D60 Portrait Lens? school budget

[Daytonj6]

Hey,

I'm wondering what a great lens would be for a Nikon D60 camera for a light studio approximately 20 to 25 feet deep.

I'm looking for help here so that I can take better portraits at school with their equipment as I am more literate with Sony products. The budget would be less then about one thousand (CAN) unless I donated some money.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Reply here or to my email please
daytonj6@gmail.com


Thank you.

[OsmosisStudios]

Subject? If youre shooting lego minifigures then you'll want a much longer focal length than if youre shooting people or headshots.

[Daytonj6]

Head shots and People

[OsmosisStudios]

85mm should get you head-and-shoulders shots of 1-2 people. Unfortunately on a D60 that means you're looking at the new AF-S 85mm f/1.4 G and it's $1500 price tag.

You could look at renting if this is a one-time thing. Failing that, look at a used 70-200 f/2.8 or something similar

[sk66]

Since this is a light studio the 18-55 kit lens should suit well. For a bit more versatility I'd consider the 24-85mm. The only real reason to upgrade from that is to use primes to "teach" composition/ lens selection or for wider apertures to gain separation from the background.

The 50mm f/1.4 G fits your budget. I'd also consider the 60mm f/2.8 G lens as a good choice and a bit better focal length.
With a 50mm on a crop body your working distance will be about 6ft for head/shoulders and about about 12 ft for full body. Plus you'll probably want about 5ft between subject and background.
I think an 85mm will be a bit long for full body shots in that space. Great for portraits though.

Without the budget constraints I'd be looking at a 24-70 f/2.8 personally.