I have 2 lenses. For headshots, which is best?

<p>I'm very much a beginner and would like to start shooting my friends' headshots. I have a Nikon D200 and two lenses. The first is a prime AF micro Nikkor 60mm 2.8 D. The second lens is an AF-S Nikkor 17-55mm 2.8 G ED DX. Which one of these would work best for shooting headshots?<br>

Or should I buy another lens? I've read many forums where some use a 70-200mm lens for a more shallow depth of field. I guess the problem with my lenses, is that the subject might look distorted. Does this sound correct?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance,<br /> David</p>

<p>Either of your lenses will do. The only thing is is that you want to be back a little from your subject's personal space and a little longer focal length will do that and also tend to reduce/eliminate undesirable optical distortion of facial features in head or head & shoulder portraits.</p>

<p>An 85mm lens would be pretty good for headshots on an APS-C camera like the D200 - it yields about the same angle of view view as a 135mm lens on a full-frame camera, which is a classic 35mm/full frame focal length for head & shoulder portraits. With 35mm/FF digital, up to 200mm is commonly used for head shots, so with a crop-sensor camera, something from 85 to 135mm would be great. The nice thing about the better lenses in that focal range is that they can be gotten wide wide maximum apertures for controlling depth of field (good for blurring the background and isolating the portrait subject). </p>

<p>Thanks D.B.<br>

If I do end up getting a zoom lens so that I can shoot at 85mm, could I get away with a lens that f3.5 or even f4? Or should it at least be f2.8?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>There is no one answer to your question. The best thing you could do is practice with what you have to help you figure out what if anything will serve your needs better. Check out different distances, different focal lengths, different apertures, etc. 60mm on a crop sensor camera is a nice portrait length, depending on what you like.</p>

<p>DOF is a function of perspective. longer focal length won't decrease DOF if you end up stepping back to get the same perspective. two excellent places to start are:</p>

<p>http://toothwalker.org/optics/dof.html<br>

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm</p>

<p>How much resolution do you need? The macro lens will be tops in that department for portraits, but be civil and do not map all crevices of my face, please.</p>

<p>How large do you want to blow the pics up? 30 by 45 inches? or 4 by 6?</p>

<p>What you really need as a beginner is PRACTICE, practise, practise. </p>

<p>Just use either lens and realize that your first portraits (or pics overall) will not be your best over your lifetime: they are early trial shots. In 2 years you will be so much improved in composition, lighting etc that that will become clear to you.</p>

<p>Asking for the best peewee baseball glove is sort of oximoronic, isn't it. Live and learn. Do not listen to any advice, please, not even mine; just do!</p>

<p>Either of the two lenses you have is quite sufficient: I would use the 60mm lens mainly because I like using a Prime Lens for Portraiture and also it is 5mm longer than the zoom and I expect, it will be sharper than the zoom set at 55mm. </p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote>

<p>"If I do end up getting a zoom lens so that I can shoot at 85mm, could I get away with a lens that f3.5 or even f4? Or should it at least be f2.8?”</p>

</blockquote>

<p>For this job you do NOT need an F/2.8 zoom.<br>

For an “Head Shot” or a “Tight Head and Shoulders Shot” using an APS-C Camera: Arguably you will be using F/5.6, but more likely F/6.3 or even F/8, to maintain a shallow DoF, whilst<em> still keeping the MAIN FEATURES of the Face in Shot at ¼ Profile.</em> </p>

<p>As mentioned if you step backwards away from Subject and use a longer Focal Length Lens: and you keep the same <strong><em>framing of the shot </em></strong>(i.e. it is <strong><em>still The “Head Shot”</em></strong>) the DoF remains the same, for all practical purposes.<br>

(The <em>Perspective</em>: <em>does</em> change, when you move back and make a new camera position, relative to the Subject.)</p>

<p>For an “Head Shot” on and APS-C Camera, when we are at about F/6.3, that aperture will give a DoF of about 8 inches: on the other hand F/2.8 will give a DoF of about 4 inches.<br>

Maybe for some Head Shots, a 4” DoF might be required – but shooting at F/4 gives a DoF of about 5 inches; and F/5.6 about 6 inches . . .<br>

So my opinion is, if the F/2.8 lens is $$$$ more than an F/4 or F/5.6 lens that’s a lot of $$$$ to pay for the extra little shallow DoF for head shots.<br>

In this regard, an 85mm Prime would be less expensive and arguable a better choice.<br>

But that stated – either of the two lenses you have is quite sufficient, also as I mentioned, I would use the 60mm lens mainly because I like using a Prime Lens for Portraiture and it is 5mm longer.</p>

<p>More important than your worrying about new lenses or which one of the two to use - is the lighting.<br>

The LIGHTING plays more of a part in a good head shot, than the difference between: a 55mm; 60mm or 85mm lens. </p>

<p>WW</p>

<p>As to distortion, you'll get that with your zoom at the short end (up to 35mm or so). The rest should be fine.<br>

While the 70-200 is a great lens to have (I have the Sigma myself, don't leave home without it) it's not necessary for portrait work. The classic portrait lens was a 70mm or 85mm. On an APS-C sized camera like the D200 you'd want to divide that by 1.5 to get the same framing (not the same image, the framing of the smaller sensor as compared to a 35mm film frame is just a crop) which would make the 60mm a good choice (that said, the few portraits I shoot I usually use a Sigma 70mm macro, I also use a D200).<br>

Blurred background is all about depth of field, you want to keep your lens wide open. A wide minimal aperture is therefore what you want to aim for, and both your lenses offer that, as does the 70-200.<br />Of course the 70-200 will yield it at shorter distances between your subject and the background at any aperture.</p>

<p>A Blurred Background is about DoF - but not <em>all</em> about the DoF.<br>

Blurred Background is also about the DISTANCE of the Background from the Subject - and therefore does not necessarily require either lens the OP mentioned, to be used wide open, because for an Head Shot the DoF will be very small anyway, for mostly all of the apertures which are available to use. </p>

<p>Moreover, as the OP is specifically referencing an Head Shot: as already explained, for an Head Shot using and APS-C camera, an F/6.3 aperture will yield d a DoF approximating 8 inches, and F/4 will yield a DoF of about 5 inches.<br>

F/2.8 (i.e. using the OP’s lenses wide open) will provide a DoF of about 4 inches.</p>

<p>If 4 inches DoF is what the OP requires for these Head Shots - that’s fine – but that is not the norm for many Head Shots.<br>

Many Heads Shots are made ¼ to ½ Profile and a usual requirement is that both eyes and a little more of the head (one ear) be in reasonable focus, which therefore requires a DoF of a bit more than 4 inches.</p>

<p>WW</p>