If you have a camera with a built-in autofocus-motor (D90, etc...), then you need this lens. Everyone should have a 50mm f/1.8 (or faster) lens. This lens is just too inexpensive and too good to pass up.
You buy this lens for two reasons: to shoot in low light without flash or to get great depth of field control. With a wide aperture of f/1.8 you are guaranteed to get great natural light pictures indoors or other low light situations while maintaining a relatively low ISO. The other advantage to large apertures is of course the great isolation of your subject by limiting depth of field. The sample images posted by reviewers show how well this lens works on both accounts.
I see reviews complaining about the sharpness of this lens. Forget about it. Sharpness is rarely a result of the lens. I've taken incredibly sharp pictures with this lens and very fuzzy pictures. Every fuzzy picture was because of something I did "wrong", for example...
Depth of Field: With f/1.8 at 50mm if you're framing a close subject that is only 2 feet away, your depth of field (amount of subject in focus) is only .38 inches (< 1 cm). That is what is referred to as "paper thin" depth of field. Naturally with such a small amount of the subject in focus much of the image will be "unsharp". This is expected and called bokeh. Be sure to understand how depth of field works, or make sure to shoot all your subjects from very far away (not recommended). If this is your first prime lens, then consider the 35mm f/1.8 which has a much more forgiving DOF (.8 inches at 2 feet when wide open).
Subject Motion: With such a limited depth of field, when shooting at the larger apertures, even a small bit of subject motion can cause one of two things to happen. The first is that the part of the subject you wanted to be in focus moved and is now out of focus. The second is that the shutter speed wasn't fast enough to freeze the subject and motion blur occurs. Make sure to shoot moving subjects with an appropriately high shutter speed. Here is where your Nikon beats all other DSLRs: you can customize this using Auto ISO in your camera menu.
Camera Shake: If you let your camera decide everything for you then eventually your shutter speed is going to drop to a value where you can no longer hold the camera steady enough to get a clear shot without a tripod. You need to always shoot at a speed that you can hold the camera steady at. Customize Auto ISO here as well based on your capabilities.
Focus Errors: With paper thin depth of field at the wider apertures it's even easier for a focus error to ruin a picture. If you're taking a close-up picture of someone's face, and your camera selects the nearest object to focus on, then their nose will be in focus but their eyes slightly blurry. That will ruin your picture. Even being slightly off will wreck a great picture. Be very careful with your choice of focus method. If you're shooting at the wider apertures, but not at the nearest object, you may want to use selective auto-focus. Try to focus on the eyes if you're taking pictures of people.
It's easy to see how the challenges of shooting at wide apertures have more to do with the sharpness of pictures than any optical quality of the lens. It is challenging, but the great pictures you get are well worth the effort.
After the first year I owned this lens my photography education was greatly accelerated. I was immediately challenged to understand and master depth of field, shutter speed, ISO, and auto-focus. Without it, I would have continued to do the same dumb things that resulted in mediocre and blurred pictures. I would have continued to blame the tools (camera, lens, flash, etc...) instead of taking control for myself.
If you're afraid to walk, then don't get this lens. The only way you're going to get proper depth of field and good framing is by walking closer to or farther away from your subject.
If you don't have a camera with a built in autofocus-motor (D40, D40X, D60, D3000, D3100, or D5000), then you will either need to get the more expensive
50mm f/1.4
with the autofocus-motor or, if this is your first prime lens and you want a lower price, go ahead and start with the more forgiving
35mm f/1.8
.
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This Item  Nikon AF FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8D Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $99.00 | -10% $196.95 List: $219.95 | -11% $426.95 List: $479.95 | $414.49 | -10% $406.95 List: $449.95 | $386.95 |
| Delivery | Get it May 20 - 23 | — | Get it as soon as Monday, May 20 | Get it as soon as Tomorrow, May 15 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 21 | Get it as soon as Monday, May 20 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Auto focus | ||||||
| Picture quality | ||||||
| Quality of material | ||||||
| For portrait photography | ||||||
| Durability | ||||||
| Sold By | Sicamera | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Green's Camera World | Amazon.com | Xpress Products (We track Serial Numbers) |
| lens type | Standard | Standard | Telephoto | Standard | Standard | Telephoto |
| compatible mountings | Nikon F (FX) | Nikon F (FX) | Nikon F (FX) | Nikon F (FX) | Nikon F (FX) | Nikon 1 |
| lens design | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Zoom |
| focus type | Screw drive from camera | Ultrasonic | Ultrasonic | Screw drive from camera | Ring-type ultrasonic | Auto Focus |
| minimum focal length | 50 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 85 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 70 millimeters |
| max focal length | 50 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 85 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 300 millimeters |
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This lens does NOT auto focus with all cameras
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Nikon 50 mm compared to 18 to 55 mm #thisorthat
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Our Point of View on the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D Lens
WTI | We Tried It!
