Nikon d80- what lens should i choose?

Hi! I'm using nikon d80 and would like to change lens for a better one as at the moment i'm using one of the cheapest ones.
what lens is better for blurry backgrounds? I'm more orientated of taking portraits.

any advice will help, thanks.

For easy blurry backgrounds, get the lowest f/numbered lens you can afford. The cheapest brand new is usually a 50mm f/1.8 which is perfect for portraits.

http://keerok-photography.blogspot.com/2011/05/lenses-so-many-of-them-there-is-no-best.html

Get a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

If you can work from a longer distance, then opt for a 105mm lens like Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 (you can opt for a lens which can double up as a macro/micro too).

What do you currently use? And what is your budget?

Nikon's 50mm lenses are all good, since you have the D80, you can use the older AF lenses which will save you some money. The AF 50mm f1.8D and AF 50mm f1.4D are both perfect for your needs.

If you want to do head and shoulders, the AF 85mm f1.4 D isn't too expensive.

Should you need an all round lens then the Sigma 50-150mm 2.8 is the all round portrait lens.

There are two requirements for a lens to give you blurry backgrounds.

First, it has to be a fast lens, as mentioned above.

Second, the aperture iris must be constructed well, otherwise you won't have good "bokeh". The best apertures are rounded and/or have a high number of iris leafs.

For instance, a 9 blade aperture will give better backgrounds than a 7 blade aperture. With a fast lens, you get good blurry backgrounds, with a good fast lens, you get good blurry backgrounds AND good bokeh.

Here are two examples; both have good blur in the background, but the first one has bad bokeh as it was a cheap lens (and it was a Nikon lens), but it had a 7 blade diaphragm.

The second lens was also a Nikon lens, but it had a 9 blade diaphragm.

In the first photo, the background is splotchy, almost having a texture look to it. And the transition of objects such as twigs have harsh edges. Not too good. The background in this photo is so bad that it almost hurts to look at it. This is an example of a lens with bad bokeh.

In the second photo, the background has that milky smooth bokeh we all desire. This is because of the 9 blade diaphragm.

The two lenses I always use for portraits are a Tokina 100mm f/2.8 Macro and Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8. They both have 9 blade aperture diaphragms, and even at f/2.8, at telephoto ranges, provides sufficient Depth-of-Field.

While the Tokina lens's primary purpose is for Macro, most Macro lenses are fast and many have have 9 blades, which make these lenses - especially the ones in the 85 to 100mm range, pretty good for portraiture.

Also some lenses, although they might be a fast lens, are really soft at the wide open apertures. A fast lens isn't going to help you any if it is soft when it is wide open. There are a lot of YouTube videos for various lenses that sometimes show this. If not, go to a camera shop and look at a few lenses to see what is best.