appropriate lens

<p>Hello,<br>

I feel very limited with the lense that came with my Nikon D40X, and esspecially now that I am starting to do wedding portraits, I am looking for a new lense, but can only afford one at this time. My current lens is 18-55mm. I am looking for a lense with more character and one that will bring more depth and richness. I have been checking out shorter telephoto lenses (85-100) but I was wondering if anyone had advice on the subject. I would appreciate any advice.<br>

Thanks.</p>

"I am starting to do wedding portraits"

Is there a difference is shooting a wedding and doing weding portraits? Knowing this will make a big difference in my response.

<p>I primarily do wedding portraits, but occassionally shoot an entire wedding ceremony, so I would say aim your response towards shooting an entire wedding.</p>

<p><strong><em>"I am starting to do wedding </em>portris very useful aits<em>, I am looking for a new lense, but can only afford one at this time. My current lens is 18-55mm. I am looking for a lense with more character and one that will bring more depth and richness. . . I would say aim your response towards shooting an entire wedding."</em></strong></p>

<p>A fast (F/2 or faster) Prime lens about 30mm would be the best single choice to mate with your current zoom lens to give you the most flexibility for all types Portraiture and Wedding Coverage you might encounter.<br>

<br />Another option as a second lens to mate with your zoom lens, would be a 50mm Prime - you will find very affordable F/1.8 versions - no doubt this lens will be recommended to you. IMO a 30mm lens is more flexible as a first choice or as a one lens solution . . . because 30mm gives you room to do group portraiture, or portraits in tight spaces, more easily.</p>

<p>A fast 85mm or 100mm Prime (telephoto) lens - which you are considering - would be MORE LIMITING to you than a fast 50mm Prime lens, to capture a BROAD RANGE of Portrait situations.</p>

<p>A very convenient PAIR of Fast Prime lenses, to add to you kit lens, would be a 30mm and an 85mm. A Fast 85mm lens <em>on your camera, is very useful inside a medium to large Church or similar situation, and the 30mm is very handy for the close work.</em></p>

<p>If you want to REPLACE the zoom lens and begin your lens kit from scratch, then the most flexible lens would be a zoom 17 to 50 or thereabouts, with a non varying maximum aperture of F/2.8. Nikon and Tamron make lenses in this range, others might also.</p>

<p>This zoom lens will be appropriate for portraiture.</p>

<p>Notwithstanding my opinion on the lens choice for you - as you are striving for <strong><em>“more character and one that will bring more depth and richness” </em></strong>this can be achieved more than adequately in most circumstances with the lens you already have – it is not the lens, it is the lightscape.</p>

<p>WW</p>

<p>Anna, as I'm sure you know the D40X can only use lenses with built in focus motors so your choices are limited.</p>

<p>I would start by replacing the kit lens with the <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/518483-REG/Sigma_582_306_18_50mm_f_2_8_EX_DC.html">Sigma 18-50/2.8 HSM</a> or <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/300490-USA/Nikon_2147_17_55mm_f_2_8G_ED_IF_AF_S.html">Nikkor 17-55/2.8 AF-S</a> .<br /> For nice portraits with "depth" you would zoom into 50mm, set the aperture to f/2.8 and then move back or forward to get the right framing. For the ceremony you would now have the option to shoot at f/2.8 when light levels are low. Huge difference to the f/3.5 to f/5.6 of your kit lens.<br /> <br /> As there are no fast prime lenses that will autofocus on your camera the second lens would be the <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/533559-REG/Sigma_691_306_50_150mm_f_2_8_II_EX.html">Sigma 50-150/2.8 HSM</a> . With those two f/2.8 zooms you have a flexible setup that you can build on.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Actually Nikon does make one new AFS prime that should work with your camera, the 35mm f 1.8<br>

http://nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Camera-Lenses/2183/AF-S-DX-NIKKOR-35mm-f%252F1.8G.html</p>

<p>Paul, you are of course right. I was talking about the 50-150mm range and there are no fast primes that will focus on a D40X. There are some f/2.8 macro lenses though - the AF-S 60/2.8, AF-S VR 105/2.8, Sigma 150/2.8 HSM, Tamron 90/2.8 BIM.<br>

Besides the 35/1.8 AF-S you mentioned there are also the 50/1.4 AF-S, Sigma 30/1.4 HSM and Sigma 50/1.4 HSM.<br>

But I think a wide to slight telephoto f/2.8 zoom will make more sense to start with.</p>

<p> </p>

I'd say for portraiture work go to your local camera store and take a few shots with the 85mm and the 105mm. The 85mm is a short telephoto allowing for full length as well as close-up work. The 105mm comes in 2 styles. Last time I looked there were 2 models, hopefully it remains the same. The 105 macro is great for the ring shots and detail shots., but you sacrifice the faster F-stops.

On a cropped camera such as yours, take a look at the 50mm 1.4 or even the 50 1.8. If your budget allows, consider the inexpensive 50mm 1.8 and the 85mm also a 1.8. Later on pick up the 70-200mm 2.8. At this point you will have a decent range of lenses from 18mm's to 200mm's. This will allow you to cover most of your weddings with quality optics.

Let us know what you wind up getting.

<p>Thanks to Pete S and Paul Sokal, for highlighting the fact of “NO AF” with some Nikon lenses and the Nikon D40 Camera.<br>

<br>

I do not use Nikon DSLR and I forgot (again) that piece of relevant information when I alluded to the Nikon 50mm F/1.8 lens, sorry for that.<br>

</p>

<p >The new Nikon Prime 35F/1.8 would be a good choice IMO, if you choose a fast prime to mate with your zoom lens.</p>

<p > </p>

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<p >I think, that down the track, most likely sooner rather than later, you will need at least a second camera if shooting an entire Wedding is your goal.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >WW</p>

<p>Thank you for your responses, they were helpful. I will let you know what ends up working out,<br>

Anna</p>