System suitable for Portrait photos?

[Nikhil Jayaram]

I'm planning to purchase a new camera for general purpose
photography. I would also like the ability to take portrait
photos. The kind where the subject is in sharp focus but the
background is very blurry. An autofocus, auto exposure, built-in
flash system with some manual capabilities is what I want. As
you can tell I'm no aspiring Robert Capa or Ansel Adams!

What system/lens would you recommend for approximately $500. Is
a Point and Shoot zoom completely out of the question because
of my portrait needs?

Should I stick to Nikon/Canon because of the wider availability
of their lenses?

Your advice is greatly appreciated:

thanks/Nikhil
nik...@compcore.com

[Doug Schwartz]

Nikhil Jayaram <nik...@compcore.com> wrote in article
<32B05F25...@compcore.com>...

> I'm planning to purchase a new camera for general purpose
> photography. I would also like the ability to take portrait
> photos. The kind where the subject is in sharp focus but the
> background is very blurry. An autofocus, auto exposure, built-in
> flash system with some manual capabilities is what I want. As
> you can tell I'm no aspiring Robert Capa or Ansel Adams!

Nikhil,

I would make sure I could at least set the shutter speed and aperture
manually. The "subject in sharp focus but background blurry" effect is done
by setting the shutter speed as high as possible with as the aperture
setting as wide-open as possible, given proper exposure (also be aware that
lenses are at their sharpest one or two stops down from wide open, so
weight that also).

doug

[Dmsimmons]

Dougs response is a little broad in it's decription of "subject in sharp
focus but background blurry". Depending on the lens, the amount that will
appeare in focus might be too little with the lens opening set wide open.
A more medium opening of 5.6 to 8 might give a better result. As with
many things in photography, there are as many ways as there is equipment.
Each setup could need a little tweaking.

DMatthew Simmons

[jarno...@aol.com]

In article <32B05F25...@compcore.com>, Nikhil Jayaram
<nik...@compcore.com> writes:

> An autofocus, auto exposure, built-in
>flash system with some manual capabilities is what I want. As
>you can tell I'm no aspiring Robert Capa or Ansel Adams!
>

>What system/lens would you recommend for approximately $500. Is
>a Point and Shoot zoom completely out of the question because
>of my portrait needs?
>
>Should I stick to Nikon/Canon because of the wider availability
>of their lenses?
>
>Your advice is greatly appreciated:
>

You need a 50 mm 1.8 lens with your Canon. I believe the Rebel is the
only AF camera
that fits your price criterea. You may be able to get a Canon 50 1.8 II
lens with the Rebel
in your $500 price range.

Jim Arnold
Dallas, TX
jarno...@aol.com

[eric smith]

you wiil have to take into consideration that if you are using flash
then it will be difficult to get a wide enough aperture to give you the
blured background,unless you use some sort of telephoto lens,so go for
an slr.

In article <32B05F25...@compcore.com>, Nikhil Jayaram
<nik...@compcore.com> writes

>I'm planning to purchase a new camera for general purpose
>photography. I would also like the ability to take portrait
>photos. The kind where the subject is in sharp focus but the

>background is very blurry. An autofocus, auto exposure, built-in

>flash system with some manual capabilities is what I want. As
>you can tell I'm no aspiring Robert Capa or Ansel Adams!
>
>What system/lens would you recommend for approximately $500. Is
>a Point and Shoot zoom completely out of the question because
>of my portrait needs?
>
>Should I stick to Nikon/Canon because of the wider availability
>of their lenses?
>
>Your advice is greatly appreciated:
>

>thanks/Nikhil
>nik...@compcore.com

--
eric smith

[David Rozen]

Doug Schwartz (a-do...@microsoft.com) wrote:
: Nikhil Jayaram <nik...@compcore.com> wrote in article
: <32B05F25...@compcore.com>...
: > I'm planning to purchase a new camera for general purpose

: > photography. I would also like the ability to take portrait
: > photos. The kind where the subject is in sharp focus but the
: > background is very blurry. An autofocus, auto exposure, built-in
: > flash system with some manual capabilities is what I want. As
: > you can tell I'm no aspiring Robert Capa or Ansel Adams!

