Nikon 35mm 1.8g vs nikon 28mm 1.8g for portrait/bokeh?
Is the 28mm worth the extra money for sharper and more bokeh for portrait shots of people and all around go to lens?
i ahve a nikon d5200 so the 28mm i know will be more like 40mm or something like that which i'm fine with
Added (1). I always thought it was about the lower the aperture, the better bokeh you get?
Even with your crop factor on the D5200, a 28mm lens is generally considered too wide-angle for portrait work. It's not about the field of view usually, it's about barrel distortion that makes facial features look unflattering. But hey, if you want to shoot portraits on a 28mm lens, that's your call, and who am I to stop you?
As far as bokeh goes, the lenses should be identical as they both have a 7-rounded-blade aperture. That being said, more telephoto=better bokeh in my opinion. Larger, for sure.
Honestly, especially if you're planning on shooting more portraits than landscape/architecture shots, then I'd recommend the 35mm f/1.8.
Neither. The 50mm f/1.8 AF-S lens would be better for portrait work if you're looking for an inexpensive and good quality lens.
With the 28mm len, you'll need to be close to your subject which means perspective distortion which is unflattering. Same with the 35mm, but not quite as bad as the 28mm.
As for boke, all lenses are about the same. If you want awesome boke, then go for the 85mm f/1.8 AF-S.
If you're thinking about narrow depth of field (often confused with boke), then the 50mm will do best and the 28mm worst of the three.
For an all-around prime lens, the 35mm will be best for your camera.
Neither.
Portrait photography requires a medium telephoto lens like the Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8 or 85 mm f/1.8.
To assure decent "Bokeh" you need a lens with 9 diaphragm leaves and whose leaves are rounded. This information is in the specifications of the lens, found on the Nikon website.
Neither lens will work very well. Focal length is more important than aperture when it comes for limiting the DoF.
For bokeh, you need a good shallow DoF. And especially the 28mm, the DoF range is so wide that you will not get much of anything out of focus.
Out-of-focus (called selective focus) is best achieved with longer telephoto lenses. And you have to have limited DoF to get bokeh, as bokeh is a measure of the quality of the out-of-focus area.
Also, any lens under 50mm will tend to have perspective distortion - which results in round faces and big noses - not the best for portraiture.
Even though your camera has a crop factor, a 28mm lens is a 28mm lens. And even worse, since you will step backwards when using a 28mm lens (vs using the same lens on a full frame camera), that will further increase DoF due to your focus point being further away.
And if you can't limit the DoF, you will not get any blurry background, good bokeh or not.
Look for a longer lens for good bokeh. My favorite is a AF 80-200mm f/2.8; using both 200mm and f/2.8, I get superior bokeh (and the lens is a 9 blade aperture as well).
---… UPDATE ---…
Bokeh is an often confused term. Bokeh is the QUALITY of the out-of-focus area, not that the area is out of focus or not.
Depth of Field (DoF) determines how much of the scene, if any, is out of focus.
Bokeh determines the quality of the out of focus area.
For any given lens, the wider the aperture (lower number, bigger opening), the shallower the depth of field. However, depth of field is determined by 3 factors.
The longer the focal length, the shallower the DoF.
The closer the focus point, the shallower the DoF.
The larger the aperture, the shallower the DoF.
And the opposite is true:
The shorter the focal length, the deeper the DoF.
The further the focus point, the deeper the DoF.
The smaller the aperture, the deeper the DoF.
And of the three, the focal length is the most significant, while the aperture is the least significant.
In fact, you can get an equivalent DoF with a 200mm lens @ f/5.6 as you can a 50mm lens @ f/1.8. This is because the focal length is the most important.
Here is a webpage showing how different lenses compare.
http://www.althephoto.com/concepts/selectivefocus.php
The quality of the out of focus area, the bokeh, is determined by the aperture diaphragm, along with other factors. This webpage shows some of the different bokeh qualities:
http://www.althephoto.com/concepts/bokeh.php
With a lens such as the 28mm, the DoF is going to be so deep that you will not get much bokeh effect. In fact, as you go to say a 11mm lens, virtually everything from 2ft to infinity will be in focus.
As bokeh only occurs in the out of focus areas, wide angle lenses do poorly for selective focus techniques.
Hope this helps.