zoom vs. prime for portarits and strobing
So discovered this site just roaming the internet for photography answers...which in turn created more questions(in a good way). found so many techniques, tips and interesting photos. So i usually gravitate towards portraits and people. so I've been roaming the people thread and started seeing external flash and strobist techniques.
So my question is about lens selection. Im looking for a good portrait lens for strobing and some in studio use. Currently i have a D80 with a Tamron 17-50mm. I'm looking at tamron 28-75 and a nikon 85mm. I have never used a prime lens before, but not really comfortable moving to get in position.
So i was just wondering during portrait shots in studio or strobist shots, do you find yourself zooming in and out a lot or do you usually stay at one zoom length? which one do your prefer? How far away do you usually have to be when using an external flash?
So my question is about lens selection. Im looking for a good portrait lens for strobing and some in studio use. Currently i have a D80 with a Tamron 17-50mm. I'm looking at tamron 28-75 and a nikon 85mm. I have never used a prime lens before, but not really comfortable moving to get in position.
So i was just wondering during portrait shots in studio or strobist shots, do you find yourself zooming in and out a lot or do you usually stay at one zoom length? which one do your prefer? How far away do you usually have to be when using an external flash?
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All depends on the set up of the lights or scene for how close you want to get, but overall I use the 28-75 on a D700 and love it so just play with the 17-50 some more since you have basically the same focal length and some sharp glass there. It will do the job fine on a DX camera.
ProjectPhotobooth
Generally portrait length will be in the 75-135mm range. This allows you to get excellent bokeh (that creamy, out-of-focus background) while standing a reasonable distance from your subject.
So with your current equipment that would be using the 17-50 fully zoomed (that's 75mm with a 1.5x crop-factor camera). The Tamron 17-50 will do a pretty good job on portraits.
If you want a more dedicated portrait lens there are several ways you can go. I shoot Sony so I'm only going to give you 3rd party options but there will be Nikon options available as well.
Tamron makes a 90mm f/2.8 Macro lens that, in addition to doing 1:1 macro, does portraits really well. This would be the same as a 135mm lens on a full frame camera.
Tamron also just released a 60mm f/2 Macro that will gather a bit more light for you and function like a 90mm. I haven't used it so I can't vouch for image quality but if it's anything like the 90mm it'll be great.
There's a test here of many of your Nikon options:
http://www.wlcastleman.com/equip/reviews/d80/index.htm
HOWEVER... I do find I often like a longer length for portrait shoots when I have enough space. The 85 1.8 and 100 f2 are both terrific portrait lenses - I had the 85 and swapped it out for the 100 simply because at the time I needed the extra reach for other uses (theater shoots) but both are very nice, affordable, light, responsive lenses. My latest acquisition is the 135L which I've been stalking for months now and finally found a way to afford - it's exceptional and I'll be selling the 100 f2 and going back to the 85 1.8 to fill in the focal lengths.
ETA: I just realised you're shooting Nikon - I'm sure there are Nikon equivalents which are equally well regarded. I left up my examples so you can see how focal lengths change the quality somewhat (although I'm a big fan of shallow DOF, thus even on shorter lenses I tend to shoot close and open when I can, which means they're performing more like short teles anyway.....)
50 1.4
85 1.8
100 f2
135L