18-70 Kit Lens Question

[ernie.grimes]

Please let me know for best results with the 18-70 kit lens what is

the best setting to use when doing portraits?

Thanks Ernie

[remco-jan.woldhuis]

Just try? It's digital after all....

 

Good luck,

Remco Jan Woldhuis

[ivan_verschoote1]

I don't see the 18-70 as a true portrait lens. At 70, it's only f4.5 wide open. You need something with a wider f-stop (f2.8 or faster). For an affordable portrait lens: have a look at the prime 85/1.8.

[ernie.grimes]

Thank you very much for your help. I will check out lens you suggested. I am a newbie and I was not sure where to even start.

Ernie

[bwcombs]

You can use the 18-70 as a portrait lens. It just won't have the

sharpness or speed of a prime or faster lens.

 

Avoid using the kit lens in the widest settings (18mm to 30mm or

so) for portraits as this will give you the unflattering wide angle

look. (Unless you are trying to obtain that look to begin with.)

 

In my opinion, it is best to shoot at 50mm and up. That will give

you good results. My experience with has found this lens is

sharpest at f/5.6 through f/11. Also shoot with aperture priority or

manual mode.

 

If you shoot with available light, be sure to use a tripod if you can,

or shoot at a higher ISO to eliminate shake to get the sharpest

shots you can.

 

And since it's digital, as the first poster said, shoot up a storm

and try many variations with this lens. See what you like and

don't like.

 

Here's a tip as well. If you can, purchase the very affordable

50mm f/1.8 AF lens that Nikon offers. It is cheap, fast, and a very

good portrait lens on the DSLR line. I have used it with great

success in studio portraits as well as street shots.

 

Good luck.

[vasilis]

Buy the 50 1.8 as a cheap portrait lens. Or for the moment you can use the 18-70 and experiment (it is not ideal, but is more than adequate). Generally for portraits you "should" use it in the 50-70mm range and wide open. But actually there is no "should" and since digital is cheap just experiment.

[ramon_v__california_]

i will echo BW and Vasilis' posts. you can use the kit lens with very good results. all you need is to experiment. use it between 50 and 70mm. and if you are still on a budget, the 50mm/f1.8 will work great. you will be surprised.....experiment.

 

good luck and have fun.

[ernie.grimes]

Thanks to all that gave me the great tip to purchase the 50mm 1:1.8. I picked up one today and will be doing some experimenting with it tonight. What is normally the sharpest setting for this lens?

Thanks Ernie

[w. shinn ii]

Generally, all the fixed Nikkors are very good "wide-open" to "stopped down". Your 50mm f:1.8 is one of the sharpest lenses ever designed by Nikon and will be very sharp at all but the smallest aperture (diffusion a small apertures limits resolution).

 

To get the maximum sharpness... a general rule of thumb is to shoot in the aperture range two or three stops from the largest and two or three from the smallest. For your 50mm f:1.8 this would be any apeture from f:4 to f:11; i.e., 2.5 stops from the larges and 2 stops from the smallest apertures.

 

Many photographers use f:8 as their default aperture for all around portrait photography. It provides excellent sharpness and usually provides sufficient depth-of-field for good 2/3 portraits. For head and shoulders I prefer f:4 or f:5.6 to isolate the background somewhat. The 50mm f:1.8 should be very sharp at all the mid-aperture settings.

 

For headshots, depending on the effect you are looking for... anything goes. If using a large aperture for a shallow depth of field effect, to optimize the limited depth of field, it helps to focus on the subject's eyes and using a tripod certainly enhances the apparent "sharpness" of your images.

 

Hope this helps. Regards,

[lex_jenkins]

From 50mm-70mm at f/8 the 18-70DX will be fine as a portrait lens.

 

For some odd reason there's a general perception that portaits inherently involve shallow DOF, which can best be accomplished by using faster lenses wide open or nearly so.

 

But if you look at many portraits taken under controlled conditions - arranged lighting, reflectors, etc., carefully chosen backgrounds - not many of them have paper thin depth of field. At a minimum it is preferable to have the face in focus, from the tip of the nose to the back of the ears. You don't need an f/1.4 or even f/2.8 to accomplish this.

 

Shooting at f/8 between 50mm-70mm with your 18-70DX is a good enough start. After you've tried this for a while, with flash, with open shade outdoors (subject under the sky but shaded by a building, tree, etc.), using any kind of reflector (sheet of posterboard, the side of a light colored building), etc., then you'll be a good position to decide on your next lens.