Okay so my uncle just gave me his old Nikon D850 because he upgraded to something else and I am completely lost like seriously i dont even know what I am doing with this thing. It looks so fancy and heavy and there are way too many buttons but I really want to take good pictures of people.
My sisters wedding is coming up in like three weeks in Chicago and she expects me to be the photographer now that I have this huge camera but i honestly dont know what lens to use to make her look good. I want that blurry background look everyone has but when I take pictures now everything looks flat and kind of boring. I have maybe 800 or 1000 dollars to spend if I really stretch it but cheaper is better because I still need to buy a memory card and a bag and stuff. I keep seeing people talk about prime lenses and mm numbers but it makes my head spin and I dont want to buy the wrong thing and ruin her big day.
Sorry if this is a total amateur question but is there like one specific lens that every d850 owner uses for portraits in 2024 that isn't too hard for a total beginner to figure out? I just need something that works...
Building on the earlier suggestion, the 85mm is definitely the way to go. If you buy it used, you can save enough for a Sony Professional XQD G Series 64GB card which you really need since those D850 files are huge. Quick tip tho... keep your aperture setting low, like f/1.8 or f/2, to get that background blur. It handles low light way better too.
In my experience, you cant beat the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G for that blurry background look. Its sharp, budget-friendly, and honestly works like a charm for weddings on a D850.
Finally someone says it. Ive been thinking this for a while but wasnt sure.
Saved for later, ty!
> Finally someone says it. Ive been thinking this for a while but wasnt sure. Re: that whole thought process. Honestly, reading this reminds me of when my cousin tried to shoot her own engagement photos in downtown Chicago last winter. She had this massive setup, lenses everywhere, and she ended up dropping a whole kit right into a slushy puddle outside the Art Institute. It was a complete disaster, poor girl was crying, the electronics were fried instantly, and she had to spend the whole wedding rehearsal tracking down a shop that could recover her data. I remember staring at the sensor reflection later that evening thinking about how fragile these precision instruments really are when youre just rushing around. You see these specs online, all the theoretical sharpness charts, but in practice, things go sideways so fast. Ive had major issues with gear reliability under pressure, and unfortunately, it never seems to go as planned when the stakes are high. It makes me miss the old film days sometimes, tbh.
