Nikon 50mm f1.8

[yakfisher]

Any of you Nikon guys use the 50mm f1.8? I'm thinking about picking one up, I've found them online, with reputable dealers for $110. I've heard this is a great inexpensive prime lens. I plan to use it mostly for indoor photos and some portrait work. I have the 18-200VR f3.5-5.6 and the 18-55 kit lens, but I'm looking for something with a little faster. Or do any of you have another suggestion.

[mmeyer]

I've been looking at the exact lens Yakfisher. I don't think we have too many fellow Nikonians but hopefully we can find out some info on it. Thanks for asking.

Mike

[yakfisher]

Well, at least the Nikon Cannon rivalry isn't nearly as violent as the Sioux Gopher hockey rivalry. I have seen pretty good reviews on both adorama and dpreview, I was just wondering if anyone here had tried it.

[mmeyer]

I have been trying to decide between the one you mentioned and the 50mm 2.8 macro. I think the 1.8 would be better for blurring the background in portraits but I'm not sure that much difference in aperature makes that much difference. The macro would be nice to do double duty but it's another $100 at least. I have seen good reviews on that one as well.

[yakfisher]

You can get the 50mm f1.4 for about $270. I'm thinking how wrong of a decision can it really be for $110. Maybe the Canon guys have and opinion based on the numbers. Let us know what you guys think, 50mm f1.4 $270, 50mm macro f2.8 $210, 50mm f1.8 $110. All three lenses have good reviews, and the construction materials are commensurate with the prices.

[JohnK]

I've had that lens for a bit over a year. It focuses fast is extremely sharp and has great contrast. It's worth more than it costs - how often do you hear that?

My problem with it is it's 50mm, I just don't use that focal length all that often, it does work great in low light

I think I'll get the Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 next. It's 4x the price of the 50mm Nikon, but it's a range I use a lot more.

As yakfisher said though, it's hard to go wrong with the 50mm at $110, for that price and as small as it is it's worth having in the bag.

[crawdad]

I like mine, the low light capabilities are fun to experiment with. Fast lens. Nice for people portraits and its shallow DOF. With the fixed focal, it forces you to move around to make the composition. I haven't figured why in manual mode though on my D50 why I'm getting errors adjusting the aperture, have to do some research I'm sure its user error.

Anyhow, its a good one to have and I'd buy it again.

[yakfisher]

Thanks for the input.

[Dbl]

Hey Yakfisher, Canon user so I can't help much with the Nikon but I have a 50/1.8 and its a nice little lens. Focus is relatively fast, better than the the 50/1.4. For the money and the better focus speed I picked the 1.8 version. Mine really doesn't get used all that much but it is nice to have it as a very low light lens along with the 85/1.8.

For portrait work my workhorse lens is a 70-200/2.8 or occasionally the 85/1.8. The 50 used to be good on 35mm cameras but I find it a bit of an odd size on crop camera's. I like JohnK's suggestion on the Tamron 17-50/2.8 that lens on the Canon side is a very good performer and its a bit more versatile.

[yakfisher]

DBL-

I'm not sure I'll be using it too much anyway. My 18-55 kit lens spends most of its time in the bag. Mostly what I am thinking of having is a fast low light lens for candid indoor use, way lighter and faster than my 18-200 VR that I would normally use. What do you think of the 35mm lens range?

[Dbl]

You might find that a bit more useful but I really find that I use my 17-40/f4 a lot indoors. Problem on that lens is its not fast but I almost always am using some form of light with it. I would have gone with a 17-50 but won't work on one of my camras so I opted for the 17-40. Here is the deal though, I use the wide end of that lens way more than the long end. And with the my 28-75/f2.8 I find I use the long end more than the wide end. The 28 is just not wide enough on a crop camera. The 35 range is not all that useful for me and I honestly like the zoom versatility on the short end.

Darn its tough to have all the choices.

[MN Shutterbug]

I'm certainly no expert on lenses, but I agree on the versatility of a zoom lens being quite important for indoor candid shots. It's pretty hard to be discreet if you have to keep moving closer or farther away, to attain the proper size of the subject. People are not going to be relaxed if they see you sneaking around with your camera.