selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Maybe you need to review your own "portrait" history.

Your most common lens for snapshots of single people seems to be 24-120 and you hardly ever go over 105 mm unless you are standing far from the subject. Your other shots with that lens range from 28 to 90 mm. The only one I found with a 70-200 was at 70 mm.

The only decent portraits I see with good bokeh were with an 85 mm prime lens back in 2010.

So, as usual, you don't practice what you preach.

Now that's a good place to end this conversation.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

For what you are doing, it doesn't matter. Personally, I like to take portraits with the 70-200 cause it gives me more options, I generally like to shoot portraits at 200 mm and f4. Love to mess with the background. I strongly suggest FULL shade cause the light on the subject will be soft and inviting. Your background should also be in full shade. Good luck and keep on shooting until the end.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Which Nikon 105mm 1.8 are you using--is it a manual lens?
There is a 105mm 1.4 and a 105mm 2.8 AF.
The 70-200 is great for portraits; so is the 105mm 1.4 and the 85mm 1.4.
All will do what you want.

Bultaco Loc: Aiken, SC

All are great lens, my first consideration would be which would be best for furture use.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

The classic photo portrait artists/masters of the past used PRIMES and did really WELL ! - by most standards - and of course, they knew what they were doing.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

The nice thing about the prime lenses is that they can have a wide maximum aperture. That makes them easy to focus and has the potential for nice bokeh if there are enough aperture blades.

The problem with zooms is the opposite - usually smaller maximum aperture which makes them harder to focus. They are also bigger, heavier and more expensive.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

I’m only telling you what she says when people ask her what particular lens was used when she starts a thread which is pretty much always.

For example, ever since I have seen her work, she has been using a Mark3 5D. So if someone asked, I’d say Canon 5D Mark 3, but the only way to find out that she has picked up a Mark 4 is to check her “what’s in my bag” page. Who cares. And so what is she had started out with a zoom? You should read what she thinks of her earlier work. Everybody starts out somewhere and improves over time, (not you unfortunately) whether it is because of skills or gear. But to say that she uses prime lenses only, is 100% correct. If I said she has ALWAYS used primes would be incorrect. You are again trying to sound like an expert, but all you are doing is nitpicking. Is it not true, that you had no idea she had existed until I posted her site link? To which you replied? Her work would not sell or would be not liked in Barrow! Really? First of all, how would you know that? Wouldn’t that idiotic statement be a real end of discussion point be?

She is as good as they come, including post processing. I couldn’t imagine anyone would go to you or anyone else to hire if she was living in Barrow. Now that is a true statement.

And please try not to derail yet another thread. This has nothing to do what the OP was asking about.

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

I agree 100% with everything you stated above, and it applies to virtually all photography, not just portraiture.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The 105 has a wider maximum aperture. If you like that "background completely out of focus" look, you can use that lens wide open and get slightly better bokeh. The prime is also sharper than the zoom, not necessarily a good thing for portraits!

The zoom requires less movement on your part. But if someone has an odd-shaped nose or facial bone structure, you can move yourself forward or backward to maintain the same composition while changing the depth compression effect of magnification.

I would choose whichever lens fits most of what I want to do, and start with it. It's really a question of style and working habits. Both are great lenses.

The most used portrait focal lengths on full frame cameras are 1.5 to 2.5 times the normal focal length (between 75 and 125mm). My favorite Nikon primes are the 85 and 105. When someone has a big nose, the 70-200 used at 150 to 180 can help foreshorten it a bit.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Hard choice. The new 105 is great. I'd probably use the 70-200 f/2.8 FL.