Last Christmas I bought my wife a Nikon D90 and she is loving it. She has taken a class to learn to use more of its functions and is currently learning photoshop.
The majority of the photos she take are of our kids. She loves getting the perfect candid shot of them playing or getting into mischief.

I would like to buy her a lens specialized for this application. (Taking pictures of people)

Any advice would be appreciated but, please only chime in if you know what you are talking about as I will probably believe anything.

Thanks in advance

the d90 is a 1.5x crop so a 50mm lens would make it a 75mm point of view, which is good for head and shoulder portraits. I would look into getting the Nikon 50mm 1.8, which can probably be found for around 100 dollars.

Check out this review
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/5018daf.htm

70-200vrII ... a little expensive but pro quality and will allow her to zoom in and get some nice candid shots. Also, she could do some nice formal portraits with it too.

Thanks Guys!

Keep the input coming!

16-35mm f/4 G VR
24-70m f/2.8
70-200mm f/2.8 VR II


Don't listen to Ken Rockwell. He is a tool.


What is your budget...?

This post was edited by CitizenScuba on Dec 15 2010 08:26pm

For portraits, i'd suggest anything above 100mm. Lesser ranges are unflattering. You can google the technical explanation.

With lower ranges you kind of have to get up close and personal as well. It can sometimes make the portraits seem unnatural.


And hooray for another Y fan! Season football ticket holder!

This post was edited by CitizenScuba on Dec 16 2010 07:19am

135mm DC wanna say the fstop is 2.

You can control the out of focus part of the shot with that lens. Sharp. Creates very creamy backgrounds.

highly recommend this lens as a cheap but brilliant lens



and this lens for a top end expensive lens
also better for "candid" shots

If you're gonna get a 50 prime get the 50mm 1.4 G... Its not much more expensive than the 1.8 and worth the extra bit.