I have a NIkon D3100, I am trying to figure out what the best lense would be for photos of my daughter. From research I'm thinking a 50mm f/1.4 AF-S. Any other suggestions are much appreciated. Thank you!
The Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 AF-S DX is another one to look at. It is significantly wider, which I find to be a lot more useful for indoors low light shots. But it really depends on the type of shooting she's going to be doing.
Also, remember your camera has a cropped sensor, so the actual focal length (in 35mm or full frame equivalent) will be the stated focal length x 1.5, so a 50mm lens will actually be 75mm and a 35mm lens will be 52.5mm.
Having said that, I had the 50mm f/1.8 on loan for a while and loved it. The lens gives a really nice depth of field and is very sharp when you want it to be.
I use my 'nifty-fifty' (50mm f/1.8) the majority of the time and love it - handles the light well and gives excellent dof, as @fillingtime says. I have many things on my camera/lens wish list!! :)
As far as I am Aware the D3100 does not have a motor for non-motorised lenses like the 50mm f1.8. I bought the 35mm DX for my D40 but frankly found it little better than the kit 18-55mm. However for portraits I was taught to use a 100mm setting so used the Nikon 55-200VR which is a kit telephoto but gives stunning results! A 100 mm gives you some room to let your subject relax in but foreshortens the background. It doesn't let you shoot with as much blur as you would get from a 35 or 50mm f1.8 set at say f2.8 (its best wide setting) so use a plain setting such as a wall or floor length curtain.
I found pictures of our children worked best when they got used to having a camera set up so left it ready to go on the tripod and when they forgot it was there I clicked away. These days with the Nikon IR remote its even easier. I'd buy that over another lens in the first instance.
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Having said that, I had the 50mm f/1.8 on loan for a while and loved it. The lens gives a really nice depth of field and is very sharp when you want it to be.
I found pictures of our children worked best when they got used to having a camera set up so left it ready to go on the tripod and when they forgot it was there I clicked away. These days with the Nikon IR remote its even easier. I'd buy that over another lens in the first instance.