I guess it's my favorite because it's my only, but my Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D has proven both through my use and in the hands of others. Paired with a D200 and some practice, the 60mm will easily become your walkaround.
noticed you're a nikon user, but I still thought I would toss out the Canon 85mm f/1.8. It's an amazing portrait lens on a 1.6 crop camera.... for the canon users anyway.
noticed you're a nikon user, but I still thought I would toss out the Canon 85mm f/1.8. It's an amazing portrait lens on a 1.6 crop camera.... for the canon users anyway.
I own Nikkor 85 f/2.0 AIS and I LOVE it. It's awesome, especially on film, but also on digital. On f/4 it's very very sharp. I haven't tried any expensive lenses, like 70-200, so I don't know if there is something that is sharper than very very sharp. I also love to have it MF. That makes me think a lot more about the composition, focus and lighting.
This fella IMHO is the best portrait lense I've used
//www.dpchallenge.com/lens.php?LENS_ID=26
But it's incredibly sharp ( he said counting all the defects in his skin he never noticed before !! )
The canon 24-70mm is superb also purely because of it's superb bokeh
As for portraits at a distance, I find the Canon 70-200mm IS F2.8 L with a 1.4x extender on it stopped down to F4 makes for some really fun shots. Gives a great impression of distance !
I love my F1.8 85mm but after using L glass I've really found the focus on it is very hit and miss - but for the price, nothing else touches it !
The 85 f1.8 is my fave, followed by the 50 f1.8 (the 1.4 would be better, but... that's more $$$ and the 1.8 works adequately for now) The Tamron 28-75 f2.8 is great wide open on the long end and I've gotten great results with the 70-200 f4L wide open.
I haven't noticed a focus issue with any of them, aside from the 50 f1.8 being a bit s..l..o..w.. I used to have a Sigma 105 f2.8 and it was even worse.
AF speed is not that important with portraits, it just has to be reasonably fast, it's not like you're shooting NASCAR where the subject is going 200mph.
