Low Budget

YongNuo 100mm F2 Best Budget Portrait Lens of 2017?

Many portrait photographers prefer the 100mm and 105mm focal length over the 85mm length. Nikon released an interesting and expensive 105mm F1.4 lens that has received a lot of praise. However, 100mm at F2 still produces a very desirable level of depth of field. This lens has far less elements than Nikon’s, but that sometimes produces a character that some photographers find more pleasing for portraiture than the look provided by modern lenses.

At an expected price of $170, this might turn out to be the best budget portrait lens of 2017.

Rokinon 135mm F2.0 Lens Review

Samyang makes these lenses and they get rebranded under names like Rokinon, Bower, and even Vivitar.  While we have tagged this post with the term “Low Budget”, it’s still not a cheap lens, but relative to your other options for 135mm F2.0 it’s by far your cheapest option.  If you need something cheaper and you shoot Canon or Sony, there are many old 135mm F2.8 lenses that can be had for around $100 on eBay and used on your Sony or Canon camera with an adapter.

Nikon AF-S 85MM F1.8 G

nikon_85mmg_85mmd
Left: Nikon 85mm 1.8G Right: Nikon 85mm 1.8D

For roughly $480 we are very impressed with the Nikon AF-S 85MM F1.8 G.  On the Nikon D810, Nikon’s highest megapixel body, we prefer it to the much more expensive 1.4 G model (because of lateral chromatic aberration issues with the 1.4G).  We also found the 1.8G to be slightly sharper than the 1.4 G model.

Read more