Camera Labs

Hi there,

I am currently in the market for a fast prime lens to complement by 18-55mm for my D3100.

I have narrowed it down to these two. Price wise, I can get the 35mm for around £150 used (from a reliable source) and the 50mm for around £190 (new, as it is not available second hand yet).

The problem I have, is I would like the lens as a general, fast prime, but would also like it to be able to take decent portraits. I much prefer the 50mm mark on my 18-55mm for portraits, however it is too zoomed in for a general purpose, which I would hope to replace my 18-55 with eventually.

If Nikon announce an 85mm f1.8G lens, then that would be one I would aim for, however if I bought the 50mm, then they would conflict a bit much.

I would like to shoot (with either lens): portraits, pets, food, travel photos, product shots etc

Please help, as I am completely confused! Oh, and I also prefer the build of the 50mm, and the fact it has got the focus window.

Thanks.

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Nikon D3100, 18-55mm, 80-210mm

For portraits the 35mm might be a bit short.
For traveling both lenses can be good but the 50mm might be a bit long on a crop frame sensor.
For food and product photography I'd go for the 50mm as well to get the distance and less distortion (though it's not a real problem with 35mm on a crop frame body), but the 35mm can give a little more depth of field without closing the aperture too much, which can be handy for product photography.

Personally I think I'd go for the 50mm. Outside I found myself using this focal lenth on my 18-55mm most of the time as well (followed by 18mm ), just hating the 5.6 aperture of the kit lens.

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

Yep, 35mm too short for your intended purpose.
The new 85/1.8 will certainly be a good lens too, but pricewise it is around 500$/EUR and will only be available mid March (see thread over there).

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I would go for a 50mm, good for portrets etc. and also it is a bit sharper then the 35mm. 35mm has bad bokeh. Also 35mm i don't reaaly see the point of using that range other then making movies.

When I had my 35mm nikkor it was always either to long or to short. so now i have 12-24mm nikkor and a 60mm nikkor prime macro and a 70-300mm and i manage to make most of the shots with those 3 lenses.

I really like the 35, but the 50 would be better for portraits, for sure.

For portraits I actually like 100mm FX which is about 67mm in DX.

I can't see a voting button here, so you'll just have to take my comment.

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Nikon DSLRs, film cameras from Leica to Linhof