Prime lenses?

[gp2003]

I'm looking to buy a prime lens for my Nikon D200 digital camera. Various options have been suggested to me - 30mm, 50mm, 85mm, but I'm not too sure which would be the best buy for a humble amateur tog! Any advice from you good people would be gratefully received.

[Jacques]

The 50mm lens is great for all-around candids, group portraits, and other slightly wide angle photos. It's considered more of a "standard" lens, giving you a view very close to what the human eye is used to seeing.

The 30mm is more suited to shoot a large group of people.

I would go for the 85mm for head and shoulder shots and the 50mm for full length.

[gp2003]

Thanks for the advice, but on a digital camera with a 1.5x crop factor, wouldn't a 30mm lens equate to the 50mm standard, with a 50mm lens becoming 75mm?

[Jacques]

Doh! Yes sorry, I'm still one of the luddites that uses film.