Author Topic: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850  (Read 22659 times)

CS

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #30 on: March 17, 2020, 19:16:36 »
1- SteveMC does not remember or ready to confirm which lens was used.

2- SteveMC shoots on Auto mode and has a hand/finger disability.

3- The Afghan girl photo and all his others are heavily retouched....and he was caught lately at the subterfuge!!

Ooooops!  ;)
Carl

Ethan

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #31 on: March 17, 2020, 19:16:56 »
I don't get it. So a guy buys a Ferrari and looks to equip it with budget cheap tyres!

So you get a Nikon D850 but do not have the money to buy a good portrait lens!

Nevermind that in case you are short of money, then the sensible thing to do is to buy a camera and lens within your budget.
Or put the money behind the lens which is more important than a body.

You do appreciate that a picture is not the gear but the photographer in general and portrait in particular.
Shooting wildlife - deep water....etc does need special gear.

The example you mention of Stephan Vanfleteren shows his photos retouched like there is no tomorrow.
This started in a camera and ended on a retouching bench.

105mm or 85mm or whatever is not the point. You make the picture whether in camera or in digital darkroom

f4-fan

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #32 on: March 17, 2020, 19:17:08 »
You can get them at about 200 Euros in photo shops (105/2.5 AI)......if lens is not like new.....but fine optically.
I have just checked the local dealer.......they also have the AI 105/1.8 at about 200 Euros......but again lens is not like new....but fine optically.
Private I think you can get a very nice like new 105/2.5 AI at about 200 euros......it my best guess.

Else.....if you want something cheaper and with a lot of personality.....search for the Nikkor Q (four lens) 135mm's....

"AI-S 105/1.8 at about 200 Euros" - I would buy at once...  :)

"105/2.5 AI at about 200 euros" seems to be realistic...

Nikkor Q 135  - I would like to test it - but not with my just repaired D850 (an Ai-converted old lens has destroyed    the very sensitive F-FO base plate ceramic unit of my D850)
Ralf
Fehmarn, SH, Germany
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f4-fan

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #33 on: March 17, 2020, 19:22:13 »
I don't get it. So a guy buys a Ferrari and looks to equip it with budget cheap tyres!

So you get a Nikon D850 but do not have the money to buy a good portrait lens!

Nevermind that in case you are short of money, then the sensible thing to do is to buy a camera and lens within your budget.
Or put the money behind the lens which is more important than a body.

You do appreciate that a picture is not the gear but the photographer in general and portrait in particular.
Shooting wildlife - deep water....etc does need special gear.

The example you mention of Stephan Vanfleteren shows his photos retouched like there is no tomorrow.
This started in a camera and ended on a retouching bench.

105mm or 85mm or whatever is not the point. You make the picture whether in camera or in digital darkroom

Well spoken - and also true.  :)

However, I already bought 2 great lenses (Zeiss Milvus 35mm 1.4 and Nikon 14-24) and now the money (and the Nikon Instant Discount Promotion) is gone and I need something crappy and really cheap for portraiture, which still gives top performance on 46 MP.

 ;)
Ralf
Fehmarn, SH, Germany
Fotogemeinschaft.de - moving moments...

f4-fan

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #34 on: March 17, 2020, 19:36:24 »

The example you mention of Stephan Vanfleteren shows his photos retouched like there is no tomorrow.
This started in a camera and ended on a retouching bench.


"Stephan Vanfleteren likes working with the Rolleiflex best of all, a camera from the 1980s"

He often works analogue with medium format cameras and thus maintains the really extremely small depth of field and the wonderful overall-look in BW... which I like very much (and with KB you need f/1.4 or f/1.2 to get this
Ralf
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MEPER

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #35 on: March 17, 2020, 19:40:48 »
"AI-S 105/1.8 at about 200 Euros" - I would buy at once...  :)


OK.....by closer look it has some small scratches at the font element (and it also mentioned) but it is pointed out that that apart from that it is optically ok:
https://www.photografica.com/brugt-51/brugt-nikkor-ai-s-105-1-8.html

1600 DKK is about 220 Euros......few minor scratches at front element usually don't effect image quality....but never nice to have a lens where optics is not 100%......
I am quite sure they will ship to outside DK.

f4-fan

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #36 on: March 17, 2020, 19:49:05 »
OK.....by closer look it has some small scratches at the font element (and it also mentioned) but it is pointed out that that apart from that it is optically ok:
https://www.photografica.com/brugt-51/brugt-nikkor-ai-s-105-1-8.html

1600 DKK is about 220 Euros......few minor scratches at front element usually don't effect image quality....but never nice to have a lens where optics is not 100%......
I am quite sure they will ship to outside DK.

