What does it mean when a lens is designed for low lighting conditions?

January 17, 2010 by homelighting · 3 Comments
Filed under: Cameras 
lighting
Miguel O asked:


I am looking to purchase my first slr and am looking towards a Nikon 85mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor Lens for portraits. It says it is designed for indoor portraits/low lighting shootings. So does that mean it is not designed/ideal to shoot with it outside or in high lighting shootings?
Thanks in advance!

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Comments

3 Responses to “What does it mean when a lens is designed for low lighting conditions?”
  1. Clueless says:
    January 18, 2010 at 4:48 pm

    What that means it is has a low aperture-f/1.4 is considerably low. the aperture refers to the size of the hole that lets light into the sensor. the bigger the whole-(lower the aperture) the more light can be let in at a faster rate so that means that you can take a picture with a faster shutter speed so it is not blurry and you won’t be sacrificing the dark or lightness. so yes you want the lowest aperture possible. But

    dont get confused this lens will also be very good in high light settings. it says that it is not an outside lens because it cannot zoom and it is at a low focal length. 55mm is about what we see with our eye so that is just zoomed a little more. [who] Clueless

  2. Jonathan W says:
    January 20, 2010 at 10:28 pm

    Basically a low light lens, like the 85mm f1.4, can be used in all lighting situations. You can use it in daylight with medium to high f numbers like f8 or above, but can use it in low light situations too at lower f stops like f1.4, f1.8 etc. The f number on your lens is the largest aperture it can be used at, but not the only aperture it can be used at. [who] Jonathan W

  3. Pooky says:
    January 24, 2010 at 6:56 am

    You didn’t say what format are you going to use for this lens–FX (full frame) or DX (smaller sensor). The 85 mm is going to work like 130 mm lens–not bad at all for portrait. But you have to learn how to use it correctly. It’s a short telephoto and if you don’t hold it right, you’ll get blurry photos.

    This was taken with a 135 mm f 2 Canon lens

    When opened wide (the aperture, that is), the background is really out of focus, “creamy”, like this. If you don’t hold the camera still, you’ll move and the main subject (look at the larger size at her eyes) will be blurry.

    Probably better if you use 50 mm f 1.4 if you’re starting out. It will cost you a lot less, too. [who] Pooky

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