dsiner Loc: Kent, WA

Have been asked to shoot a family reunion, groups and portrait. I shoot a D7200, I have a Nikon 35mm f1.8, kit lens18-55, Tamron 16-300, Tokina 11-16 and a Sigma 100-400. Is there a portrait lens I should rent? I don't normally shoot people.

RowYourVold

The 35mm f1.8 should be very useful for most of what you'll need. Open up to f1.8 if it's indoors and/or when shooting portraits of a single person. About f2.8-f4 should cover group shots assuming people are at roughly the same distance from you. If there's enough light, f4 or f5.6 would probably serve you well for most action or documentary style shots.

If it's a roughly even mix between what you described (reunion event itself, some groups, and some portraits) I don't think you'd really need to rent anything else--just use the 35 1.8 and keep either the kit or the Tamron as backup if you need to go wide for tight spaces. If you're going to be very portrait-focused and want a more traditional blurred background look, the 50mm 1.8 is cheap and should be sufficient while retaining some versatility.

Apart from lenses though, a flash with TTL will help a lot for darker indoor scenes, and may be where you'd get the best return on money spent.

Weddingguy Loc: British Columbia - Canada

I don't think you need to rent.
An "ideal" lens for your event would be a 24-70mm with a constant F/2.8 aperture. Because of the varying aperture in your zoom lenses I would suggest the 35mm will suffice for most of the event EXCEPT the individual portraits, which should be a focal length anywhere from about 70 to 100 mm for best results. Your Sigma at 100mm will take care of that just fine.
Do NOT shoot individual portraits at F/1.8 to F/3.5 as some are suggesting, unless you are set up on a tripod with the subjects seated. At those F/stops even slight movement could easily make it difficult to get both eyes in focus . . . with more than one person in the shot . . . almost impossible! Throwing backgrounds out of focus is not anywhere near as important as getting sharp eyes.
It is important that you keep your equipment to a minimum. In event photography you must be constantly ready for impromtu happenings, which you will not be if you are constantly changing lenses, etc.
Use the KISS principal!

Why the 35mm lens ? . . . because in subdued light situations the camera will focus more easily and accurately as it "sees" at the wide open aperture (F/1.8). The constant aperture is especially important if you are using flash, which you should definitely be doing.

Why the 70 to 100mm for portraits ? . . . "ideal" focal length for portraits is about 1 and 1/2 times the "normal" focal length for a particular camera. It produces better perspective and more natural compression of the face and torso of the subject. It also allows you to be "out of the face" of the subject.

Hope that helps . . .

SkyKing Loc: Thompson Ridge, NY

...Nikon 85mm or 24-70mm...you only have the 16-300 in this range...the 24-70 will help with both group and portrait...and if you can rent it in the VR version...

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Honestly, we can keep throwing out our favorite lenses, but there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.

How many people? Indoor or outdoor? Can the people be posed in rows at different heights? Will you need a ladder to get everyone? Flash? Open shade? 1.8 lens isn't going to help you with rows of people, your DOF will be too shallow. If you are inside, and don't have good lighting options, a slow lens will kill you and you'll end up with a lot of noise.

If you give some detail on what you expect to run into, we can help. Until then, I guess take everything you have, and use what works.

Other than that, I'll tell you that my favorite DX lens is a 50-150 2.8 Sigma........probably useless for what you are doing with a group of people, but it's my favorite lens. So sharp, you can cut your eye looking at the photos, but useless in a small space shooting large groups.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

One of mine too. Amazing lens.
A real sleeper and keeper.
I have the non vr/is version on a Fuji S5 most of the time.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

No idea why they discontinued it. Thankfully, it's still easily available, but people that are convinced they "need" a 70-200 2.8 when they are shooing a crop sensor body, don't know what they are missing.

I only accidently came across it when I dropped my 70-200 in a parking lot. It was old, pre VR, and not particularly sharp any more, got the sigma on a whim, (about the same cost as a repair on the 70-200 at the time) and fell in love with it.