Guys, Suggest me a Portrait lens for D3S

[iaent]

Hello Friends,
Bought a used D3S y'day with shutter count 55000 (While waiting my H4D 31 to be delivered). I plan to shoot portraits with this camera. Any suggestions about the lens?
85 1.4g is out of budget.
How good are 85 1.4D/1.8D/1.8G?
I saw very good reviews about 105 F2 dc & 135 F2 dc. What are your views on these?
Suggest me one if your choice is some other lens.
A friend suggested to buy a Tamron 90mm 2.8 VC, How good is it?
Thx in advance.

[BernardLanguillier]

The 85mm f1.8G is assessed by a friend shooting Canon and Sony, obsessed with looks, as the best 85mm lens ever designed, whatever the brand.

It turns out to test extremely well to.

It is a total no brainer.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Petrus]

85mm f/1.8G is one of the sharpest lenses there are. Get that one at least, it is a steal.

105mm f/2 DC is also very sharp and has that nifty DOF control thingy, not a bad choice for the only portrait glass.

130mm f/2 DC is bit soft at full open, but very good from f/2.8 and up. It is a bit long to be the only portrait lens.

So: get the 85mm Nikkor. When you need something longer, get the 130mm DC.

[Chairman Bill]

I've got an old 85mm f1.8 AF (not a D or G). It is simply superb

[iaent]

Thx Guys,
I thought 85mm was good for DX cameras, is it also good for shooting portraits on FX cameras too?
Which lens you guys suggest for taking headshots?

[Petrus]

85mm is a good all around focal length for 135 size sensors. 135mm would be better for head shots.

[Chairman Bill]

The 85 is fine on my D700, as is my old AIS 105. The 135 DC is apparently very nice too

[D Fosse]

For headshots I also think 85 is a little short, 135 is better.

Still. Considering the performance:price ratio of the 85/1.8G, which is astronomical, it's a no-brainer. It's just the sharpest Nikkor ever and it easily outperforms even my 50/1.4.

It does feel a little lightweight and plasticky and I don't know how well it copes with a 4-foot drop onto a concrete pavement. Probably not too well. I suppose that's what the 1.4 buys you if you have the budget for it.

[PhotoEcosse]

Because I don't do a lot of portraiture but wanted a decent lens for the little I do, I opted for a Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D which I picked up on eBay for under £100. It really does a very good job on a D800

[elf]

This one is decent: http://www.ebay.com/itm/141236566067?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D0%26_from%3DR40%26_nkw%3D141236566067%26_rdc%3D1

It's used, so the price is a little lower

[LKaven]

Doing mainly portraits on Nikon FX cameras, these are the ones I like:

The 85/1.8G.  Don't leave home without it.  It's an amazing lens at a bargain price.  DO skip the D lenses.

The 105/2.5 AIs.  The classic Xenotar design has superb bokeh, and when stopped down to f/4, gets excellent sharpness and contrast.  It feels good to use this lens.

The 135/2 DC.  This is my favorite portrait lens of all.  Don't be put off by the listed focal length.  At close focus this is a 115mm lens.  The bokeh is as good as bokeh ever gets.  This lens has a magical look.  From f/3.2 on, it's razor sharp from corner to corner.  And that's a good f-stop for portraits on this lens, giving you a nice smooth transition from face back. 

The 180/2.8D ED-IF.  This is my top lens for big face portraits.  This is about 150mm at close focus.  The bokeh is wonderful.  It's a nice sharp lens, even wide open.  Working distance is comfortable for the subject.  The lens is compact, and balances perfectly on the D3s.

The 75-150/3.5 E.  This cult classic is truly an amazing piece of glass.  Really looks good in portraits.  Really good.  Costing around $125, you can't beat this lens for feel with anything, even a 70-200/2.8g VR-II. 

Next on my list:

105/2 DC.  Obviously. 
60/2.8g micro.   So clean, with near zero distortion.  A great lens for fashion portraits.

[Petrus]

The 135/2 DC.  This is my favorite portrait lens of all.  Don't be put off by the listed focal length.  At close focus this is a 115mm lens.

The 180/2.8D ED-IF.  This is my top lens for big face portraits.  This is about 150mm at close focus. 

How do you come up with these 115mm and 150mm figures? At close focus lenses are further away from the sensor/film and picture angle is less, so the back focal distances are more like 150 an 200mm (148mm and 198mm to be exact for focus distances of 1.5 and 2 meters).

Explain, please.

[LKaven]

How do you come up with these 115mm and 150mm figures? At close focus lenses are further away from the sensor/film and picture angle is less, so the back focal distances are more like 150 an 200mm (148mm and 198mm to be exact for focus distances of 1.5 and 2 meters).

Explain, please.

My guess is that the internal focus group changes the effective focal length, but I'm not sure.

I had an exchange with Joseph Wisniewski on the subject about three years back on photo.net.  I got the numbers from him.  Apparently my memory is a bit off.  Looking back on that thread the 135/2 DC at close focus is about 120mm, and the 180/2.8D at close focus is about 156mm. 

http://photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00YKMA?start=0

[D Fosse]

The Micro 60/2.8 has similar behavior - focal length goes down with close focus. This is the only drawback of this otherwise fantastic lens. The closer you go, the closer you need to be; so that at 1:1 the front element almost touches the subject and lighting becomes very difficult.

I've seen this documented somewhere and there was also a specific short focal length mentioned, but can't recall where.

[Petrus]

My guess is that the internal focus group changes the effective focal length, but I'm not sure.

I checked with my copy of 135mm DC, and the picture angle gets narrower when focusing closer, just like it should using conventional lens formulas. Thus I can not believe the 120mm focal length thing. Besides, if that really happened, the lens would have to have larger than normal image circle = extra cost.