Which lens for group portraits?

Zet

Hi,

I own a Nikon D7000. I have a Nikkor 50MM. I love it for single subjects but find that I have to back up too far if I'm shooting a small group and I want to get some background in (like at a beach with the ocean) Thinking about getting the 85MM. Any other sugestions I should look into? Thank you very much.

Regards,
Elisete

time2smile

An 85 would make you back up even more, look into a wider lens, 12-24 or 18-55. There are quite a few on the market now.

Davidoff

Yes, what he said. Depending on budget the 35mm 1.8DX or the new 28mm 1.8 FX.

FearNothing321

There is always the 17-55 2.8 DX lens

troopers

Try the 35mm....watch out for distortation with the wider lenses.

cab.in.boston

Ditto on the 35 f/1.8G. That is my most-used lens on my D300. Great lens. I'm interested in the new 28mm f/1.8G as someday I may shift to FX, but until then, the 35 is great as a normal lens on a DX body.

Zet

Thank you for all the great advice! I also have a 18-105. Should I just use that one or do you think a fixed lens is a better option?

perroneford

Zet wrote: »

Thank you for all the great advice! I also have a 18-105. Should I just use that one or do you think a fixed lens is a better option?

Yep, just use the kit 18-105. It's a fine lens and I've used it for any number of tasks. It's sharp and contrasty. The only real downside is that it's not very good if the light is poor.

cab.in.boston

Zet wrote: »

Thank you for all the great advice! I also have a 18-105. Should I just use that one or do you think a fixed lens is a better option?

Depends on the light. A prime (fixed) lens typically has a larger aperture and can shoot in lower light, with the tradeoff of less depth of field. At 35mm, your 18-105 has a maximum aperture of about f/4.5 and f/5 by 50mm, so you are letting in much less light than what the 35mm f/1.8 or 50 f/1.8 is capable of. The image quality of a prime lens is also usually a little (or a lot) better than the zoom lenses.

As I mentioned, I'm partial to the 35mm f/1.8 in general, just because it's a great little lens for the DX format Nikons. It is on my camera the majority of the time.

But if you have plenty of light, be it flash or natural, the 18-105 should be capable of good results.

perroneford

cab.in.boston wrote: »

Depends on the light. A prime (fixed) lens typically has a larger aperture and can shoot in lower light, with the tradeoff of less depth of field. At 35mm, your 18-105 has a maximum aperture of about f/4.5 and f/5 by 50mm, so you are letting in much less light than what the 35mm f/1.8 or 50 f/1.8 is capable of. The image quality of a prime lens is also usually a little (or a lot) better than the zoom lenses.

How many people you know take group shots at less than F4? Unless everyone is in a perfect line, you're going to NEED that DOF to get everyone sharp. And the 18-105 is essentially "free" since he's already got it. Under ideal conditions, yea that 35 would be great, but that's a chunk of money to spend for a lens he may not use much.

cab.in.boston

perroneford wrote: »

How many people you know take group shots at less than F4? Unless everyone is in a perfect line, you're going to NEED that DOF to get everyone sharp. And the 18-105 is essentially "free" since he's already got it. Under ideal conditions, yea that 35 would be great, but that's a chunk of money to spend for a lens he may not use much.

Depends on one's definition of "group." If it's 4-5 people indoors at a party, they could easily all be in focus with f/2.8 or even lower. At 35mm, f/1.8, shot from 10 ft. away (to be far enough back to accommodate the width of 5 people across the frame), your DoF is 1.77 ft, according to dofmaster. f/2.8 gives you 2.84 ft of DoF, and still a stop faster than the f/4 kit lens.

If it's a group of 100 people in 4 rows of 25, then yes, your point is spot on.

photogreen

Zet wrote: »

Thank you for all the great advice! I also have a 18-105. Should I just use that one or do you think a fixed lens is a better option?

here you go. try that lens on the wider end and see how it works for you composition wise. prime lenses will just deliver better quality images. it's your choice to go there or not. you might be happy with what you have.

Zet

Thank you all again! The group shots are usually a family at the beach so I don't like the depth of field to be too shallow because I like to see the ocean. (had my family portrait done at the beach once and the ocean was all blurred out....what's the point?) I'm going to play around with the 18-105 lens and see how I like it. I use the 50MM mostly for when I do portraits of infants and it works great for that!