This might be the 'crappy' top lens I'm looking for.
The only downside is it'll be hard to resell if it's not suitable with the D850...
Ralf
Fehmarn, SH, Germany
Fotogemeinschaft.de - moving moments...

Frank Fremerey

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #37 on: March 17, 2020, 19:57:43 »
I personally don't like the look of MTs photos... (too 'perfect' and with a lot of distance)

Are we talking about lens character or personal style here?

In this Flickr group you will find 25.000 shots taken with the 1.8/85G from hundreds of different photographers: https://www.flickr.com/groups/nikkor85mmf18g/pool/
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/

MEPER

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #38 on: March 17, 2020, 20:04:46 »
This might be the 'crappy' top lens I'm looking for.
The only downside is it'll be hard to resell if it's not suitable with the D850...

As I remember they have a very good return policy with used equipment.......so you can swap to something else within 3 months.......at least it was so.....some years back......
But that means that you will need to send it back.....a have something else sent......
I think the white spot in the center is a light reflection.......you can always ask them.....and get more pictures of the front lens....

MEPER

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #39 on: March 17, 2020, 20:18:25 »
Here is an example of a close to 200 Euros AI-S 105/2.5....that seems to be optically perfect.....but has been used a lot.
https://www.photografica.com/brugt-51/brugt-nikkor-ais-105-2-5.html

Thomas Stellwag

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #40 on: March 17, 2020, 20:39:26 »
2 cheap ones are missing (curious which reasons will speak against them ;))

Nikon E series 2.8  100mm
Kaleinar 5N  2.8 100mm  F mount

both below € 100.- if you get them and both do a good job for portraits
Thomas Stellwag

Roland Vink

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #41 on: March 17, 2020, 20:51:15 »
And whats about the

AF 105/2.8 D Micro for portaiture?

One can get this lens in really mint condition for about 200 EUR
I only scanned this thread quickly so apologies if this has already been answered.

The AF 105/2.8 is a good macro lens, and is reasonably sharp at medium-far distances so is a good all-round lens. However the background rendition tends to be harsh at typical portrait distances, I wouldn't recommend it for this purpose. It's also relatively big and heavy for the focal length/aperture because it is a macro lens. The focus throw near infinity is very short, very difficult to focus accurately by hand, so you would have to rely on AF. Also, it is an old "screw-drive" AF lens so auto-focus is relatively noisy, with no instant manual over-ride.

The AI 105/2.5 is an excellent portrait lens, but is manual focus only. Results are excellent IF you can focus it accurately, it could be suitable for seated portraits where you have time to focus accurately, but it will be difficult to get good results for moving subjects. The D850 is very unforgiving of the slightest focus errors unless you don't enlarge greatly (in which case you may as well use a D750 instead).

Given your limited budget, I would take another look at the AF-S 85/1.8 G. It is a well regarded portrait lens, the faster aperture will give you more DoF control compared to the 105/2.5 and it has AF so you should get a much higher rate of well-focused pictures.

f4-fan

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #42 on: March 17, 2020, 21:13:46 »
I only scanned this thread quickly so apologies if this has already been answered.

The AF 105/2.8 is a good macro lens, and is reasonably sharp at medium-far distances so is a good all-round lens. However the background rendition tends to be harsh at typical portrait distances, I wouldn't recommend it for this purpose. It's also relatively big and heavy for the focal length/aperture because it is a macro lens. The focus throw near infinity is very short, very difficult to focus accurately by hand, so you would have to rely on AF. Also, it is an old "screw-drive" AF lens so auto-focus is relatively noisy, with no instant manual over-ride.

