# Portrait lens: 85mm 1.4 or 105mm 2.8?



## nickzou

I know they are different focal lengths and have different purposes but for the purpose of portraits, which would you recommend?


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## SheehanPhotos

nickzou said:
			
		

> I know they are different focal lengths and have different purposes but for the purpose of portraits, which would you recommend?



I would say go for the 85mm 1.4 for portrait photography. When I was shopping around for that lens which is said to be the must have for any photographer ESP portraits. I actually found out that is you are using a crop sensor camera rather than a full frame and use the 50mm 1.4 made for a full frame brings the mm near 85 at about half of the cost. I bought a sigma 50mm 1.4 DG (full frame lens) for my Nikon D3100 (crop sensor camera) which equals to about an 80mm zoom rather than a 85 for about half of the cost. Not to mention this lens is rated to be one of the best bokeh producing lenses out there. Also I truly believe the 105mm will be too zoomed it for portraits as it is the 50Dg is a tight fit.   I hope this helps!   Visit my website to see photos I took with this lens @. www.SheehanPhotos.com


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## Derrel

The 85mm f/1.4. Virtually any 105mm f/2.8 Nikkor lens is going to be a macro lens, which is really not optimal for portraiture. If you have a DX Nikon, the 85mm lens will be handier to use in more locations than will a longer prime lens.


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## KmH

There are many different kinds of portraits, and portraits can have a varying number of people in them, consequently you need a selection of lenses to do portraiture.

If I was considering the 105 mm focal length for portraiture I would be looking at the Nikon 105mm f/2.0D AF DC-Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras , not one of the 105 mm f/2.8 micros.

The 85 mm f/1.4 comes in 2 flavors: an AF 85 mm f/1.4D version and an AF-S 85 mm f/1.4G version. Which one are you referring to?


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## nickzou

Well I was thinking I bought the D7000 for a reason so yeah the D version. But I was specifically limiting myself to Nikon either. I've been told that they have a nice Vivitar manual focus version without all the bells and whistles but the optics were still quite good or the Sigma which I've also heard good things about.


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## 2WheelPhoto

I buy Nikon. 

For a budget lens this one has been getting great reviews: Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 Aspherical Lens for Nikon With 85MAF-N B&H


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## ghache

I got the 85mm 1.4 af-d over the G. After renting the G for gigs a few times earlier, and the af-D version to compare, i couldnt see enough diferrence between the 2 to justify the 600$ difference for the G version. I dont know about the sigma HSM DG but you could also look at that one since the price tag is arounf the 1.4 AF-D

If you want a lens that will make you giggle like a teenager just get the 105 F2 DC or even the 135 and you will wet your pants every time you pull that trigger.


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## nickzou

2WheelPhoto said:


> I buy Nikon.
> 
> For a budget lens this one has been getting great reviews: Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 Aspherical Lens for Nikon With 85MAF-N B&H



I know the Rokinon and the Vivitar are actually the same lens.


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## thierry

I would go with the Rokinon 85mm 1.4 I have seen some good photos come out of it using the d7000...  Rokinon 85mm f1.4


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## Sw1tchFX

Personally, I'm thinking of getting the sigma 85mm. It's got a similar color wide open to a Zeiss, which could be interesting when I'm shooting gigs with my F100's.


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## soxOZ

nickzou said:


> 2WheelPhoto said:
> 
> 
> 
> I buy Nikon.
> For a budget lens this one has been getting great reviews: Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 Aspherical Lens for Nikon With 85MAF-N B&H
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I know the Rokinon and the Vivitar are actually the same lens.
Click to expand...


Actually *Samyang* make these 85 f/1.4 lenses and are sold under several different names (Rokinon, Vivtar, Bower, Bell & Howell etc), plus they come in 2 different configurations.
Be sure to get one with the CPU chipset that will meter on DX & FX cameras and not the one without the CPU, as it will not meter on any camera below a D300, plus you have to adjust the aperture on the lens, so can only be used in Manual Mode.

But the CPU version which is about $50 more can be used in Manual, Aperture & Shutter mode with the camera controlling the aperture settings (just set the aperture on the lens to f/22 when fitting it to the camera).
Here is the Link to the DxOMark comparison tests between the Nikon 85 _f/_1.4G, Nikon 85 _f/_1.4D and the Samyang 85mm 85 _f/_1.4... 
For around $300, the Samyang (or whatever name version you get) is on par with Nikon 85 _f/_1.4D, except that it has no AF and needs to be manually focused...

I looked at all of these and the Sigma 85 _f/_1.4, and decided on the Samyang (well my version was the Rokinon) for a couple of reasons. 
First was for very little outlay I can see whether I would get a lot of use from this lens and if I decided I did well I could update and basically recoup my outlay.
Or if I decided to just keep it, it didn't break the bank purchasing it for it to be used occasionally...

Well after using it, I decided to keep it as It has blown me away with it's IQ and sharpness, with some of the best bokeh I've seen... :thumbup:
And I find it's a snap to manually focus... 

Here are a couple of shots of my Golden Retriever, both shot at _f/_1.4 (D700)...

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## BlairWright

85 1.4D or 84 1.4 G IMO, the only Nikon portrait lenses that can come even close to the 85 in sharpness and bokeh are the 105 and 135 DC Lenses. I have heard good things about the Sigma 85 1.4 but do not buy off brand lenses due to focus issues with them (Nikon does not license it's focus technology).


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