Re: "Honestly, if your studio is as tiny as..." - yeah that space constraint is a huge deal. Tbh the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G is solid and definitely wont look flat if you keep your distance. If you want a bit more pro look within that $450 budget, maybe check if you can find a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G nearby. It handles the bokeh a bit better than the 1.8 and stays wide enough for your Brooklyn spot.

The Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G is your most logical choice. It performs well in small rooms and wont break your $450 budget limit.

I love my D750 and it is seriously such an amazing camera for professional portraits! I have been thinking about your situation and you really need to be careful about the physical limits of your studio space. A massive mistake I see people make is buying a lens based on how the background looks in reviews while ignoring how much room they actually have to move. If you get a lens that is too long for a cramped Brooklyn space, you are gonna be stuck shooting nothing but tight headshots because you literally cannot move through the walls. Also, please be cautious when comparing Nikon glass to third-party brands like Sigma or Tamron! While those brands make fantastic glass, they sometimes have autofocus consistency issues on DSLR bodies that require manual calibration. Since your shoot is in a few days, you do not want to be fighting with a lens that front-focuses. Stick with native Nikon glass for this specific deadline. It is much better to have a slightly wider field of view that gives you room to breathe than to be trapped in a corner with a lens you cant even focus properly.

Honestly, if your studio is as tiny as you say, the 85mm might be a nightmare. I have been in those cramped Brooklyn spots and being literally pressed against the wall just to get a basic headshot is really not it. You really dont want to be struggling with framing while your client is waiting there.

• Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G is probably the smarter move for a small space. It wont look flat if you handle your lighting right, and it will actually fit the room.
• Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G has gorgeous bokeh but you will need like 10 or 12 feet minimum just for a half-body shot on your D750. I would suggest grabbing the 50mm to be safe. Just be careful with shooting super tight headshots because the 50 can kinda distort features if you get too close to their face... stick to waist-up or chest-up and you will be golden for the shoot.

> Im looking at the 85mm f1.8G vs the 50mm f1.8 but I am so stuck. Online reviews say the 85mm has way better bokeh for headshots but my studio space in Brooklyn is tiny and Im worried I wont be able to back up far enough to fit the shots in. Quick reply while I have a sec. You should definitely be careful with the longer focal length in a tight space. To test this DIY-style before buying, I suggest taping a tape measure to your floor to calculate your actual working distance. On your FX sensor, a 50mm lens gives you about a 46-degree diagonal angle of view, while an 85mm drops that down to 28 degrees. This means you will need a lot more distance just to frame a basic headshot. I would suggest going with Nikon for your glass, you cant go wrong with their native prime lenses on that body. Just make sure to measure your room diagonal to see if you can shoot corner-to-corner to gain an extra foot of space. Let me know if you want to run the math on your room dimensions, we can easily figure it out.

Wait, before you buy anything, what are the exact dimensions of that Brooklyn studio space, specifically the max distance from your backdrop to the opposite wall? I am actually in the exact same boat with my D750 and a tiny workspace I have been trying to use for months now. I have been stuck on this 50 vs 85 dilemma for about two months and it is so frustrating... I still havent found a solid answer that works for a really tight squeeze without compromising on the lens compression. Been dealing with this for ages and still nothing feels like a reliable fix for a small room, so I am just as lost as you are.