F1.8D the nifty fifty.

+1 !

Pieter12 · Dec 13, 2019

You just bought a high-resolution, high-end digital camera--don't cheap out on the lens, you'll be wasting your efforts.

StepheKoontz · Dec 13, 2019

etn said:
You surely mean the 85mm. I agree it is a great lens. $400 is an incredible price, if you find one at this price by all means go for it! (I paid about double that for mine, but it's really in like new condition!)

Another well underrated lens which works well for portraits is the 180 2.8 AF-D. It generally goes for around $300 in good condition. At this price everyone should have one IMHO.

Either of these are fantastic portrait lenses for smallish $$ The 85mm f1.4D isn't nicknamed "The creme machine" for nothing! The 85mm f1.8D isn't anywhere near the smooth bokehlish that the f1.4D is. Both shot at f2.8, the 1.4 just has much smoother rendering. The 180mm f2.8D is another great lens. One not mentioned is the 80-200 f2.8D. I have the two ring version, it's a super portrait lens as well.

jim10219 · Dec 13, 2019

Check out the Samyang 85/1.4. I have the manual focus variant and it's mind blowingly good for the money. Mine is for Canon, but they make it in Nikon too. It's very sharp and the bokeh is very smooth and not at all distracting like it can be on so many other fast 85's. They also sell it under a few other brand names. I think Rokinon has one. It's the same lens, but usually costs a few buck more for the rebrand. I haven't gotten my hands on the autofocus variant, so I can't comment on that one. But I highly recommend you checking one out before spending more money on a lesser lens with a better name attached to it.

mshchem · Dec 13, 2019

etn said:
You surely mean the 85mm. I agree it is a great lens. $400 is an incredible price, if you find one at this price by all means go for it! (I paid about double that for mine, but it's really in like new condition!)

Another well underrated lens which works well for portraits is the 180 2.8 AF-D. It generally goes for around $300 in good condition. At this price everyone should have one IMHO.

Yes 85mm, I'm losing my mind. And yes, if I didn't all ready have one, I would have bought it. The kids in the camera shop wanted some sort of new Cosina made Zeiss manual lens. I have an AF-D 28 1.4, since Nikon came out with the new AF-S E version the AF-D version is coming down to earth. I still like to use my F5 and even F2A with these beautiful lenses.

mshchem · Dec 13, 2019

I checked Ebay just now there are decent 85mm f1.4 D lenses, lots of them, low end is 425, they seem to be running 600+. I use mine as my default lens, I think it's amazing. I use a Nikon L37c UV filter and a 77mm Mamiya rubber lens hood. The hood collapsed makes a terrific bumper. Never heard "the creme machine " before, it is!

shutterfinger · Dec 13, 2019

I emptied the bank to get the D800 so $400+ for a lens will be down the road.
I appreciate the suggestions and tips so far.

StepheKoontz said:
One not mentioned is the 80-200 f2.8D.

Do you have any examples I can view online?
Nikon Nikkor 60mm f2.8 @ f4, 1/60, built in flash, ISO 100: (reduced in size to fit this server)

Pieter12 · Dec 13, 2019

shutterfinger said:
I emptied the bank to get the D800 so $400+ for a lens will be down the road.
I appreciate the suggestions and tips so far.

Do you have any examples I can view online?
Nikon Nikkor 60mm f2.8 @ f4, 1/60, built in flash, ISO 100: (reduced in size to fit this server)
View attachment 236248

If it were my decision, I wouldn't buy anything now, just use what you have until you can afford a very good lens. In the Nikon Technical Guide for the D800, due to the high resolution of the sensor, there are several warnings about image degradation caused by mirror slap and diffraction. Poor lens performance will show up more with this camera than others.

StepheKoontz · Dec 13, 2019

This was shot with an 85mm f1.4D @ f2.2 on a D700. The key to a good portrait lens is how smooth the transition from out of focus to in focus is. The smoothness of the background isn't as important to me. A lot of fast lenses fail at this and are busy looking as image fades on each side of sharp focus. The 85mm f1.4D, the 105mm f2 DC and the 58mm f1.4G are sublime in their rendering. This attribute is what makes the 105mm f2.5 nikkor such a winner and IMHO makes the earlier Pre-AI Sonnar version the best for portraits.

As far as those "high resolution warnings", they apply for pixel peeping or ginormous prints only. A lens that looks good on an 8X10 print from a lower rez camera will look fine on a 8X10 print from a high rez camera.

The other thing I have learned when shooting fast tele glass is ALWAYS use AF-C mode set to focus priority and move the focus points to focus (Or use 3D tracking mode). AF-S mode I always end up with a bunch of out of focus shots in a session.

mshchem · Dec 13, 2019

shutterfinger said:
I emptied the bank to get the D800 so $400+ for a lens will be down the road.
I appreciate the suggestions and tips so far.

