Portrait Lens

Nikon 50mm f/1.8G for Wedding Photography

Apr

2013

April 17, 2013

As promised in my Nikon D800 for Wedding Photography article that I wrote a couple of days ago, I am continuing the series and this time with the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G lens. As I noted in my Nikon 50mm f/1.8G review, Lola and I really love this lens for everyday and commercial photography. Because I was so impressed with the lens, I ended up replacing the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G with the f/1.8G version last year. While we still own the 50mm f/1.4G, we made it a backup lens, which is now pretty much permanently attached to the Nikon D700 (also used as a backup camera).

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Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: Nikon, Portrait Lens, Portrait Photography, Wedding Photography

Which Nikon Prime Lens to Buy First?

Nov

2012

November 25, 2012

By Romanas Naryškin 92 Comments

Buying a DSLR often means having several accessories to go with it, among which are lenses. But choosing your first lens isn’t easy – there are so many choices available at so many different price points, which can make it quite confusing for a beginner to find a lens for a particular need. In this article, I will discuss several budget Nikon fast prime lenses most suitable as a first step into the fixed focal length world. Which Nikon prime should you buy first? Which one would make the most sense? You need a lens to stay on your camera for years to come, you need it to be good for family portraits and some occasional snaps. Or maybe even for your future photography business – who knows?

Well, read on as I highlight the strengths of each affordable fast prime Nikon has to offer. I hope this article will help you with this tough choice most of us had to make at one point or another.

1) Why Buy a New Lens?

So you bought yourself a brand spanking new DSLR and now you want better pictures. Where do you start? When our images do not turn out good, we usually blame the camera, without even having the patience and time to learn how to use it. Do you find yourself using the camera in Auto mode all the time? If yes, then why don’t you first educate yourself and learn what those other “PASM” modes are for? We have plenty of beginner tutorials on this website and our photography tips for beginners page is a good place to start.

Nikon 70-200mm f/4G ED VR Announcement

Oct

2012

October 23, 2012

By Nasim Mansurov 108 Comments

Just like we covered last week, Nikon today officially announced the Nikon 70-200mm f/4G ED VR lens, a cheaper and lighter version of the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II. While we knew about the lens and some of its basic specifications, more detailed information, including pricing was not yet available until today. I was really hoping that Nikon would price the 70-200mm f/4G VR right and I am excited to see that the price of the 70-200mm is $1,399.95, right what I thought it would be. This is exciting news for many of us that want quality optics at an affordable price point.

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Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: Lens, Nikon, Portrait Lens, Telephoto Lens

Nikon 70-200mm f/4G VR Lens to be Announced

Oct

2012

October 17, 2012

By Nasim Mansurov 79 Comments

Looks like Nikon is finally going to announce the long-awaited Nikon 70-200mm f/4G VR Lens at the PDN Photo Plus Expo in New York, according to our friends at Nikon Rumors. Many Nikon fans have been complaining for years about not having a cheaper and lighter alternative to the superb Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II (see our Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II Review). Nikon has never had a 70-200mm f/4 lens in its history – a 70-210mm f/4 lens was produced way back in 1986, which was later replaced by a variable aperture 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-D version in 1993 (discontinued later). Canon has had its 70-200mm f/4 model since 1999 and an updated (current) IS version came out back in 2006. The Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS has been a very popular lens among the Canon user base ever since, because of its excellent price/weight/performance ratio. It will be interesting to see what the Nikon 70-200mm f/4G VR will offer.

It is also rumored that the new Nikon 70-200mm f/4G VR lens will have a “new generation VR system”. For now I do not know what this truly means and what this new VR system does differently from the current VR II technology, but I am anxiously waiting for details from the official press release. If the VR system does turn out to be new, then we can expect minor updates to the high-end pro lenses fairly soon (Nikon will probably start from the expensive super telephoto lenses like 600mm f/4 first).

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Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: Lens, Nikon, Nikon Lens, Portrait Lens, Telephoto Lens

Nikon 50mm f/1.8G vs f/1.4G

Aug

2012

August 2, 2012

By Nasim Mansurov 74 Comments

Ever since I published my Nikon 50mm f/1.8G review, where I showed that the lens outperforms pretty much any other Nikon 50mm lens, including the more expensive Nikon 50mm f/1.4G, I have been getting a lot of questions from our readers. Some wonder if perhaps I made errors in my assessment of the lens – it seems hard to believe that a cheaper lens would outperform its bigger brother. Others wonder if the 50mm f/1.8G truly is that good, why Lola and I continue to use the 50mm f/1.4G lens for our work (it is also listed in the outdated “Our Gear” page).

After many years of dedicated service, the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G finally went kaput on us (it has all kinds of focus issues, probably as a result of field abuse, so it is on its way to Nikon for repair). I had no intention of selling the older 50mm f/1.4G, because it shows a lot of wear and tear and I knew I wouldn’t get much for it anyway. Since Lola cannot live without her favorite 50mm lens, as soon as this one died, I knew that I would be getting the 50mm f/1.8G version.

