Most Suitable Lens for Portrait


I want to dump all my crappy lens and buy one good portrait lens. Can you recommend one. Third party included.
 

AF-S 200mm F2
 

200 F2 is indeed poisonous. But, I am afraid you may never get a shot in if there are many photogs who are using 35 or 50mms crowding in front of you. Next best alternative then is to do an armpit shoot through. Also, if you are shooting girls clad in lingerie indoors in a small hotel bedroom, this lens cannot be used. Best bet is 70-200VR - allows you to shoot elephant and homo sapiens at the correct focal range. If need more zoom, add a teleconverter.
 

Last edited:
depends on what you are calling crappy I guese...I love my Nikon 24-120 ff zoom also my Nikon 180 f2.8 ff...it's lighter and considerable cheaper than either the Nik 200 f2 or the Nik 70-200 f 2.8zoom ... another lens I love is the Zeiss 100 f4,,,(beautiful glass).
 

depends on what you are calling crappy I guese...I love my Nikon 24-120 ff zoom also my Nikon 180 f2.8 ff...it's lighter and considerable cheaper than either the Nik 200 f2 or the Nik 70-200 f 2.8zoom ... another lens I love is the Zeiss 100 f4,,,(beautiful glass).

The bokeh you can achieve with the 180mm f/2.8 is not comparable at all to the 200mm f/2's.

Another lens you can consider is the 135mm f/2 DC. It is just the right weight for handling with the D300. The 180mm felt too light even with my D200.
 

Depends on how much space you have to work with, how much of the background and model (?) you want to show isn't it?
 

I don't recall Maddog mentioning anything about Bokah...Nor did I state that any of the lense were better than the Nik 200 f2... and contrary to your love for Bokah, its not always the most sought after criteria for rating a good portrait lens...Not to mention the extreme price of the 200 f2...I also own a 105 f1.8...an 85 f1.4 a Canon 50 f1.2... a Nik 300 f2.8 a nik 600 f4...several 4x5 cameras with lense that will give much better bokah than your 200 f2...SO WHAT! The two lense I mentioned were merely my recomendation from several decades of experience...

Anyway Cheers
 

I don't recall Maddog mentioning anything about Bokah...Nor did I state that any of the lense were better than the Nik 200 f2... and contrary to your love for Bokah, its not always the most sought after criteria for rating a good portrait lens...Not to mention the extreme price of the 200 f2...I also own a 105 f1.8...an 85 f1.4 a Canon 50 f1.2... a Nik 300 f2.8 a nik 600 f4...several 4x5 cameras with lense that will give much better bokah than your 200 f2...SO WHAT! The two lense I mentioned were merely my recomendation from several decades of experience...

Anyway Cheers
maddog just want one recommendation.
With very little description of what he wants from a portrait lens, so can recommend any lens that is good.

Fom fisheye/wide angle till tele-zoom lens can be a portrait lens and the portrait lens topic has been discuss till "death" here, without TS doing his homework of using search function.
Do we still need to input anymore useful suggestion here?
 

Last edited:
The Nikon 180 f2.8 on my d200 feels just fine so its a matter of opinion as well...The 300 f2.8 and the 200 f2 are definately quite heavy by comparison...Not to mention several times more expensive. I use my Nik 300 f2.8 alot in my travels...and it gets quite heavy at times...
 

200 F2 is indeed poisonous. But, I am afraid you may never get a shot in if there are many photogs who are using 35 or 50mms crowding in front of you. Next best alternative then is to do an armpit shoot through. Also, if you are shooting girls clad in lingerie indoors in a small hotel bedroom, this lens cannot be used. Best bet is 70-200VR - allows you to shoot elephant and homo sapiens at the correct focal range. If need more zoom, add a teleconverter.
if ones can afford this lens, why would he want squeeze with people? can jolly well hire his own private model.
the only reason want to use this lens in a group shoot is to hou lian around.
 

I don't recall Maddog mentioning anything about Bokah...Nor did I state that any of the lense were better than the Nik 200 f2... and contrary to your love for Bokah, its not always the most sought after criteria for rating a good portrait lens...Not to mention the extreme price of the 200 f2...I also own a 105 f1.8...an 85 f1.4 a Canon 50 f1.2... a Nik 300 f2.8 a nik 600 f4...several 4x5 cameras with lense that will give much better bokah than your 200 f2...SO WHAT! The two lense I mentioned were merely my recomendation from several decades of experience...

Anyway Cheers
the thread title says BEST,
not usable,
not affordable,
not popular

Is the BEST,
only the BEST,
nothing but the BEST.
 

lately i find 50mm f1.4 (nikon) is very nice but i saving to buy 30mm f1.4 (sigma) also
 

Haha. My vote goes to the Nikon 200mm f/2.

But for more affordable choices, you can consider 85mm or 50mm primes... Nikon has several options...
 

I want to dump all my crappy lens and buy one good portrait lens. Can you recommend one. Third party included.

The good old Tamron 28~105mm f/2.8. Contrasty. Just soft enough for girls at f/2.8, sharp enough at f/4. :-}

Cheers!
 

For me, AFS 200 f/2 rules them all..... only on a D3x. :thumbsup:

What did they say about a f/2 lens? Its a money lens.

Having said that, the user of the lens must know how to deploy it effectively.
 

Back
Top