QUESTION! nikon 85mm f/1.8 lens

hschlessphoto

i am not familiar with lenses that dont zoom, so tell me please, what else is a lens like this good for other than basketball, hockey, and other indoor sports? HOw can i use it well in nature and all year round in general?

PLEASE ANSWER:bow :bow :bow

thanks!

Van Isle

excellent portraiture lens. Not just people, but for pets and other animals that allow you to get close.

Concerts. Weddings. Great tool to have in the tool kit.

i_worship_the_King

I have the 50mm f1.8 and LOVE it. In fact it's only come off my body once or twice in the last 2 months or so. The thing is I loathe using onboard flashes and I can't afford or really justify carrying around a nice wireless & diffuser; therefore anything indoors (sports, family, party, you name it) gets the 50mm treatment.

For me it took about 3-5 outings to get used to having to 'sneaker zoom', but I found myself cranking the aperature wiiiiide open and loving what I can get without flash. In fact when I pulled out my stock lens for a quick shoot that I needed some zoom range and I constantly trying to crank it down and there was just nothing there. It's quite addicting .

(I didn't have the money to go for the pro-grade gear, so for around $125 (my price) you should make the jump. I can't imagine you being disappointed.)

ChuckM

I just picked up a zoom 2.8. It's the fastest one I own and have really enjoyed practicing my indoor lower light shots over the past few days. I have also really enjoyed the hands on expermentation learning about DOF.

Unless you're cramped in a phone booth, I would image the 85 could be used indoors (even a house) for successful shots. Maybe not too many group photos, but like the "king" said... it's going to be nice for shots without having to use an external flash in poor lighting. Plus, you can't beat the price on a fast prime as opposed to a zoom.

jonh68

It's not a walkabout lens for outdoors, but if you put it on and get everything you can with it, the images are sharp.

If you have a zoom in this range, just set it 85 mm and get an idea of what you can get indoors and outdoors. Then just imagine the picture being sharper than what you have currently. For $300, used, it's a great tool to have for portraits inside and out.

hschlessphoto

thanks so much for responding everyone. Another question i have about it is whether the size of he aperature will allow better focus on macro-type shots.

thanks again

jonh68

It depends on what you shoot. You need to be at least three feet from your subject. I really wouldn't call it a macro if you like getting close to your objects. I was able to photograph some hummingbirds with it, but had to crop heavily. The images were sharp though. Flowers are very sharp with it, but you will not be able to get close ups of the structure of the flowers.It's not a fast focusing lens and it hunts on my D50 in low light.