Which lens do you recommend?

[Gina9942]

I want to get another prime lens. I really love them, and although I do also want the 70-200, and 24-70 2.8, those are beyond my budget right now. I have the D80, and right now I only have the 50mm as a prime lens, I love this lens, I was thinking of getting the 35, or going up and getting the 85. I do a lot of portraits and I just booked a wedding ceremony...in a restaurant. Any lens recommendations?

[OsmosisStudios]

105 f/2 DC. Simple as that. It's one of my dream lenses.

[Gina9942]

That's how I feel about the 24-70mm and 70-200mm, but then I get confused, because I adore prime lenses. I just want them all

[kirbinster]

I love my Nikon 24-70 and 70-200 f/2.8 lenses and high recommend them. There was a time many moons ago when primes were just so much better than zoom lenses, I don't find that to be the case anymore with high quality zooms. I find those two zooms to be just as sharp as my Nikon 85mm and 105mm primes.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by kirbinster

I find those two zooms to be just as sharp as my Nikon 85mm and 105mm primes.

But can you get f/2 at those focal lengths? or f/1.4 in the 85mm's case?

Granted, you're not likely to use them that wide open all the time, but it's nice to have.

[kirbinster]

Of course you can't get f/1.4 or f/2 from an f/2.8 lens - duh! But as you point out how often does one use f/1.4 which gives you about zero depth of field. The OP is talking about lenses for shooting weddings. While primes are nice to have, they should be secondary after these two zooms for most wedding shooters. The two lenses I talked about are the "prime" lenses to have for most wedding shooters. Once you have those two you can move on to other lens for more specialty shots.

[JAHphoto]

Yeah, for weddings I'd say zooms for flexibility. I only use primes for portrait like things when I have total control of the situation (I use the 85 1.2, so tiny depth of field when I want it). When I shoot weddings I always have two zooms on me.