lindy_c. Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 What is the best Nikon body for shooting children's portraiture? My main needs are very, very sharp focus, Shallow DOF, and the use of fast shutter speeds. I only use available light and my kiddies are in constant motion! I have a D50. Thinking about an upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seland Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Your D50 should be allright, you should look for some good optics. Check out 50mm 1.4 or 1.8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric_arnold Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 the nikkor 50 primes will AF on a d50, and should be fine as long as you have enough room and arent shooting too tight. OTOH, to maintain AF ability with non-AF-S lenses, you'd have to upgrade to a d80/d200/d300. considering that the 50/1.8 is about $110 and a new d80 is about $700+, i'd go for the glass. even if you upgrade your body, you'd still need fast glass for available-light shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindy_c. Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 Espen, I do have the 50mm 1.4D AF nikkor lens. Just got it and love it! However, I am shooting with 100% natural light. Usually wide open because I love the DOF and having the subject totally isolated. I am shooting kids though. They are constantly moving and I am having focus issues. I want absolute sharpness. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelbrochstein Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 The 50/1.4 may be faster but is also well over twice the price of the 50/1.8. The 50/1.8 gets also gets favorable reviews. I'd recommend the 50/1.8 unless the larger maximum aperture of the 1.4 is absolutely required. I don't think you can go wrong given its price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindy_c. Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 Thanks Eric. I will probably stick with my D50 for now. And I do have a 50mm 1.4 lens. Do you know what the most recently released nikon model is though? Just wondering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_anon Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Of everything you mention, only the shutter speed is controlled by the body. You'd be better off asking which LENS do I need. The body is pretty much irrelevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindy_c. Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 Thanks Michael. I have the 1.4. I do need that shallow DOF. Love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindy_c. Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 Why is a wide aperture lens termed as "faster"? What does the "faster" mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Tardio Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 You'd probably really enjoy a Canon 5D with either of their 85mm lenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Tardio Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 <i>They are constantly moving and I am having focus issues. I want absolute sharpness. Any suggestions?</i> <p> On the other hand a D300 (Nikon's latest DX body) has much better & faster AF than the 5D...or any other Nikon except the full-frame D3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niccoury Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Try the 35 f/2. It makes a nice "true" 50mm lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squiggs77 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Laura, it sounds like you have the lens that you need, but with such a shallow DOF it's really hard to get exact focus on an erratically moving subject with any camera. The D300 and D3 supposedly do better with those situations than other cameras when you have them in the right focus setting. You asked for the best, so here it is: The D3 would be ideal, but it's $5000 and might be a bit more camera than you want, but it will allow you to use higher ISOs for faster shutter speeds than any other camera. If you're interested in something more reasonable the D300 is $1800 and has improved focusing over the D50, but it doesn't have the high ISO advantage that the D3 has. You could also take a look at a used D200. It has better focusing that the D50, but not as good as a D300 or D3, and has 5PFS vs your 2.5FPS. The more photos you take the more likely you will have one in critical focus so FPS may make a difference. The D80 also shares the same focus ability as the D200, but with a couple less options. Before you spend money on a new camera, I would recommend renting one to see if it will really make a difference or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtlawyer Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 I shoot shots such as you describe with a D300 and the 17-55 f2.8 lens. The advantage of the D300 over the D50 is that the D300 will give good results at high ISOs. Say 1600. If you don't want to front the money for the 17-55, your 50mm should do the job with the D300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkka_nissila Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 This calls for a full-frame camera. With fast lenses such as your 50, wide open sharpness is much better with them than when you use a dx camera. Also, it is easier to see the subject through the larger viewfinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiro Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Hi Laura. I've been shooting my kids for a couple of years and they are about as fast and erratic as anything else I shoot. Are you using AF-C? That with the proper AF sensor for framing gives me the best shot at getting a sharp, narrow dof image. While not a necessity, release priority and an AF-ON button helps me also as I can control