Nikon 85mm f/1.8G Review

Apr

2012

April 19, 2012

By Nasim Mansurov 142 Comments

This is an in-depth Nikon 85mm f/1.8G review of the new, much anticipated prime portrait lens that was announced in January of 2012. The Nikon 85mm f/1.8G is a consumer-grade portrait lens for enthusiasts and seasonal pros that need quality optics of a fixed portrait lens at an affordable price point. Its large aperture of f/1.8 is great for low-light photography and the shallow depth of field helps isolate subjects from the background, beautifully rendering the background highlights, also known as bokeh.

The Nikon 85mm f/1.8G replaces the older Nikon 85mm f/1.8D lens that had been in production since 1994. Compared to the AF-D version that has 6 optical elements in 6 groups, the new 85mm f/1.8G has a very different optical design with 9 optical elements in 9 groups. You would think with so much glass inside the new 85mm f/1.8G would weigh more than its predecessor, but in reality it actually weighs 30 grams less. The lens is designed to work on both DX (cropped-sensor) and FX (full-frame) cameras from Nikon. On DX sensors, the lens is equivalent to a 128mm lens, which is a good range for portraiture, but may be a little too long for most other types of photography.

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Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: Lens, Nikon, Nikon Lens, Nikon Reviews, Portrait Lens, Product Reviews

Nikon 85mm f/1.8G is available for pre-order at B&H

Jan

2012

January 9, 2012

By Nasim Mansurov 3 Comments

I have also been notified that the brand new Nikon 85mm f/1.8G is also available for pre-orders at B&H, shipping around the same time as D4, which is mid-February. As always, I highly recommend B&H for their superb service and lowest prices.

Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: Lens, Nikon, Portrait Lens

Nikon 85mm f/1.8G Announcement

Jan

2012

January 6, 2012

By Nasim Mansurov 57 Comments

Along with the Nikon D4, Nikon also announced the AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G lens today. While all photography sites are buried with the Nikon D4 announcement, this little gem is receiving very little attention. I am super excited about this portrait lens, because it not only replaces the old 85mm f/1.8D, but considering how good the latest f/1.8 lenses have been, should deliver superb performance at a relatively low price of $500.

You might be wondering why one would want an 85mm lens, if there are cheaper 50mm portrait lenses out there. Well, 50mm lenses were never considered to be portrait lenses in the past, because 50mm falls into the “standard” range. However, because of digital cameras with smaller cropped sensors, 50mm lenses are now more like 75mm lenses, which is too long for a standard range and hence the new name. Even I often refer to the 50mm lens as a “portrait” lens. In fact, 50mm lenses are not portrait lenses – they are just designed to be small, lightweight and portable for everyday photography and occasional portraiture. 85mm lenses, on the other hand, are specialized tools created specifically for portraiture in mind. This means that they are optically designed to deliver outstanding results when photographing people with very sharp optics, superb colors and exceptionally good-looking bokeh. The current Nikon 85mm f/1.4G, like its predecessors, is often called the “bokeh king” for a reason – there are very few lenses out there that can deliver similar results (the superb Nikon 135mm f/2.0 DC is one of them).

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Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: Nikon, Portrait Lens, Portrait Photography

Nikon 50mm f/1.4G Review

Nov

2011

November 14, 2011

By Nasim Mansurov 91 Comments

This is an in-depth review of one of my favorite prime lenses – the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G, which was announced back in September of 2008. For many years the focal length of 50mm lenses was considered a “standard” or “normal” focal length, because it closely resembles the perspective of the human eye. These lenses were widely popular on film cameras and the focal length was ideal for portraiture and everyday photography. As digital SLRs and zoom lenses started taking over the market, popularity of 50mm primes also decreased. The smaller size of APS-C sensors made the field of view of 50mm lenses narrower, while the flexibility of zoom lenses and their low price drove the demand towards convenience. Now that full frame digital cameras are getting more and more affordable, the once forgotten 50mm lenses are regaining their popularity among many photographers. In this review, I will provide a thorough analysis of the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G lens, along with image samples and comparisons against other 50mm lenses from Nikon and Sigma.

The Nikon 50mm f/1.4G is a professional-grade lens for enthusiasts and pros that need a high quality lens for portraiture, food and everyday photography. Its large aperture of f/1.4 is great for low-light photography and the shallow depth of field helps isolate subjects from the background, beautifully rendering background highlights, also known as bokeh.

Nikon 40mm f/2.8G DX Review

Oct

2011

October 22, 2011

By Nasim Mansurov 64 Comments

This is an in-depth review of the new Nikon 40mm f/2.8G DX macro / micro prime lens that was announced in July of 2011. The Nikon 40mm f/2.8G DX, also known as “AF-S DX Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G” is a consumer-grade lens for photo enthusiasts that need an affordable macro lens with good performance characteristics. In the current line of macro lens offerings from Nikon, this lens comes at the lowest price point and shortest focal length. With the former being good news, the latter can be a problem in some situations, specifically when approaching subjects very closely (read more on this issue below). With the current great fast aperture prime lens line from Nikon such as Nikon 35mm f/1.8G and Nikon 50mm f/1.8G, one might wonder what the Nikon 40mm f/2.8G DX has to offer that the other primes cannot accomplish. How does it differ from other affordable primes? In this review, I will talk about the capabilities of the Nikon 40mm f/2.8G DX and provide a detailed report on its strengths and weaknesses, along with a summary of thoughts about the lens based on my two month experience with it.