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Which of these lenses?
Hello all, I just bought a new D3500 Nikon and not sure which of these lenses fits with it and is a good one for modelling photo shoot, would you please kindly let me know? NIKON 135mm f2.8 AI lens Nikon AF Nikkor 70 - 300mm 1:4-5.6G Lens Tamron 70-300 4-5.6 Di macro zoom lens for Nikon Tamron AF 28-200mm f/3.8-5.6 lens for Nikon-AF TOP-MAX 420-800 mm Super Telephoto lens for Nikon NIKON AI-S 100-300 5.6 MANUAL FOCUS ZOOM Thanks a lot for your help. May 23 19 01:56 pm Link To be honest I don't like any of those lenses. On a crop sensor I would shoot for the Nikon 50mm 1.8g. Its cheap and effective. There is a youtuber that uses it and gets great results on his portraits. I have one since there are so cheap. A great complement to my 85mm1.4. May 23 19 02:17 pm Link Angel House Portraits wrote: Thanks so much! I already have a 55mm which comes with D3500. May 23 19 02:20 pm Link May 23 19 02:27 pm Link Shay Tehra wrote: It is best to buy a lens when you know what you NEED. You refer to having a "55" lens, is that an 18-55 kit lens? May 23 19 03:04 pm Link Shay Tehra wrote: All of those lenses will fit on your camera. Shay Tehra wrote: When I shot models with a crop frame camera, I generally worked between 40mm and 70mm. May 23 19 04:20 pm Link You can use Nikon AI and AI-s lenses on your Nikon DSLR. However, do not use pre-AI (A, C, F, H, HC, K, N, NC, O, P, PD, Q, QD, S, SC, T, UD, etc.) lenses on your DSLR. Do not use lenses that have had “third-party” conversions to AI or AI-s (those that were converted without using the Nikon conversion kit) on your digital camera. They can wreck the lens mount on your camera. With maybe a few exceptions, the AI and AI-s lenses are not as sharp as late-model AF lenses. This is especially true of zoom lenses. It was not until the digital era that zoom lenses came close to the sharpness of prime lenses. Also, manually refocusing after each shot will slow you down. I can’t imagine a use for a 420-800mm lens in a model shoot. I’ve never heard of the brand. Chances are that it won’t be very sharp, and it will be very heavy and unwieldy to hand hold. Plan on using a very sturdy tripod, if you get that lens. Most likely you will never be shooting a model from a distance that will allow you to use that lens (unless you’re standing on one mountain and the model is on another). I have never used a lens longer than 300mm for shooting models (and that lens VERY few times, like once since 2011) – and only if I’m about 30 feet or farther from the model and shooting full-length loosely cropped). You didn’t mention the aperture of that lens. Most likely it has a variable maximum aperture. That is a hassle that’s likely to slow you down. (Say you have selected your aperture, and then you zoom in. That aperture might not be available at the longer focal length.) That goes for variable maximum aperture lenses in general. Generally, lenses that have approximately a 1:3 zoom ratio (like 35-105mm) are sharper. The greater the zoom range, the less sharp and/or the more expensive the lens is likely to be – and the more likely that the lens will have a variable maximum aperture. Generally, the focal lengths you will use for shooting models will between 50mm and 200mm. You can cover those ranges with two zoom lenses. I have eight different Nikon AF lenses, but as far back as I can remember, I’ve used two lenses (the long discontinued 35-80mm f/2.8 and the current model 70-200mm f/2.8) for shooting models. You could extend that range, still using two lenses, by substituting a 28-80mm or 24-80mm f/2.8 for the 35-70mm). However, while it’s nice to be able to zoom out a bit beyond 50mm in tight quarters, I rarely shoot a model with a focal length of less than 50mm. Occasionally, I’ll use a 105mm or 135mm f/2 AF DC for beauty work. Occasionally, I’ll use a 50mm f/1.4 in dim light (but I don’t recall the last time that I did). For the lower price, you will make certain tradeoffs (like less sharpness, less ability to handle flare, and chromatic and other aberrations). As mentioned above, none of the AF lenses that you’ve listed above is a stellar performer. In fact, by today’s standards, neither of the manual focus lenses is a stellar performer. I would begin with one zoom lens (a 70-200mm and either a 35-80mm, 28-80mm or 24-80mm) and get the best one that you can afford. Camera bodies come and go, but if you get good lenses, you can use them for a lifetime. Cameras depreciate, but good glass can actually appreciate. (The 105mm and 135mm AF DC lenses are worth more now, used, than I paid for them when they were new – and I bought them for use with film cameras, before digital.) May 23 19 04:42 pm Link Personally, when it comes to fixed lenses on full frame cameras, I prefer the field of view of an 85/105mm. So on a crop sensor I opt for the Nikon AF-d 60mm f2.8 macro, I like to call it the Swiss Army knife of 50-60mm lenses. I do own the AI-s version of the Nikkor 135mm f2.8 lens, which is a beautiful performer. But let's face it, it's not auto focus and it doesn’t have image stabilisation. However, it is fast glass and possibly the cheapest way to get a quality f/2.8 in a fixed Nikon/Nikkor lens. If you’re looking at using manual focus Nikkors for portrait photography, I would recommend taking a look at the 105mm range, my preference is the 105mm f1.8, again it’s the AI-s version. If you’re looking for a proven and cheaper AF Nikon portrait zoom, I’d also recommend the Nikon AF-n 80-200 f/2.8 (i.e. the two ring version). Although I mostly use Nikon gear, my favourite portrait zoom lens is the Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 AF IS lens. This old version has been updated and improved upon twice now, but the older version 1 is the only version I have had the pleasure of using … and it truly is a pleasure to use. If you mostly shoot in available light, aim to buy fast-glass lenses. I know it’s easy to shoot at higher ISO's on the slower lenses in your list, but IMO using a high ISO … doesn’t give the best results! May 23 19 08:34 pm Link Camerosity wrote: Camerosity makes many good points in his sound advice, including the one above. Although I would like to add that if you can't afford the best lenses, then using a cheaper modern day lens that is designed to make the most of your camera's on board wizardry is often a much better option than buying old, often expensive, manual focus lenses that can't fully utilise your camera's wizardry. May 23 19 09:37 pm Link I now mainly shoot portraits on an FX Nikon camera (D800 and D850) and my main lenses are the primes 85mm f/1.4 and the 135mm f/2 AF DC, plus the zoom 24-70 f/2.8 When I started shooting studio and models I had a Nikon DX, the D90 then the D7000 and I used 2 lenses, the 24-70 f/2.8 and the 70-200 f/4. My first prime was the 85mm f/1.8. I think the zooms 24-70 and 70-200 are a good combination that will cover many situations. But non of these are in the list you have purchased. May 25 19 03:25 am Link |
