Picking a lens for Bar/Bat Mitzvahs

[Zdaman]

I'm a senior in high school, and me and my friend have started doing photography and videography at Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. I hope to make some money just doing other little photo jobs for people. I also am a hobbyist and shoot all the time for fun. My two lenses I have are the 18-55 3.5-5.6 kit lens, and the 55-200 4-5.6. My camera is a Nikon D3000, and I have the SB-600 flash.

I'm thinking I'll need a fast lens for during the party. For those of you that haven't been to one, just think of it as a wedding. Dark party rooms, DJ or band with lights, etc.

I also need a good lens for family portraits, and for pictures during the service, cocktail hour, and any general portraits. Basically just crisp portraits with nice bokeh.

The lenses I'm looking at are:
Tamron AF 17-50mm F/2.8 SP XR Di II VC for Nikon. ~$650
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G. ~$210
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 AF-S DX. ~$200

I'm on a budget here, and I'd hope to buy used/refurbished if I could. I'm assuming that a prime lens won't be good for parties when i'm walking around and trying to get pictures of everything and everyone, and I feel that I would really need the 17-50 as my all around lens, and that one of the primes would work well for portraits and if it gets really dark. I have no clue what I need, if there are better or cheaper options out there, how big the difference would be with the 2.8 vs. 1.8 in regards to portrait quality and low light, or if one of these lenses would do everything. Thanks so much for any help!

[Jo.T]

i did my first portraite shoot the other day and found myself wishing for a zoom lense. I used a 35mm and got great results but i found it better to stay back and not invade her space as she was very vervous, so will need to crop if i want close ups. I have heard good reports about the tamron 17- 50mm f2.8 i would start with that or maybe look at the tamron 28- 75mm f2.8 not sure how much you will miss the front 11mm but the extra length could be handy. Have a play with setting your lenses at 35mm and 50mm and see if you can work with it, it is always great to have at least a nifty fifty in your kit and you can wait for a good second hand one to come up.

[scootermcq]

I would use the same lens as for weddings, just make sure it's Kosher

I have the lenses that you are concidering

You are not really going to get great bokeh with a wider lens (i.e. up to 50mm). The subject would have to be really far from the background to have it defocus in that manner.

I use the 50mm Nikon prime alot for wedding portraits. It is a very sharp lens, and the focal length is OK for outdoor portraits.

When I am indoors, and doing the reception etc, then I will usually have the 17-50 tamron on one of the bodies....

This was shot with Nikon 50mm

This was shot with Tamron 17-50

This was shot with 35mm Nikon

[Zdaman]

Thanks for the responses! I think the Tamron 17-50 should do the job then by itself, and I'll wait till I make a little bit more money to get one of the primes.

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by Zdaman

Thanks for the responses! I think the Tamron 17-50 should do the job then by itself, and I'll wait till I make a little bit more money to get one of the primes.

Probably the best choice..... Definitely the most versatile of the lot