What is a good Potrait lens for Nikon DSLR?

[Rashkae]

Samples as requested. A cousin's wedding that i was helping out in.
My fren's point is that when he zoom in a couple of times...becomes rather grainy n pixelised. n when trying to use e sharpen feature in photoshop...he cannot sharpen at all.

I'm assuming that's heavily reduced. Are you shooting at full 6MP? If yes, then there's definitely a lot PS can do. If he said he can't sharpen it, then he needs to go back to Photoshop basics.

 

[ArcticFox]

Sometimes it's not always the sharper the better, I prefer softer image to sharper image

 

[scaredcloud]

Dunno leh. he keep saying e pics look flat...cannot sharpen in photoshop..... complained that he has to tweak e colours to make it more 3d.....

Was shooting with a brother in e forums... noticed my pics r not as sharp as his ( better cam with higher resolution maybe) his can even see e hairs on e model's hand while mine althou from same angel n lighting.... mine cannot...she seems like she has perfectly smooth hands....lolx.

It could be due to DOF, if you focus on the face with your lens wide open, the hand may go slightly OOF due to shallow DOF, then it is no surprise that you can't see the hair.
Izit possible to let us have the original 6mp file without process? Then it maybe able to tell more stories.

 

[Youhong]

Nikon 50mm 1.8 is the value for money lens for you...

I also recommend Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro... It not only can shoot macro at 1:1 magnification, it can also deliver sharp portraiture shots with decent bokeh.

 

[karkadann]

I'm assuming that's heavily reduced. Are you shooting at full 6MP? If yes, then there's definitely a lot PS can do. If he said he can't sharpen it, then he needs to go back to Photoshop basics.

Shooting in jpeg fine.... not nef raw. is there a dif? ha ha...have onli 2 g flash so did that to get more pics in.

 

[karkadann]

Nikon 50mm 1.8 is the value for money lens for you...

I also recommend Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro... It not only can shoot macro at 1:1 magnification, it can also deliver sharp portraiture shots with decent bokeh.

Thanks...still starting out so techincally weak as he11 now.

 

[conquer500]

i want to see your photo exif + the photo

Cause i dun believe its not sharp. 18-70 so sharp already when i use it.

 

[karkadann]

i want to see your photo exif + the photo

Cause i dun believe its not sharp. 18-70 so sharp already when i use it.

Errrrr.... meaning? i m a noob at this. so u gotta enlighten me on this.
E files i got r e ones from my cam alredi.

 

[GIS-Man]

Firstly your pics look quite ok.

I'd use the Nikon 50mm f1.8 or f1.4. But before you go out and buy a New Lens at the behest of some shopkeeper who just wants to make your bucks ($) try shooting with a tripod and remote shutter release.The cause may be a slight camera shake. Seems like you took the photos at angles not normal to many a photographer. Try the Tripod method. And Oh yes make sure your subjects are still before you press that shutter.

Hope this helps.

 

[zac08]

Your pics looks good...

So what's the problem?? Seriously, there seems to be some problem with your DI fren...

 

[Grace]

Hi,

I agree with sohyp. Best lenses for portrait photography is the 50mm 1.4
and the 85mm 1.8.

I have used the 85mm extensively for wedding protraits and it is superb. Clarity is unbelievable. Both lenses are great inventments, little pricey.

Cheers
Grace

 

[karkadann]

This is a bigger version of the pic. Can save n zoom in than u might get wat my fren means about cannot sharpen on photoshop.

 

[lsisaxon]

Samples as requested. A cousin's wedding that i was helping out in.
My fren's point is that when he zoom in a couple of times...becomes rather grainy n pixelised. n when trying to use e sharpen feature in photoshop...he cannot sharpen at all.

Did he shoot with a low resolution or set the ISO too high?

 

[scaredcloud]

This is a bigger version of the pic. Can save n zoom in than u might get wat my fren means about cannot sharpen on photoshop.

Your photo is perfectly normal and I do not understand why it could not be sharpened.
Also, did you save your image for web? Because the exif data is ripped off.

 

[lsisaxon]

This is a bigger version of the pic. Can save n zoom in than u might get wat my fren means about cannot sharpen on photoshop.

This is still not the actual image from the camera because it has already been downsampled. We will never be able to zoom in at all. What you can do is to post a 100% crop. If possible keep the EXIF information intact so that we can diagnose what the problem is. I think it might be a case of PLBV. I agree with scaredcloud that the photo is perfectly normal. How much sharper do you expect?

 

[kopio]

18-70mm is a very sharp and fast lens. I have taken many portraits with this lens.

 

[alternatve]

That photo looks plenty sharp to me. A better lens would give a tad more sharpness, but at a very high cost. Also, since you only have 6mp to work with, you are going to lose resolution when you enlarge the photo too much. Listen to your brothers here when they say your lens is sharp enough. Stop down a little, say f/5.6 or even f/8 and it'll be tack sharp.

Samuel