Can anyone suggest a specific lens?

[vicky2]

I just received the Nikon D50 as gift this morning. I currently have a

very cheap Tamron zoom lens, and would like to buy a new lens of

better quality. It would be great if someone could suggest a lens? I

don't have a very big budget, which I know is a problem. Is there any

possibility of getting something that is high-quality but only a few

hundred dollars, ideally 200-300 max? The type of photography I love

and want to focus on is documentary-type PEOPLE photography. I love

catching people in the midst of a thought or just going about their

daily life, especially while I'm travelling. I want to try to capture

people at their best - which is when they are unaware that anyone is

watching and therefore being their true self. Because of this, I need

a zoom lens with lots of depth of field, so I can blur the background

and truly focus on the emotion of the person.<div></div>

[jimstrutz]

I think you mean, "LESS" of depth of field, so you can blur the background. You can get more by stopping the aperture down (bigger number), but that will make everything sharp. Longer lenses allow you to get farther away, and they are commonly used to get less DOF as well.

 

You might consider a Tamron 28-70 f/2.8. The larger aperture would help. There are several 70-300 zooms that might be better suited for what you want to do, but the ones costing less than $300 aren't generally considered high-quality. Still, they would do what you want.

[stephen hazelton]

You want 1) A zoom 2) Fast lens 3) Cheap. You can have any two of the three, but not all three. IE, fast zooms aren't cheap. And cheap zooms usually aren't that great wide open.

 

"Fast" zoom is one with larger aperture, say f/2.8. This helps to blur out a background.

 

You might consider a 50mm f/1.8 (or maybe f/1.4) lens. With digital sensor, this would be a moderate telephoto, but would allow useful background blurring at minimal cost.

[leslie_cheung]

Zooms: $300-400

 

tamron 17-35 f2.8-4

 

tamron 28-75 f2.8

 

nikon 18-70 f3.5-4.5

 

nikon 24-85 f3.5-4.5

 

to blur the background, you can use a longer focal length, open up the aperture and/or get closer to suject.

[tommyinca]

My 2 cents, one other option for shadow DOF not using a fast (f2.8) and long zoom (expensive and heavy) is consider a shorter but faster prime. Try a "used" 85/1.8 or 50/1.4. They could be less then $200.

 

Tamron 28-75/2.8 sugested above is a very good zoom if you must have a zoom.

[todd peach seattle, washi]

An oft-overlooked lens is the Nikon 35-70 f/2.8 AFD. These are trading for $200-250 used at keh.com. It was shunned by many for not being 'zoomy' enough, but it does everything it does exceptionally well. It was a 'bread and butter' lens for many a film wedding shooter, and now with digital many have retained it as a flexible portrait zoom.

 

I also second the option of the 85/1.8 AFD as a solid choice (though no zoom) for about the same money used. I have not shot the D50, but the speed of these fast 85's (I have now mostly 'graduated' to the 1.4 version) really opens up nice available light opportunities inside the average living room. If there's enough light to read by, there's enough light to shoot by with an ISO 800/1600 capable camera and an f/1.8 lens.

[huntrbll]

I would consider the 18-70 Nikon zoom. This was the kit lens included with the D70, and has good optics as well as the benefit of being an AFS lens... It offers moderate wide angle and telephoto capabilities. Unless you need more reach, a good, overall "walking around" lens.

 

The newly-introduced Nikon 18-200, while much more expensive, does offer a longer zoom range and VR capabilities, which might really fit your need in lower-light situations. The disadvantage is the cost, probably about $700, and the fact it is new and no one has done a proper review of it. I only mention it because, if a capable performer, it might be just the lens you are looking for......

[wilsontsoi]

At US$200-300 max and based on your described usage, I'd recommend 2 fixed focal length lenses, Nikkor 50mm f1.8, or 85mm f1.8. Alternatively, a nice zoom in that range would be Nikkor 35-70 f2.8 or a Tokina 28-70 f2.8 II. The Nikkor 18-70 f3.5-4.5 is a great all around lens, but I won't give you the shallow depth of field you need to blur out background satisfactorily.

[dirk d.]

Hi Vicky, just picked up the same camera body and sprung for the 18-200 Vr DX lens, If you want to shoot everything from wide to close telephoto, you would love this lens, I was going to by a wide to normal zoom then get a telephoto zoom but the quality would not be that great on the zooms I could afford, (they would not focus as quickly) and the range would not be as good and I like to be able to shoot with out a tripod so I spent more to get the VR (vibration reduction) lens with a great range without the hand held blur when shooting in telephoto. It was expensive at $800 but what a nice piece of equipment for shooting most everything quickly with the fast internal silent wave motor (great for being unnoticed) and with out having to change lenses and get dust on the image sensor. If I could not afford this lens and could get only one I would have probably gotten the Tamron 2.8 28-75 as it is very well built and fast. Best wishes, and happy shooting!

[vicky2]

Wow I just checked back on this site, thanks so much to everyone for their advice, this is great. Yeah I definitely meant LESS depth of field, so much for trying to sound like I know what I am talking about!

Thanks everyone.