Nikon Nikkor 50 mm F/1.8 D AF Lens

In purchasing this lens, my goal was to be able to shoot in lower light without the blast of flash photography. Wow, what beautiful pictures, rich colors, and amazing "depth of field". Unfortunately today, we are not offered this kind of lens quality unless forking over large amounts of cash. Instead we get a kit zoom lens with vibration reduction which really is just compensating for lesser quality. Technology vs. Craftsmanship is another way to put it and it has changed the way we take pictures. This 1.8 aperture allows a tremendous amount of light on to the sensor compared to a 3.5 aperture kit lens of today's dslrs. With that, my shutter speed can be quick enough to capture my image without blur and without "VR". The downside? Focus. There is nothing auto on this lens. But... It makes me a think about my shot, the result is I'm taking less pictures and each picture is worth keeping. How many of us have over a gig of shots we are too lazy to delete hoarding up the hardrive. For us that remember, a 36 roll of 100 iso would not be wasted.

I love this lens and have purchased more of these prime lenses. There is this tangible sense of quality you have when holding one these. It makes you want to shoot better. Eventually I will be looking at a very wide angle lens to compensate for the crop factor of my camera. It is worth noting that, if you're not familiar with the transition to dslr, cameras have different size sensors which turn your 50mm lens into varying but mostly a higher mm. For me, shooting a Nikon D80 and Lumix GH1 (for video) the crop factor is up to 2. Meaning on the GH1, the 50mm is actually 100mm.

To wrap up, I'm grateful these lenses have been cared for by the previous generation of photographers who knew the art form and function better than most of us. They are now available for us to practice the craft, achieve fantastic results, and appreciate our shots even more.

This is very reasonably priced prime lens with exceptional picture quality. It is also very fast: aperture is 1.8. So you can shoot in low light without flash. With any Nikon DX digital SLR this lens becomes a fantastic portrait lens in ambient light. It is however a full size lens so you can use it with FX Nikons and with any Nikon film SLR. You can get a used lens in good shape under $ 100.00. It is also very lightweight and small to carry in your camera bag.

I bought this product in order to achieve better low light performance and create the bokeh that is used it TV and Film alike, and wow,, absolutely worth it, as a dslr filmmaker, it is a must. the only cation is if intended use is photography and you wish to use the auto focus be sure you camera is capable. the nikon d3100 and d5100 cannot focus this lens, however if you fancy yourself a hipster and desire to gain the skill to quickly focus manually go for it, i chose this over older slr lenses because i do plan on upgrading my camera in which the auto focus will work, if your getting into film making using any video capable nikon, its simply a must.

Great, lightweight prime lens. Nice to have lens with this wide aperture setting. Auto focus only operates on camera bodies with built in motor. Only drawback is focus motor noise when you are shooting video as this noise will record.

About an year back i got my first 50mm lens, which was AF-S 50mm F1.4G, the newer version from a friend for almost half the price, during that time i was using a nikon D5100.

However a weeks back it got broken, it accidentally fell down...! In Maldives we don't have a Nikon service centre and when i checked the repair costs more than an AF-D 1.8

I have used this lens several times and i will say that this one focuses much much faster when compared to the AF-S 1.4G version. And the images are tack sharp. According to my experience the 1.4G gives sharper images from f2.8 onwards at larger apertures like 1.4, 1.8, 2.2...that lens doesn't perform that well...! but when taken beyong 2.8 its extremely sharp...!

During the few times i have used the nifty fifty..! i have also found out that it also produced extremely sharp images from f2.8 onwards....! since i own a D7000 now, for me there is no need to pay a lot of cash or save and get the AF-S version anymore...!

This is nikons cheapest & best lens in my opinion...!

If you have a nikon camera, with a built in focus motor then this lens is a must...its cheap and you will love and never regret the fact that you bought it..!