Let’ s pick up where we all left after the first installment of food digital photography , shall we? This blog article will cover Nikon lenses that you can effectively use for the purpose of photographing food. Make sure you keep in mind that the information I present beneath is a personal opinion based on the experience so far, which I do not believe is subject to change anytime soon, when i like my set-up very much.
I always touch base for prime lenses while taking photos of food. Using these fast primes plus being able to position myself at close up proximity from the food gives me several advantages:
- Assists me visualize the composition I'm going for without the equipment (eye composition), which gives me an idea of the things i can potentially capture with the camera in a later stage.
- Makes me to move around by obtaining closer and further away from what I feel photographing and try out different sides.
- Fast aperture best lenses allow me to isolate subjects successfully. With a shallow depth of field , I could choose my plane of concentrate and throw everything else out of it.
- Prime lenses let inside a lot of light compared to zooms, therefore i can photograph my food within natural light, even in low-light situations.
- The prime lenses I use are usually sharp wide open and get even better whenever stopped down a little, so I do not need to worry about dealing with soft images.
For more information on primary and zoom lenses, check out Roman’ s Leading vs Zoom lenses article.
That’ s i9000 not to say that you cannot photograph food along with zoom lenses – in fact , the last image in this article are took pictures of with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2. 8G VR II lens. I just choose primes to zooms because of their much better subject isolation capabilities at smaller distances. Although with lenses such as the Sigma 18-35mm f/1. 8 , I might need to re-evaluate my needs at some point in the future. Talking about which, Sigma just announced prices for the 18-35mm f/1. 8 plus apparently it will be at $799, that is amazing. Bravo Sigma! Now we want a couple of lenses like that for full-frame and life will be peachy!
1) Nikon 50mm f/1. 4G
I must say that I am a big fan from the Nikon 50mm f/1. 4G – by far my most preferred lens to photograph food. Even though Nasim says that the 50mm f/1. 8G is better optically (see below), there is just something magical regarding the f/1. 4 that I cannot very describe. I had the same feel for that older Nikon 50mm f/1. 4D, which I used to own and really like a long time ago.
The Nikon 50mm f/1. 4-G is not super sharp wide open, and so i often stop it down just a little to get the best out of it. But it continues to be beautiful at f/1. 4 once i need it, even with all of its optic deficiencies. Perhaps I am just as well attached to my nifty fifty!
2) Nikon 50mm f/1. 8G
The Nikon 50mm f/1. 8G is an impressive lens, specifically given its $220 price tag. Nasim loves that certain more than the 50mm f/1. 4G and I can’ t blame him – this is a great lens! I have photographed individuals with the 50mm f/1. 8G and also some wedding ceremonies and I have to say which i was pleasantly surprised with it. Autofocus is usually fast and accurate, something I am unable to always say about my favorite 50mm f/1. 4G!
If I were starting out, I might probably pick the 50mm f/1. 8G instead of the twice more expensive 50mm f/1. 4G now. Great bang for that buck for sure!
3) Nikon 35mm f/1. 8G
Next up in my listing is the Nikon 35mm f/1. 7 which is also a great lens to use intended for food photography when you need a broader angle of view. While it is really a DX lens, it is also perfectly functional on FX/full-frame cameras (although you will need to crop the corners away later).
If you shoot using a Nikon DX camera, get this zoom lens instead of the 50mm above, because it offers you a similar field of view. Bias is not a big issue with this zoom lens, which is good news! It may also be really handy if you tend to photograph within tighter spots.
4) Nikon 105mm f/2. 8G Macro
The things i like about Nikon 105mm f/2. 6 is that it gives you plenty of details within the shallow depth associated with field you choose. And if I want to observe all those crazy details up close, the particular 105mm certainly has the reach – I do not have to shove the particular lens into the food to get the ideal shot.
The Nikon 105mm f/2. 8G may not be as versatile and light-weight as the 35mm or 50mm lens, but it still gives amazing outcomes. Just keep in mind that if you have a big meal to photograph, you will need some area around you, especially on a crop-factor digital camera!
5) Nikon 60mm f/2. 8G Macro
The Nikon 60mm f/2. 8G is another phenomenal macro zoom lens for food photography. In fact , a lot of my food blogger friends choose the 60mm macro to the 50mm zoom lens, because it gives them the right central length and versatility of a macro lens.
My only complaint about this zoom lens is its f/2. 8 aperture , that is obviously not as good as f/1. 4-f/1. 8 lenses in terms of subject matter isolation capabilities when keeping the topic distance the same. For smaller information, you would want this lens on the 50mm, because of its short minimum concentrate distance. For those situations, the smaller aperture is actually an advantage, since depth associated with field is razor thin!
6) What About the Camera?
I know that some of our own readers will ask about the best digital camera for food photography. FX or even DX? In all honesty, I do not believe it really matters! Many of my old shots were taken with cropped-sensor cameras and they look just as great as the images I took along with full-frame cameras. If ISO efficiency on your camera is poor, simply use a tripod and you will be good to go (see Nasim’ s excellent guide upon how to buy the tripod ). Most of us find yourself cropping and down-sampling images anyhow, so camera resolution does not matter in most cases.
Make sure you let me know if you have any questions!