: I would make sure I could at least set the shutter speed and aperture
: manually. The "subject in sharp focus but background blurry" effect is done

: by setting the shutter speed as high as possible with as the aperture
: setting as wide-open as possible, given proper exposure (also be aware that

o
You can buy point-shoot level AF SLRs with either
"Portrait modes" or inexpensive "Portrait software"
either built-in or available.

The modes and software will do their best to set
the camera for the desired effect, but most newbies
severly limit the cameras ability to hit the best
settings by buying lenses that lack the settings
the camera seeks in portrait mode.

The camera would like to set the lens to an f:stop
of f:2.0 or f:2.8 at a focal length of 80mm or even
longer. Cheap zooms will offer something far short
of that, at around f:5.6 for 80mm or 105mm. Try a
normal lens and mild tele-extender. I often use a
1.6X TC on a 50:1.4 lens. This results in an 80mm
f:2.2 lens that I find very handy. If you use the
more affordable 50:1.7 normal lens, the 1.6X TC can
still convert that to an 80mm f:2.8 lens that will
allow the camera's portrait mode to reach the kind
of settings that soften the background very nicely.

Go to the store, put a 28-80:4-5.6 on one body and
the TC+normal lens on the other so you can look
through both and compare them side by side. The
extra-extra soft background you see in some shots
by serious workers is not what simple gear can do,
but the f:2.8 combination will give a very decent
approximation of the effect and the f:5.6 zoom will
give a rather poor approximation.

While shopping for a camera with portrait mode or
portrait software available, be sure it offers the
more advanced user controlled modes as well. Just
owning and using a normal lens could make a real
serious photog out of you despite your intentions.

David Rosen go...@various.sites.net

[Terry A. Smith]

eric smith wrote:
>
> you wiil have to take into consideration that if you are using flash
> then it will be difficult to get a wide enough aperture to give you the
> blured background,unless you use some sort of telephoto lens,so go for
> an slr.
>
> In article <32B05F25...@compcore.com>, Nikhil Jayaram
> <nik...@compcore.com> writes

> >I'm planning to purchase a new camera for general purpose
> >photography. I would also like the ability to take portrait
> >photos. The kind where the subject is in sharp focus but the
> >background is very blurry. An autofocus, auto exposure, built-in
> >flash system with some manual capabilities is what I want. As
> >you can tell I'm no aspiring Robert Capa or Ansel Adams!
> >

> >What system/lens would you recommend for approximately $500. Is
> >a Point and Shoot zoom completely out of the question because
> >of my portrait needs?
> >
> >Should I stick to Nikon/Canon because of the wider availability
> >of their lenses?
> >
> >Your advice is greatly appreciated:
> >
> >thanks/Nikhil
> >nik...@compcore.com
>
> --
> eric smith

If you want a portrait with an out-of-focus background, you need a lens
that will open up as much as possible, at least f2.8. This rules out
point-and-shoot cameras, as their lenses are slow. To get a good
perspective in a portrait, especially for close-ups, you will need a
short-to-long telephoto lens. A 50mm or shorter lens will distort facial
features, enlarging the nose, chin, or forehead, whichever is closest to
the lens. For 35mm cameras, most people will use an 85mm or longer lens.
All that being said, a fast 85 to 135 mm lens will work the best. Zooms
have advantages in cropping for portraits, but remember that out of
focus background! You need the fastest lens you can afford. All of the
major brands make auto-focus cameras that will do what you want. I would
say pick the brand you like the best, as long as it has manual functions
available, and get a medium zoom for everyday shooting. Then get a used
85-135mm fixed focal length, f1.8 or 2.8. It doesn't have to be the
greatest, sharpest lens available, even a cheap off-brand one will do
for starters. It will make a great portrait lens and you should be able
to find one for $75-$125, maybe less. One last note is get a decent
tripod! TV pictures of photographers jumping around a spinning model
with a camera in their hands are just that, TV!