Good Day, I supposed to buy a lens today for my Nikon D5000, but hold it for a while till I ask some help from you here in 365project.
I want to buy the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 but the salesman told me that this lens is only manual focus for Nikon D5000 and It can be auto focus for Nikon D3000. i want to ask some advice about this lens because right now in Dubai they are celebrating the DSF ( Dubai Shopping Festival ) and all of the items are on Low Low sale.
Actually I don't mind if i have to use the manual focus, because i use Manual focus on my 18-55mm even this lens have the Auto focus.
Is this nikkor 50mm f/1.8 is worth buying? is this lens really good or match with my Nikon D5000? what this lens can give for photography?
i ask this because i read some of the views regarding lenses that this is a must lens to have. This is always on their DSLR, this gives good photo even in low ligh and others.
I hope you could help me decide and give some view or even sample of what this lens could give and is it really worth buying it.
Thanks for all your help.
If I were to chose one prime lens, it would be either 35mm or 50mm. You can't go wrong with a 50mm and f1.8 is fast enough and can produce great bokeh.
Rholz, I just checked the Nikon website for information about the 50mm f/1.8 autofocus with the D5000 and from what I can tell the lens works perfectly fine with ALL Nikon cameras. Always be wary of what a saleman tells you: I bet he probably had a more expensive lens just waiting for you, huh?
The 50mm f/1.8 was the first prime lens I bought. I now have two of them, one which I keep in my Go Bag and the other I keep with my portrait kit. It really is an amazing lens for the price, something you just can't beat.
The lens is sharp, sharp, sharp. The f/1.8 maximum aperture allows you to shoot in very low light situations, but because of the limited depth of field the widest aperture is really only helpful when shooting objects more than 50 feet away. The autofocus is fast and accurate.
@jasonbarnette - unfortunately the 50mm f1.8 doesn't autofocus with the D5000 as the camera is laching the autofocus motor needed to focus it. The D5000 requires AF-S lenses to autofocus, such as the 50mm f1.4. Admittedly, these lenses do cost more, but the bodies are cheaper.
@wormentude Yep, just read about the D5000. Wow. Over half of Nikon, Tokina, Tamron, and Sigma lenses won't autofocus with that camera body.
All the variable aperture lenses, in other words the cheaper, lighter, soft focus lenses, work fine. But the fixed maximum aperture lenses and especially the larger ones such as the 300mm f/2.8 don't work on the D5000.
Indeed, a D80 and D300 is near the same quality and functionality as the D5000, and costs about $500-700 for a used one.
But that really sucks, though. The 50mm f/1.8 is a great lens.
@jasonbarnette@blueburn11 - You can get the 35mm 1.8 for the Nikon. It does auto-focus on the D5000. Might not be as sharp as the 50mm, but I have to say it is great. And its only slightly more expensive than the 50mm (its about $200).
Don't know if that helps you.
And there is a 50mm 1.4 that WILL autofocus on the D5000. But if I'm not mistaken it is a bit more money at around $400.
@jasonbarnette - the way I see it, it doesn't make a great deal of difference. I have 3 lenses and only one will autofocus, but it's not so hard to do it manually and it's not like you're wasting film... I think they probably made the cameras this way (a few others are similar) to make it easier for people to get a good camera for less, bearing in mind that most people only want a couple of lenses, so the price works out similar over all, but gets spread out more. This especially makes sense for people like me - I'm a student so I don't have an income so my D5000 was bought with money I saved from Christmas and birthdays. If I'd only had the option of the D90 (similar spec but built-in autofocus motor), I'd have had to wait another year.
I also believe that the AF-S lenses will still work on the other bodies, so it's not a problem if you upgrade later on.
@wormentude Very true about upgrading later. If you buy the lens now, might not work too easily with the D5000, but it will work fine with almost any other later model Nikon.
However, autofocus can be important depending on what you do. I shoot a lot of wildlife and I can tell you trying to zoom and manually focus a lens while an eagle is flying straight toward you can be very difficult. You might not be wasting any film, but you might not get that chance again either. Ever since I upgraded from film to DSLR, I have used autofocus.
