Great video!

Oh dear. Do I dare say this? I have gotten back into photography at the behest of my new wife. I have never done portraits of any kind before. Now we are moving into a new (old Victorian style) home and this is something I want to try. Against her will. So most of these suggestions already apply to my other work but the lighting is something I'll need to work on. I am also a bit short on getting willing models for practice. I'm hoping to start trying soon but will need a light system of some sort. Thanks!

I use LrC, ZNO, Nikon D780, 24-70mm f2.8 TAMRON, 24-120mm f4, 70-200mm f2.8 from TAMRON and speedlights with MagMod. My favorite is 42inch soft-box with 1’x3’ strip box,

Love my Sony 85mm f1.4 G Master lens! There’s something magical about the images it gives me. It’s big and heavy and it’s not particularly fast to focus. But that makes me slow down and look. As you mentioned, I always used to shoot close up and wide open. But I eventually realised that point you made about backgrounds - there was none! Learning to go further back and include the background was a game changer. Great short video - thank you! And I didn’t have to watch an advert for Skill Share or Squarespace either - always a bonus!

Thank you very much for your very wise and common sense advice. All the best

I just got this lens and I love it. It’s beautiful for portraits and quite sharp in the center wide open, and at f2, it’s razor sharp in the center, while still giving beautiful bokeh. It reminds me of my old Fuji 35mm 1.4, only far faster to focus and a true 35. But character wise, similar. I’m glad to see Nikon making these lenses. If I still shot weddings this would be my favorite lens in my arsenal. PS: Are you using the lens to film this? It’s a great video lens.

I just got this lens and I love it. It’s beautiful for portraits and quite sharp in the center wide open, and at f2, it’s razor sharp in the center, while still giving beautiful bokeh. It reminds me of my old Fuji 35mm 1.4, only far faster to focus and a true 35. But character wise, similar. I’m glad to see Nikon making these lenses. If I still shot weddings this would be my favorite lens in my arsenal.

You mention battery issues: For any camera, if you get a battery grip, you can also buy a battery dummy and then you can power your camera using an extension cable and a power bank. That way you can usually get a day's worth of battery life.

I admit I spent way too much money on my hobby and passion, bottes i don't think I am doing the wrong thing with the money - my last spending is to own lighting gear and on three test shoots with models in in a different setting than the studio I usually rent. But I am in the comments section to say that I hate you. Do you know what you made me do? Instead of rewatching "friends", "modern family", and "sons of anarchy" I am now binge watching your videos. Instead of entertaining myself I am now trying to absorb as much as your wisdom as I can capacitate. Your fault. 😉👍🤘

I have the older variant of this lens, the 28-80mm f2.8-4 L which has beastly build quality and superb rendition, lack of 2.8 at 50-70 is a bit meh but honestly find it difficult to take a bad picture with it.

I rented a 500mm F4 and it ended my lust for one . Too heavy and not as flexible as my 100-500. No more drooling over big primes , distant wildlife / sport is not the main part of what I shoot. Rent the gear and then re think ?

I don't mind if my images come out slightly and I enjoy film grain. What I do have a problem with is when I shoot a picture that is supposed to have some parts in deep shade and instead of having clear black or clear very dark gray (or very dark color that is there on set) I get millions of blue or red artifacts in the in the shadows that I don't know what to do with them; they appear there whether I shoot at ISO 100 or 1000 or 3200. And I use, roast that a few years ago were held as the cameras to have (EOS 1 Ds, EOS 5D MkII). Help!

bro this is very high quality content! U deserve millions of subs bro!

Hi Martin, love your videos! I bought a 5d classic after watching. Would you recommend this lens for safari with the 5d classic for casual shooting?

Thank you for your video! I used to use a D300, then had to sell it and took a break from photography for over 10 years for study reasons. 2 weeks ago I bought a D700, which has been a dream of mine for a while. There is something amazing about what this camera brings back from the older DSLR machines. I use it with a 50mm f1.4D and a 35mm f2D lenses, something phenomenal you can create with it. I feel like taking photos again. (The body cost only 140USD)

This is one of the best pieces that I have been looking for in a while. This helps me greatly with my photography career. Thanks