autofocus and shutter release separately(D200, D300, or higher). If you are already using AF-C, then the above posts will help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl_becker2 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 You have the lens you need. I would look at the D300 for better and faster focus plus you should be able to get faster shutter speeds by raising the ISO. The older D80 or D200 should give better quicker focus (depending on how you set the focus) but I am not sure high ISO performance is any better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flemming_s._christensen Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Children's portraiture in available light? One way to go is manual focusing and continuous shooting. In this case you need more than the 2.5 frames per second on the D50. I would say at least 5 fps. Which means D200 and up. If no AF and 5+ fps works for you, the Zeiss ZF lens series (absolute sharpness generally from f/2) is an option. You will get very, very sharp focus and shallow DOF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Javkin Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 So many answers suggesting lenses to buy, after you asked about a body. I have the D50 and, while it's a wonderful camera, everything I've seen of the D300 (except the weight) suggests that it will be significantly better at getting more wide open in-focus shots of moving children. The autofocus is significantly better, it has more focus points, and the frame rate is much faster. All three things should help. It's still not easy to catch children at play. I believe that lenses with wider apertures, such as your 50mm f/1.4 is said to be "faster" because, in allowing more light, they permit faster shutter speeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_skomial Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 "Why is a wide aperture lens termed as "faster"? What does the "faster" mean?" Reason 1. Since you can open the lens wider, due to larger diameter max aperture, you can afford to use a faster shutter speed. So, the lens with numerically smaller F Stop is called faster that the lens with bigger number max aperture. E.g. 1.4 lens is faster than 2.0, it is called faster since with it you could possibly afford a faster shutter speed, if all other conditions remain the same. Reason 2. With focusing performed done at lens wide open, (auto aperture lenses - perhaps all Nikkor AF/AF-S lenses), your auto-focusing measurements get much more light, and can possibly achieve faster focusing, especially in low light condition. So, this is another reason why a wider max aperture lens, (smaller F stop number), is called faster, but the first reason is more important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric_arnold Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 ah, so you have the 50/1.4 shooting with a d50. that changes everything, sort of. that combo should be good enough to do what you want to do -- take available-light pics of moving subjects -- provided you adjust the settings correctly. AF-C, Auto ISO (1600 max.), shooting in M with as fast a shutter as you can get away with or A at 1.4-2.8. i'd cycle through the area-af options as well as matrix/CW/spot to find the best combination. shallow DoF can indeed be tricky with moving subjects, using a lens with a wider field of view might give you more wiggle room for trial and error. since you like fast primes (i.e. with wide apertures), what about the nikkor 35/2 or the sigma 30/1.4? i have the sigma and find it pretty good not just at max aperture but also stopped down (where it becomes an awesome landscape lens). i've had the 50/1.8 for longer, but find myself reaching for the 30 more since it's not as long and therefore more applicable to normal shotoing since i can fit more in the frame. the other option is to get a new body. the only thing about that is that the d200 or d80 wont give you noticably better high ISO performance. the d300 will give you better ISO 1600 and usable 3200, but its $1800. the d3 is $5k. but lenses, not bodies give sharp focus and DoF. and any nikon dslr is capable of fast shutter speeds, 1/125-1/250 should be enough to stop most motion. in any event, getting the most out of what you have now would seem to be the most sensible and prudent option. alternately, you could tell your kids to start playing freeze-tag when you want to take a shot, so they wont move so fast. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuo_zhao Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 >> "D300 is $1800 and has improved focusing over the D50, but it doesn't have the high ISO advantage that the D3 has." The D300 doesn't have as much of an adventage as a D3 over a D50 at high ISO, but the difference should still be noticeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mileri Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 <center><src img=" title="DSC_4677q by lelame, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3041/2305805948_f8e805840d.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="DSC_4677q" /></a><center> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mileri Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 <center><src img=" title="DSC_3645 by lelame, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/2305965304_b58826f373.jpg" width="344" height="500" alt="DSC_3645" /></a><center> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mileri Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 <center><src img=" title="_DSC0782 by lelame, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/2310437129_e891d7244e.jpg" width="500" height="344" alt="_DSC0782" /></a><center> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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