Help choosing a lens for D 300

[diglloyd]

Originally Posted by Radomir

i have read so many reviews, but I thought some of you have "working"
experience.. I am in dilemma between 85 mm 1.8 and 60 mm 2.8 lens for my new D 300. Mostly I am doing wedding and portraits in my studio. i never used nikon lenses before and that is why I need your advice,
thanks, Rad

If manual focus is an option, consider the Zeiss ZF 50/2 Makro-Planar. Or maybe the Voigtlander 58/1.4.

[David_Buzzard]

Can't go wrong with the 85mm f/1.8. It's a great lens for tight portraits. It's an easily found used lens, which would be my advice when looking for one. Mine is 15+ years old, and still going strong.

The other lens that's cheap and good is the old 18-70 kit lens. There's tons of those around, and it was a pretty sharp lens.

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[Richard_Coyle]

Radomir
From my experience, the best Nikkor lenses for portrait, depending on the sensor to subject distance, are the 85 f1.4/1.8 prime lenses, and the 24/28-70 f2.8 zooms. As David says the 85 f1.8 is "a great lens for tight portraits". The f1.4 is even better, mostly with regard to bokeh and contrast, and essentially equal in the other optical qualities.

But for the most flexibility, the zooms can't be beat, with the 28-70 the prior reigning champion, performing better than most primes in this range. It's been my personal favorite since it was first introduced. But with the new 24-70, a new champion has been born. It's simply one of the finest lenses available, but at a substantial cost. With it's introduction, the 28-70 has become available used, although it's still highly regarded and still is relatively expensive.

Since you've mentioned your intent to purchase a 50mm lens, I'd suggest either one as very good, with the f1.8 ever so slightly sharper and with less CA at wider apertures, but the f1.4 producing slightly better bokeh and contrast, same situation as the 85s, either of which I'd also recommend. Then if your budget can stand it, pick up one of the zooms, and you'll have all the bases covered! From the most budget friendly perspective, I think if you stay with the f1.8s, you'll be very pleased. Then pick up a used 28-70 and you'll have about the same invested in all three as the new 24-70 alone.

Finally, from my experience with the AF 60 f2.8 micro, while it's an excellent 1:1 short distance macro lens, it's not the best for portrait use. It isn't as forgiving with more harsh backgrounds, and tends to lose sharpness somewhat at distances beyond about 10 feet. The new version of this lens hasn't been out long enough for a full appraisal, but initial reports are quite good in both the macro and other categories of use.

[Radomir]

Once again, thank you all, I appreciate you opinions,
Regards, Rad

[James Haba]

If you have the room the 85mm is sweet.

[Bruce_Stenman]

For portraits the longer the lens the more flattering the perspective becomes. For a 1.5 crop camera anything at 50mm or longer will work well. Overall the best lens is the 70-200mm f2.8 for indoor, outdoor, and wedding usage. The 17-55mm f2.8 is a perfect wedding lens but for portrait use the 24-70mm f2.8 would provide better results. The 24-70mm is too long for general wedding use. So there is no "best" lens.

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