Reviews with images
More than nifty
This lens ended up putting me in business as a photographer. By age 19 I was making $13k/month. It brings the most desired shots by clients. These shots were captured by Nikon d3300No auto focus or image stabilization. Shouldn’t be a problem for portraits
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2010
*: BlackVerified Purchase
After using the Tamron 18-270 zoom, I found myself missing something. I wanted to get a macro lens, but instead found myself getting this lens and the AF-s DX 35mm F/1.8G and a set of extension tubes.
Certainly I must have been crazy going from an "ultra zoom" to this thing. But so far after just a day and a half of playing around, I've found this lens to run circles around my Tamron lens when it comes to certain shots.
Back to what makes this more versatile than the ultra zoom Tamron:
- 52 mm filters are cheaper than 72 mm filters (something not to overlook)
- It takes less light to get the shot. Higher shutter speeds and F stops are possible with this lens, more than the zoom lens. I don't have to set the ISO as high, so less grain with a lower ISO.
- affordable. At $120 this is about a 3rd of the price of what I paid for the zoom. With an added extension tube, it was still cheaper than the zoom.
- Image quality is better. The focus is sharp. So far I've found myself using this lens a bit more than my 35mm G lens, which is also supposed to be sharp but didn't work as well with the extension tubes.)
- small and light weight (this also can't be overlooked, especially if hand-held.)
This lens also has a bit of a learning curb. Being a prime, takes getting rather close to the subject to "zoom in" and stepping back to "zoom out". With the crop factor, I get a bit of working room in front of the minimum focus. (which can also be a pro, depending on the situation such as using extension tubes.) Not being able to zoom may also be a drawback in some settings like in zoos or places where you can't or not allowed to get close. It also took me a day to figure out how to get manual focusing out of this lens. On a camera with an autofocus motor, you flip the switch on the camera to switch from manual to auto. There is no switch on the lens itself.
A few drawbacks I've found:
On a crop sensor camera, there is no wide angle to be had. Getting landscapes and building shots will require some playing around with composition to make it work. (you may not be able to get the full thing in the frame.) There doesn't appear to be vibration control on this lens so it may take a few shots to get one in focus, but then again even with a VC lens, there may be drawbacks of its own. I wouldn't have minded if it were to cost a little more and included the lens hood. Without it I have to be careful not to get too close to my subjects and also have to keep cleaning the filter to get rid of dust, smudges and and fingerprints. It is also not the most quiet lens to be had. But for most of my shooting, it doesn't bother me.
- 7 blade bokeh (please see photo added to gallery.) Light sources may show up as heptagons which may or may not be what I want in a particular shot. But each lens is a tool, and each tool has its own use and drawbacks.
Certainly I must have been crazy going from an "ultra zoom" to this thing. But so far after just a day and a half of playing around, I've found this lens to run circles around my Tamron lens when it comes to certain shots.
Back to what makes this more versatile than the ultra zoom Tamron:
- 52 mm filters are cheaper than 72 mm filters (something not to overlook)
- It takes less light to get the shot. Higher shutter speeds and F stops are possible with this lens, more than the zoom lens. I don't have to set the ISO as high, so less grain with a lower ISO.
- affordable. At $120 this is about a 3rd of the price of what I paid for the zoom. With an added extension tube, it was still cheaper than the zoom.
- Image quality is better. The focus is sharp. So far I've found myself using this lens a bit more than my 35mm G lens, which is also supposed to be sharp but didn't work as well with the extension tubes.)
- small and light weight (this also can't be overlooked, especially if hand-held.)
This lens also has a bit of a learning curb. Being a prime, takes getting rather close to the subject to "zoom in" and stepping back to "zoom out". With the crop factor, I get a bit of working room in front of the minimum focus. (which can also be a pro, depending on the situation such as using extension tubes.) Not being able to zoom may also be a drawback in some settings like in zoos or places where you can't or not allowed to get close. It also took me a day to figure out how to get manual focusing out of this lens. On a camera with an autofocus motor, you flip the switch on the camera to switch from manual to auto. There is no switch on the lens itself.
A few drawbacks I've found:
On a crop sensor camera, there is no wide angle to be had. Getting landscapes and building shots will require some playing around with composition to make it work. (you may not be able to get the full thing in the frame.) There doesn't appear to be vibration control on this lens so it may take a few shots to get one in focus, but then again even with a VC lens, there may be drawbacks of its own. I wouldn't have minded if it were to cost a little more and included the lens hood. Without it I have to be careful not to get too close to my subjects and also have to keep cleaning the filter to get rid of dust, smudges and and fingerprints. It is also not the most quiet lens to be had. But for most of my shooting, it doesn't bother me.
- 7 blade bokeh (please see photo added to gallery.) Light sources may show up as heptagons which may or may not be what I want in a particular shot. But each lens is a tool, and each tool has its own use and drawbacks.
Images in this review
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