The AI 105/2.5 is an excellent portrait lens, but is manual focus only. Results are excellent IF you can focus it accurately, it could be suitable for seated portraits where you have time to focus accurately, but it will be difficult to get good results for moving subjects. The D850 is very unforgiving of the slightest focus errors unless you don't enlarge greatly (in which case you may as well use a D750 instead).

Given your limited budget, I would take another look at the AF-S 85/1.8 G. It is a well regarded portrait lens, the faster aperture will give you more DoF control compared to the 105/2.5 and it has AF so you should get a much higher rate of well-focused pictures.

Good arguments against the Micro and for the AF-S 85/1.8 G.

Thus possible candidates (150-350,-) would be the :

- 105mm f/2.5 Ai (150-200 EUR used)
- 105mm f/1.8 Ai-s (with little scatches for 230 EUR)
- AF-S 85/1.8 G (330,- EUR NEW 390,- ./. VAT)
- AF 85/1.8 D (230,- EUR USED) ("Bokeh not so good; too harsh for elder faces")
----Other
- Samyang 85mm f/1.4 Aspherique IF Nikon ? 240,- EUR NEW
- Samyang 85mm T1.5 VDSLR AS IF UMC II ? 260,- EUR NEW
- Zenitar-1N MC 85mm f1.4 ?  260,- EUR NEW


Some important comments from you summarized for my decision making:
"nailing the 105 2.5 is very difficult imho at full opening"
"All mf lenses like the ais lenses are very difficult to nail focus, to shoot wide open portrets the model will need to be at complete standtill"

"The G is very smooth /  balances perfectly with a D3 or gripped D500 or D850 /  heavily underrated lens / it is better to use the G for women ... much finer, smoother skin rendering here"

"I second Roland, the 105 mm Micro Nikkors (including the MF versions) are not for portraits as good bokeh is not their strongest side."

"Older Lenses:
105mm f/2.5 Sonnar-version
Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 P.C."

"I would strongly second the recommendation for a 105/2.5 lens if your ultimate goal is to get the 105/1.4. I have the Nikkor P.C. with scalloped focus ring. This lens is simply amazing. There is a thread somewhere by Olivier Anthony who took an extensive series of excellent portraits with this lens"

"I have not used the older AF 85/1.8 D but from comments I have read, the background bokeh wasn't so smooth unless you get relatively close to the subject with a distant background. It also flares when shooting into light and shows purple fringing in some situations (correct me if I am wrong). It is a "screw-drive" AF lens so focusing is noisier than the AF-S version and no instant manual over-ride. I think in most respects, the AF-S version is a better option."

Conclusion for me:

A. I will look for a really cheap 105mm f/2.5 Ai (130-150,-)
B. I will test the AF-S 85/1.8 G in a store...

Thanks a lot for your help!

PS:
I have just found a nice DOF-Tool: https://dofsimulator.net
Ralf
Fehmarn, SH, Germany
Fotogemeinschaft.de - moving moments...

MEPER

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #43 on: March 17, 2020, 22:31:21 »
There is also the older AF 85/1.8 D which is also a fine lens....many available at ebay:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Nikon-AF-Nikkor-85-mm-f-1-8-D/202929972111?hash=item2f3f91a38f:g:fvIAAOSw5jleZ22q
It should work with AF with D850 body.....and is a physical small lens compared to the AFS 85/1.8 G.

330 Euro for a new AFS 85/1.8 G sounds cheap.......seems to be a "no brainer" at this price level.

MILLIREHM

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Re: Best cheap Portrait Lens for Nikon D850
« Reply #44 on: March 17, 2020, 22:32:22 »
With 100-200 Euro you are a bit on the limited end (too limited imho), but you can get a decent 105/2,5 which i also recommend. (bought mine for 135, AI-S version)
you probably might not make use of the full resolution but portraits usually are not the thing where details matter - and sometimes less is more.

I second Roland, the 105 mm Micro Nikkors (including the MF versions) are not for portraits as good bokeh is not their strongest side.
Wolfgang Rehm