Ellen101 Loc: Manhattan NY ..now Spring Hill, Fl

I have a Nikon D5100. I need a good lens for portraits. Can anyone tell me which is best?
I do not have thousands of dollars to spend.
Thank you

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

An excellent all around portrait lens is the Nikon 105mm Micro Nikkor. It's probably one of the best Macro lenses on the market as well so you get a dual purpose out of it. It's under a thousand and you can probably pick one up used or refurbished for a lot less than new.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

Another really great lens, since you are using a crop sensor camera is the Micro Nikkor 60mm lens. This one would give you a 35mm equivalent of 90mm where the 105 would be over 150mm. A little less expensive as well.

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

Nifty 50. Inexpensive and sharp. You will need to be closer to your subject, but if you are doing portraits, the subject should be able to sit still for you.

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

The 105 micro is an expensive lens and on his APS C camera is going to give him the perspective of 152mm. I think an 85mm f1.8 would suit him better. If your going to be in Spring Hill check the Tampa bay craigslist as there are usually good deals on used nikkor lenses .

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Nikon 105mm 1.4, or Nikon 85mm1.4. Take your personal pick.

Tigger1 Loc: Surrey, BC Canada

Hi Ellen;
What lens or lenses do you currently own for your D5100? For example, do you have the original kit lens for the D5100 which was a 18-55mm zoom lens? The typical "portrait lens" usually falls in the range of 85mm to 135mm in terms of field of view when mounted on a full frame camera body. Your camera the D5100 is a crop sensor camera with a crop factor of 1.5 which means that a 55mm focal length lens on your D5100 will yield a field of view equivalent of what a 82.5mm lens would yield on a full frame camera. Sorry for the technical stuff!

So, if you do have the original kit lens try taking a few portrait shot with the lens set at 55mm focal length and see if that gives you the perspective you want. If for example you have the 55-200mm kit lens, try using that lens at 75mm or 100mm to see if you like the perspective you get at those settings. One other suggestion is to review your camera manual, particularly the "scene" settings available with the D5100, if I recall correctly there is a setting available in the menu system for "portraits" that will give a warmer tone to face and exposed skin in your photos if you shoot in jpg mode. If you shoot in raw mode, then you have more control of your photos when you post process the shots in your chosen photo processing software such as Lightroom, Photoshop, Affinity or the photo processing software that came with the D5100.

Take the time to experiment and practice and you will find in time what works best for you.
I wish you all the best and good luck. Garth

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Nikon makes a 105mm 1.4 portrait lens. The Macro is 2.8. Don't confuse the two lenses.

David Kay Loc: Arlington Heights IL

I would not recommend buying anything off of craiglist. Too many incidents of fraud and theft from doing business that way. Buy used or reconditioned from B&H, KEH, Adorama, and Hunt's.

Ellen101 Loc: Manhattan NY ..now Spring Hill, Fl

Thank you! I will look into that.

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

If one is savy enough then there are bargains in craigslist(at least where I am). In the last 10 years I've acquired a D70s, D300, D7000, and a Fuji XE-1, a 105 nikor macro, a 70-300VR, a 60mm AFD, a sigma 17-55, a nikor 28-105 macro AFS, 35mm AF G, all in like new condition without a hitch. Many people buy expensive photo gear and then realize that their photo intrest isn't really there. I always do an extensive phone interview ahead of each purchase and ask the right questions, but I'm a trained interrogator! Always meet at a public place(like a Sheriff's local office).

Silverman Loc: Michigan

Research the Nikon 50mm 1.8g lens, it is a FX lens, when used on a DX Camera it has a crop factor of 1.5, so 50mm x 1.5 = 75mm, very close to the normal 85mm which is acceptable is a Portrait Lens.
Check out B&H for price and Customer Service. (Open Box) item. This 50mm lens also creates very nice Bokeh too.

67skylark27 Loc: Fort Atkinson, WI

I was able to find a Nikon 85mm 1.8 and it is excellent. I shot my sons senior pictures with
it. I bought used for $320 and have seen them routinely for $400. I have seen it ranked in the
top five for sharpness of all Nikon lenses made. I also have the 50mm 1.4 $300 used and that would
do well, as would the 1.8 version which is around $175. I used a D3300 and D5300.

BebuLamar

I am sorry for not directly answer your question but as you can see there are many recommendations already and you will see it's difficult to make your decision. You should start by considering at which distance you want to make your portraits. People look different at different distance. Then you need to decide how much of the subject you want to include or you want to include background in your images. These two will determine the focal length. You will need to determine how much of the subject should be in focus so you can pick the max aperture for the lens. And then how sharp you would need the lens to be. Then you can pick the best lens for you.

Ellen101 Loc: Manhattan NY ..now Spring Hill, Fl

I am shooting 1 to 5 feet away from my subjects.
I am doing character studies not "Pretty" shots.