which prime lens?

Twirlywoos

Twirlywoos

Twirlywoos

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What would be better for portraits and animal shots. The nikon 50mm 1.8g or 35mm 1.8g. The 35mm is cheaper and has £20 cash back. I'm looking to buy my first prime lens and its a toss up between those two. Will they be suitable on a nikon d5100?
Is the 35mm good for close ups as it has a wider fov? And is the 50mm better for bokeh?

Thanks

These are the ones i've been looking at
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-50mm-1-8G/dp/B004Y1AYAC/ref=pd_cp_ph_0

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-35mm-1-8G/dp/B001S2PPT0/ref=pd_cp_ph_1

Also what is meant by full frame?
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. It is a hard decision and from doing a bit of research it is commonly discussed but falls down to personal preference.

atm I'm using the 18-55 lens which came with the D5100. I am moving close to the subject or shooting from a distance and using 18mm focal length 3.5f 200 ISO, shutter speed 1/30 Auto White Balance to get pics like this:

jTpy3lUl.jpg.png
vQUykRYl.jpg.png
 
JBuk said:
Is it my eyes or is the child monotone lol?

What you could do is set your lens to 35mm then to 50mm and see which focal length you prefer the most
Click to expand...

Yeah, I used that selective colour thing.

I was advised to do that too but the problem is that I prefer both.

What is better though when taking portraits (by better I mean retains sharpness and detail), to move away from the subject with the 50mm lens or to move in closer with a 35mm lens?
 
englishpremier said:
50mm on the ASP-C sensor just isn't a useful focal length.

The 35mm 1.8 is tack sharp from the extreme corners, boarders and centre.

Across the range is much sharper than even the sigma 35mm 1.4 art, that all the full guys are raving about.

Here's a shot I took before I sold mine.

120. Anyone for tennis? by Mikedefieslife, on Flickr

Probably could have done with stopping down a little, but you get the idea.
Click to expand...

How do you manage to get the ball and the grass in the foreground in focus at the same time? It looks like there is a horizontal line at the grass level that is in focus with the ball remaining in focus too (however it appears slightly soft at the edges)

I'm taking a similar shot but with my cat in the garden and either the blades of grass are in focus or the cat's face is.

I'm using:
focus mode - af-s
af area mode - single point
Metering - matrix

Or is there something else I must do?

Thanks
 
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