Good portrait lense for Nikon F80

[whr_tam]

I have owned a Tamron SP AF90 f2.8 lense for both portrait and

macro. I seldom do macro indeed. Wonder if there are other lenses

that can do portrait better - brokeh, faster AF etc. I already have

in mind the Nikon AF85 f1.8, AF105 f2 and AF180 f2.8. The AF(S)80-

200 f2.8 may be good, but it is too heavy to lug around and is

pricy. Grateful to share your experience.

 

BTW, are the lenses with similar focal lengths from Lecia or Zeiss

really outperform the Nikkor by the price factor ?

[Guest]

No, Zeiss and Leica don't outperform Nikkor as much as they are more expensive than them: most Contax, Hasselblad and Leica users will agree with this.

 

180mm might be too long for portrait work. 135mm is the one people tend to go for when taking photos of people's faces (as against head-and-shoulders).

 

I think the AF 85/1.4 has good bokeh, but it damn well should at that price. Nikkors aren't renowned for bokeh, so I'll be interested to hear what people have to say who know the lenses you mention.

[Guest]

P.S. Although Nikon-users do read this forum, it would be more productive if this question were in the Nikon forum. Give it a day or two, and if everyone's as unhelpful as me, post the question again in the Nikon forum. The advantage then is that the thread gets archived in the Nikon forum under lenses, so it's easier to find.

[bruce_rubenstein___nyc]

"I think the AF 85/1.4 has good bokeh, but it damn well should at that price. Nikkors aren't renowned for bokeh, so I'll be interested to hear what people have to say who know the lenses you mention."

 

This sort of "I really don't know, but I once heard" response is the best reason to stick to the Nikon section. The 85/1.8 is the only "reasonable" price lens in your list and will work well for portraits. The best would be the 105/2 DC, since the Defocus Control (DC) is intended for portrait work. I use the 180/2.8 quite often for this, but you need a large working distance. Only the AFS 80-200 (in your list) is particularly good for fast AF.

[Guest]

Thanks, Bruce. I hope you appreciated my point, that I wasn't making any claim to knowledge but just pointing out what whr might expect, as no one had answered. Nikkors certainly aren't renowned for bokeh, but that renown may or may not be misguided: perhaps <i>think</i> and <i>know</i> should have been italicised. The implication was that <i>I</i> didn't know, but would be interested to hear from people who <i>did</i> know. I may be wrong at times, but I don't b***s***. Sorry if you weren't getting at me, Bruce.<p>whr, what Bruce says applies in lesser degree to the Nikon forum: not every opinion you will get is intelligent and first-hand, so read carefully.

[oliver_sharp1]

The 105/2DC lens is a very fine portrait lens and I shoot with it a great deal. It's a good balance between speed and heft (for me), has very nice background blur, good sharpness, and handles well. I've shot with a wide variety of lenses this length (in the Nikon, Leica, and Hasselblad lines), as it is my favorite for people, and have not found a lens that is notably better. The only downside to it that I've experienced is that it is only ok as far as autofocus speed. That doesn't matter in the least if you are doing traditional portraits, of course, but I shoot children a great deal and the speed is helpful in catching them in mid-flight. For that, an AFS lens really does improve the odds significantly. But aside from that, it's a wonderful lens to shoot with.

 

The 85/1.8 is a highly practical, fast, small, modestly priced, fine performer. But it doesn't have the smoothness in the background that I like and I personally don't love the way it handles (for manual focusing). The latter is a pure aesthetic issue that has nothing to do with the images it produces (which are very good) but we all have our whims. If you are still early on the learning curve, this is a great lens to start with and you can sell it for a very modest round-trip cost should you decide to get a different lens later.

[bill_dewberry]

The Nikon 105 2.5 AIS lens is far, far, better than either of the 85 lenses, the 180 is comparable to the 105. The 105 is the best economic, image quality choice.

[jim_gifford]

Bill wrote...

 

"The Nikon 105 2.5 AIS lens is far, far, better than either of the 85 lenses, the 180 is comparable to the 105. The 105 is the best economic, image quality choice."

 

Well, yes, but on a Nikon N80 body the exposure meter will refuse to operate when a manual-focus AI-series or AIs-series Nikkor like the wonderful 105mm f/2.5 is mounted.

 

Then again, folks have suggested an autofocus 105mm f/2 AF-DC as the best options for an N80... and for the cost of that lens alone you COULD buy the lovely manual-focus 105/2.5 lens... plus an FM3A body that will happily meter with it... plus some film!

 

Really, the least expensive option is the 85/1.8 AF-D and it is fine, just fine.

 

Maybe people will take away my National Lens Advice License for saying this, but I don't think all the fussing and worrying about "good bokeh" versus "bad bokeh" is worth the extra $500 required to jump from the 85/1.8 to the 105/2 DC lens.

 

Get the 85/1.8 and have a wonderful time creating lively portraits with it!

 

Have fun,

[richard_cochran]

The 105 f2.5 is the classic portrait lens of the Nikon system,

perhaps the best portrait lens, especially considering its price.

But the F80 isn't the camera to use it with. The F80 won't meter

at all with it, so you're stuck using a handheld meter.

<p>

If you insist on the ability to use an in-camera meter,

either get the much more expensive 105mm f2.0 DC and

use it on the F80, or get the 105mm f2.5 and buy a body that

can meter with it. There are lots of choices at lots

of prices, including a Nikkormat, FM10, FM, FE, F5, etc.

[beau 1664876222]

Yes, the 105 2.5 AIS is as good as it gets. Get an older Nikon body for it, or get the lens "chipped" so that the new AF cameras can meter with it. Here's the guy that does the upgrade, and it's not too expensive:

 

http://home.carolina.rr.com/headshots/Nikonhome.htm

[anth]

"Yes, the 105 2.5 AIS is as good as it gets. Get an older Nikon body for it, or get the lens "chipped" so that the new AF cameras can meter with it." - Beau

 

Nice idea to modify the 105 f2.5 lens - EXCEPT it isn't one that Roland can modify, since there is no chip that can be added to the lens with the appropriate aperture.

 

Sorry, but I add to the chorus suggesting the 85/1.8 - its great!

[whr_tam]

Thank you guys for your contributions! I will look into the AF85 1.8 seriously. But how better it performs than the Tamron SP90 in portraiture will be my next question for the forum. Best regards.