Do you have any examples I can view online?
Nikon Nikkor 60mm f2.8 @ f4, 1/60, built in flash, ISO 100: (reduced in size to fit this server)
View attachment 236248

Use the lens you have wide open for now, don't use the built-in flash. Use window light, wait until you can find a nice prime lens. Manual focus lenses are fine for making videos, but seem like a bad idea on a DSLR.

shutterfinger · Dec 13, 2019

I did one with the 35-135 Zoom at 112mm f4.5 hand held. I have read the manual and its warnings. Indoors, mixed fluorescent needs flash help as ambient is 2 to 3 seconds on the recent overcast and light rain days.

I like this camera!

mshchem · Dec 13, 2019

shutterfinger said:
I did one with the 35-135 Zoom at 112mm f4.5 hand held. I have read the manual and its warnings. Indoors, mixed fluorescent needs flash help as ambient is 2 to 3 seconds on the recent overcast and light rain days.
View attachment 236256

I like this camera!

It's, the D800, is a groundbreaking camera, like the D3 was/is for the sports and wildlife guys. I forget that it's not super high iso. I sold my D800 and my D3, bought a used D5 and, after the price came down a bit a D850. The native ISO on the D5 auto ISO goes up to 108,000. I used bounce flash off the ceiling (white) with my D800, worked great. Any Nikon D5 or later flash will work, I used a SB 800 best flash I've ever used, a used SB-28DX or similar, buy it used cheap. That D800 will serve you well. (Nice shot, you look up close its scary the resolution )

mshchem · Dec 13, 2019

StepheKoontz said:
This was shot with an 85mm f1.4D @ f2.2 on a D700. The key to a good portrait lens is how smooth the transition from out of focus to in focus is. The smoothness of the background isn't as important to me. A lot of fast lenses fail at this and are busy looking as image fades on each side of sharp focus. The 85mm f1.4D, the 105mm f2 DC and the 58mm f1.4G are sublime in their rendering. This attribute is what makes the 105mm f2.5 nikkor such a winner and IMHO makes the earlier Pre-AI Sonnar version the best for portraits.

As far as those "high resolution warnings", they apply for pixel peeping or ginormous prints only. A lens that looks good on an 8X10 print from a lower rez camera will look fine on a 8X10 print from a high rez camera.

The other thing I have learned when shooting fast tele glass is ALWAYS use AF-C mode set to focus priority and move the focus points to focus (Or use 3D tracking mode). AF-S mode I always end up with a bunch of out of focus shots in a session.

View attachment 236255

Well said. Nice shot

mshchem · Dec 13, 2019

mshchem said:
It's, the D800, is a groundbreaking camera, like the D3 was/is for the sports and wildlife guys. I forget that it's not super high iso. I sold my D800 and my D3, bought a used D5 and, after the price came down a bit a D850. The native ISO on the D5 auto ISO goes up to 108,000. I used bounce flash off the ceiling (white) with my D800, worked great. Any Nikon D5 or later flash will work, I used a SB 800 best flash I've ever used, a used SB-28DX or similar, buy it used cheap. That D800 will serve you well. (Nice shot, you look up close its scary the resolution )

Nikon DX or later, damn auto spell check!

StepheKoontz · Dec 14, 2019

This was with a D700 and a 80-200 F2.8 wide open at 185mm 1/60 hand held.

reddesert · Dec 14, 2019

If you don't need AF, then the Nikon 105/2.5 that StepheKoontz mentioned is well regarded. The AI version should meter in A and M modes on a D800.

I bought one thirty years ago and took some college friends' yearbook pictures, among other things, and they haven't complained yet.

shutterfinger · Dec 14, 2019

StepheKoontz said:
This was with a D700 and a 80-200 F2.8 wide open at 185mm 1/60 hand held.

Thank you for posting this.
Should retro fit my F4s that I purchased new in 1991 also.

shutterfinger · May 21, 2020

So my new to me AF-S VR 70-200 f2.8 G arrived too late in the day to do any testing. The serial number suggest it is from 2003 http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html . I found the manual for it in Nikon's archives and this Ken Rockwell review https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/70200vr.htm by searching the name plate verbatim.
The optics look good and were stated good on the Adorama listing.
Anyone have experience with this model lens?
It has some usability with the F4, a +.

RalphLambrecht · May 21, 2020

shutterfinger said:
My Nikon D800 is on its way and I'd like a not too expensive Nikkor prime portrait lens to compliment it.
Currently I have a AF 60mm f2.8 Macro; AF 35-135mm f3.5-4.5 zoom; a Sigma? AF 20-35 zoom (haven't used it in years); a Nikon 75-300 f4.5-5.6 AF zoom that I do not like the results of.
Sigma or Tokina if they are really good.
New anything is out of the question.

look for an old Nikkor 85mm f/2. They are inexpensive but great!

Portrait lens suggestion, D800

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