What Lens to use for after dark Pictures?

After Dark people pictures using the desert for background with professional lighting what lens should I use for a Nikon F Camera?

Added (1). Full leingh pictures

You want a lens with the largest possible aperture (meaning a small f stop number, like f1.8), and the largest possible objective lens (which is the piece of glass on the outside, the size is the same as the diameter of the filter [for example 62mm]) for night photography.

But whatever lens you have is probably fine, you really just need a good tripod, and a good light meter.

Sounds like you've got an exceptionally nice 35mm SLR, one of the best ever made actually.

I gather by the nature of your question that you have not read a basic 35mm photography manual. Here is a link to one online but you might also want to buy a physical book to take on shoots with you, any one will do really, the newer the better.

http://www.guidetofilmphotography.com/index.html

1--Portraits are typically taken with short telephoto lenses, either prime or zoom. The Nikon F is a full frame 35mm camera. So short telephoto lenses for it include 85mm -135mm. Some people also use 50mm lenses for portraits. 85mm and 105mm are the most used though. Short telephoto lenses flatten facial features like noses but not excessively so, like full telephoto lenses. Short and wide lenses can introduce barrel distortion and and make facial features look unnatural. Short telephoto lenses are also useful in terms of how far from the subject you have to be but get tighter framing. Depth of field control is also excellent with these lenses as most photographers want to blur the background a lot to make it less distracting.

2--It's confusing as to how much light you are working with. You make a point to say "after dark" but you also say there will be "professional lighting." Neither of these state what ISO or EV range the lighting will be set to. This is something you should ask the person setting up this professional lighting. This will determine the speed of your film and might affect your choice in lens. Most professional photographers simply use very fast lenses, with a maximum aperture of f2.8 or bigger. This insures that even if there's not much light and you want to shoot at a lower ISO, you can do it. But if you have slower 3.5 or smaller maximum aperture lenses, you may have to drop your shutter speed or increase the amount of light or ISO to compensate. This all depends on who is directing the shoot and what the EV range they light for will be.

3--Without knowing what lenses you have, and the fact that there are hundreds that fit the F, I can only suggest some portrait lenses that I've used at shoots like this. They are the 85mm 1.8, the 85mm 1.4, the 105mm 2.5, the 105mm 1.8 and 135mm 2.8. Nikon has made all these lenses in both pre-AI and AI style except the 105mm 1.8 which is only an AIS and newer lens. The Nikon F will take pre-AI, AI and AIS lenses. Nothing newer. I personally don't use zooms but there are a number of those you could use also. I like to buy my lenses from reliable stores like KEH.com, not eBay.

I hope your shoot goes well. The F is a lovely camera and classic Nikkor lenses are a treat to use to. I'm sure your photos will be outstanding. Please feel free to email me with any other questions at JohnnyMartyr@Hotmail.com

MANUAL AND METAL! FILM FOREVER!