I am in the same boat - after some research, I really want the 50mm f/1.4, but at $400, I may be getting the 35mm f/1.8 (around $200 - currently on backorder, so snag it if you find one that is 199 or so as the prices are going up since the supply is low). I can always zoom and crop the pictures. The decision is up to my husband since it will be a gift for me, so I wont have any actual advice until I get it, which wont be until April :(
I was starting to be nervous of the compatibility with the D5000, but since I don't plan on buying more than two or three more lenses ever, I'll survive. I love the autofocus since my main target is a moving 18 month old!
Good luck - can't wait to see your pics with the new lens, whichever you chose!
@shanander@jasonbarnette - The 55mm f/1.8 nikkor lens is 85 dollars here in Dubai Shopping Festival. It's very low price. will i buy that today?
Thanks
@blueburn11Rhoiz - for 85 $ - go go go and buy it! This is a funny price. :) Sometimes we spend this amount of money for less significant and unnecessary things...
But if you can find a 50 mm f/1.4 - would be great.
@vvpe - Thanks veronica, it's true electronics here and other gadgets are very cheap, because they pay a very low tax. This lens is really low price, that's why I ask some advice if the lens is worth buying base on usefulness and others. Thanks
@shenay , @viranod , @jasonbarnette , @wormentude , @shanander , @vvpe , @shenay - Finally I bought it the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 and here is my first try on the lens. it's great even it's manual focus, i still have to explore this lens, but so far i\I like it. Thanks to all of you who help me decide on buying this.
@vvpe - he he he i bought the f/1.8 , actually there is f/1.4 it's 360 dollars, it's kinda out of my budget. I'm planning to buy another lens which is very low price again, i would just consult people here again in 365project. they are very helpful.
@jasonbarnette , @jasonbarnette , @crappysailor , @viranod@shenay@vvpe _ Hello guys. This is my second attempt on using the 50mm f/1.8 I'm not quite sure if this is the way it should be, compare with my first try. I'm still mastering this lens. actually I'm happy of this shot but i have a feeling that there is something off about it. I just need some views if I'm using the 50mm lens the way it supposed to be with this photo. Thanks so much.
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The 50mm f/1.8 was the first prime lens I bought. I now have two of them, one which I keep in my Go Bag and the other I keep with my portrait kit. It really is an amazing lens for the price, something you just can't beat.
The lens is sharp, sharp, sharp. The f/1.8 maximum aperture allows you to shoot in very low light situations, but because of the limited depth of field the widest aperture is really only helpful when shooting objects more than 50 feet away. The autofocus is fast and accurate.
You really can't go wrong with that lens.
All the variable aperture lenses, in other words the cheaper, lighter, soft focus lenses, work fine. But the fixed maximum aperture lenses and especially the larger ones such as the 300mm f/2.8 don't work on the D5000.
Indeed, a D80 and D300 is near the same quality and functionality as the D5000, and costs about $500-700 for a used one.
But that really sucks, though. The 50mm f/1.8 is a great lens.
Don't know if that helps you.
And there is a 50mm 1.4 that WILL autofocus on the D5000. But if I'm not mistaken it is a bit more money at around $400.
I also believe that the AF-S lenses will still work on the other bodies, so it's not a problem if you upgrade later on.
However, autofocus can be important depending on what you do. I shoot a lot of wildlife and I can tell you trying to zoom and manually focus a lens while an eagle is flying straight toward you can be very difficult. You might not be wasting any film, but you might not get that chance again either. Ever since I upgraded from film to DSLR, I have used autofocus.
I was starting to be nervous of the compatibility with the D5000, but since I don't plan on buying more than two or three more lenses ever, I'll survive. I love the autofocus since my main target is a moving 18 month old!
Good luck - can't wait to see your pics with the new lens, whichever you chose!
Thanks
But if you can find a 50 mm f/1.4 - would be great.
what you can do with it :)