Portraity Type lens for Nikon?

[crackboy]

So we just had our little guy



as he is our first, I mean to take endless photos of him just laying there looking cute.

Currently have a 20mm and a 50 mm which work, but it ruins the moment when I realize i need to switch lenses since i am too close to him etc.

thinking something in like the 20-70 mm range or something like that. that is a good bang for the buck type lens would be best as money is tight

[Fuzz]

Congratulations on the new arrival! I'm sure you'll be snapping away.

I'm not a Nikon shooter, but typically you want longer focal lengths for portrait.

In the Canon world, 85mm and 135mm lenses are hugely popular for head-shot type portraits. Wider lenses, e.g. 35mm, distort features up close, so they're more used for environmental/full-body portraits, where you're shooting from a bit farther away. This might be more important with a baby, since they're small and you'll be getting really up close to fill the frame, which will create even more distortion with a wide-angle lens.

Examples of different focal lengths here: http://www.mcpactions.com/blog/2010/...rs-experiment/

Don't know about specific lenses in the Nikon lineup, but I'd say something that gives you at least 50-100mm or thereabouts would be useful. If you'll be shooting indoors a lot, you may find a faster lens useful (i.e. can use natural light and avoid harsh flash) -- the flipside is that faster lenses (f/2.8 or better) are usually more expensive.

[crackboy]

yea, my thinking was the shorter lens would be nice since i sometimes don't have the space to get around, but am aware of the distortion with the wider lenses.

i have a 70-210 which works but the problem is the physical distance since our place is not that big. its kind of a trade off. i think from what i saw in the past the 85 is a great prime length for the nikon portraits as well.

I am tempted to just grab the 17-55 kit lens but i was hoping for somethign faster

[Lonnie]

Hey Crackboy,

I can't comment directly on the lens situation, but we've been doing a 365 project with our little guy. (at least) One pic of him each day of the first year of his life. It's been hard some days, but we've managed so far. I will say this, I've used every camera I've owned (including my cell phone), and every lens I own for this. It's a worthwhile endeavor (you can see a change everyday) and I HIGHLY recommend trying it.

[outabounds]

I use the 50mm 1.8 all the time for portrait shots of my kid (also 365'ing this year of her life). You might be better off putting your money into a flash and zooming with your feet, because the on-camera flash in this shot is absolutely horrid. Bouncing the flash from my sb-700 off the ceiling and walls does more for my shots of her than any lens. The sb-400 is relatively inexpensive and coupled with your kit lens might be the most cost-effective solution. I like the 50 because I can use it with or without the flash.

[crackboy]

that was actually a cell phone shot so understandably bad

[Tippster]

85mm prime on a crop body, 135mm prime on a FF (same effective focal length) is pretty standard for portrait pros, mainly for the creamy bokeh...

That said I like my 50.

You might be better off putting your money into a flash and zooming with your feet, because the on-camera flash in this shot is absolutely horrid.

By zooming with his feet I'm assuming you want to move the flash farther away. The longer focal length does exactly that, it also separates the subject from the background more, lessening the likelihood of background elements interfering visually.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

If you have the $$$, a 24-70 f2.8 is a pretty sweet lens for portrait type work on a crop body. For less $$$ the 16-85 DX does a very nice job as well, and does all kinds of other things well too.