Portraiture with black backdrop

[Mar_Mar]

I have a Nikon D200 and am going to rent a lens for a few days. I'm going to photograph my mom with a black backdrop, indoor, with lights rented out from my school.

What's the best lens for this? I'm not worried about price here since I'm renting out a lens and not buying one... what do you all suggest I use?

Thanks in advance!

[Niresangwa]

depends how much room you have to work with to be honest. little use in using a long focal length if you're working in a smallish room and want a 3/4 length portrait... if its just a head shot you have more latitude...

[Mar_Mar]

Thank you, yeah that makes sense. I will be using living room space which isn't THAT large, but I ordered the Zeiss ZF 35mm f/2... enough of a wide angle. I have a 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor but it's hard to get a 3/4 - full body shot with that given my space. 35mm should be perfect. Initially I was unsure if a zoom lens would be better than a prime but I read numerous reviews... went with the prime and I'll be using it strictly for this portraiture project. =)

[jdepould]

Depending on how wide the background is, the edges of the frame might have other stuff in them. You can clone the background in, but it's a pain.