Need lens recommendation

[ChrisnSteph]

I own a Nikon D50. I only have two lenses - an 18-55 and a 70-300. A friend wants me to shoot some family pictures for her, and I know I should use a different lens, mabye a larger one. I'm not too hip on all the technical photography stuff, so I'm wondering what size lens I should use. I plan on renting it and if I really like it I may even buy it, so I want something that's pretty versatile. I remember borrowing a friends lens once that I used for some outdoor portraits and I absolutely loved the pictures I took with it, but I'm unable to get a hold of her to ask if I could borrow it again. Any suggestions?

 

[Charade]

I was going to suggest the Nikon 50mm 1.8 and I would buy it, not rent it. It's fast, sharp and cheap (about $100).

 

[Furgus]

I second the 50mm f/1.8. I love mine. The 85 f/1.8 is a little more, but also a good portrait lens.
I took some portrait pictures for a friend at work with my 18-55 and he and his family loved them, so you could just use that.

 

[handicap18]

Add me to the list of recommending the 50mm f/1.8 ($110 at amazon). It is a very sharp lens, especially in the f/5.6-f/11 range. This lens in conjuction with the SB-600 flash and a diffuser is a great portrait setup with my D50. This is what I use when I take "official" portraits of the kids. I also use it for other things as well. I used it a few weeks ago at a friends wedding and got great results.

For a diffuser I have a Lumiquest Ultrasoft diffuser which was about $25. I also recently purchased the Gary Fong Lightsphere II which is great. Priced at $49. The Gary Fong link has some great photo comparisions and video comparisions of how the product works.

 

[handicap18]

To add a bit more info on the 50mm f/1.8. This lens will allow you to get the great shallow depth of field for the portraits since the aperture can go so wide. The 18-55mm will give you some great results, but at 50mm on that lens the widest aperture is only f/5.6. Not really wide enough to provide a good out of focus background.

Also you can get some great low light or natural light photos with the 50mm f/1.8. Combine ISO 1600 with a wide aperture like 2.8 or even 1.8 without using the flash. Use only the light coming in from the windows late in the day with just a small light to highlight the subjects background. Since it's for a portrait you want to have the shallow depth of field. The only time your going to have a problem in this situation is if its a portrait of a big group. In this case placement of the people and their faces is going to be critical, either that or you'll have to use a smaller aperture to make sure people in a second row are in focus or just use a flash and not worry about the natural light type photograph.

Ok hopefully this isn't to much information, my brain is working overtime. I'm going back to bed, the baby has finished his bottle. Time to get more sleep.

 

[fitzperry]

Another vote for the 50mm 1.8. I got mine a few weeks ago and have been surprised at how much I use it. I actually like not having zoom capability sometimes--somehow it forces you to think more about composition, which seems counterintuitive to me, but that's been my experience. As others have said, it is super sharp, and the wide aperture/low light capabilities are a great asset.

 

[bzdaddy]

Family portraits include wrestling for the remote control in front of the camera. The results are a fun game of trying to figure out who has the remote in their hand. Most important is that my wife is happy with the results. And it’s much more fun compared to the painful trip to the local portrait studio.

The Tokina 12-24 is my preference, mostly at 24. At a constant f4 it’s really too dark for my corrected eye site to use in artificial household light. Plus, my 2 yr old and 5 yr old leave little time to let me assemble my camera let alone compose a picture.

I have thought of the 24 1.x fixed focus lens, but at $200 to $300 it was cheaper to go for the wide angle zoom. I purchased the 12-24 used for about the same price as the fixed lens.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone! I got the 50mm 1.8 lens. I've taken some great shots with it! I don't know how veratile it will be, but I think it's going to be a great lens to have in my collection.