# nikon 50mm lens



## Dan J (Jun 18, 2008)

hi guys i will be on the hunt for a second hand 50mm nikon lens but not sure which is the best one to go for

any suggestions would much appreciated:thumb:

thanks
Dan


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

I have the 50mm f1/8 Nikon lense, great little lense and superb quality pics with great depth of field achievable.
It will be a manual focus on the D40 though, but lately I prefer switching to manual.


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## bretti_kivi (Apr 22, 2008)

as fast as you can afford... 

Bret


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## Maggi200 (Aug 21, 2009)

Yeah as said it hasn't got a motor, but that makes it lighter and cheaper. It's a lovely lense, fast and wide so low light is great, and dof and brokeh are both good too. I recently sold mine though on here!


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

Personally, i would go for the AF-S 35mm f1.8, it's a cracking little lens.

Nowt wrong with the 50mm f1.8 though.


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## Supermega (Nov 10, 2008)

I love my 50mm F1.8 had it a couple of years now. Cant beat it as its cheap as chips.


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## Dan J (Jun 18, 2008)

excuse my newbness to this but whats the difference between the f1.8 and f1.4 and all the other abreviassions that go with it?

also what sort of price should be expecting roughly on a second hand lens? 

thanks all, i really appreciate all your input

Dan


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## GIZTO29 (May 8, 2009)

1.4 is faster (and more expensive) than 1.8 and you should beable to get even better Depth of Field with the 1.4 i believe. As you know i have the 35mm 1.8 AF-S. You dont have to pay as much as your D90 has inbody AF.
Phil


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## bretti_kivi (Apr 22, 2008)

Smaller f numbers are better. That's it. Means more light and better selective DoF if that's what you want / need.
Ebay will give you an indication of pricing, but check out ffordes, mifsuds and the others listed on camerapricebuster and ukcamera.com, not forgetting KEH if you can't find what you're looking for in the UK.

Bret


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## butcher (Sep 3, 2010)

Purple Haze said:


> excuse my newbness to this but whats the difference between the f1.8 and f1.4 and all the other abreviassions that go with it?


If you don't know, you'll probably be very happy with the 1.8. And the extra money in your pocket :thumb:

Because the 50mm prime is such a simple lens, they knock them out cheap as chips, so they're a great bargain that produce the results of much more expensive equipment. I mean, unless you're getting some serious kit, the 1.8 is likely to still be faster than any of your other lenses. So don't be put off. And you can easily start spending a lot of money going up the ranks, 1.4, or 1.2 even..

Then again, if you think you'll seriously get into photography, you'll likely still have it in years to come, and maybe the extra wonga is worth it. Your call.


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## Supermega (Nov 10, 2008)

Even set to F1.8 you have to watch you focus point - as its very easy to miss the bit you want in focus.

HTH


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## Dan J (Jun 18, 2008)

butcher said:


> If you don't know, you'll probably be very happy with the 1.8. And the extra money in your pocket :thumb:
> 
> Because the 50mm prime is such a simple lens, they knock them out cheap as chips, so they're a great bargain that produce the results of much more expensive equipment. I mean, unless you're getting some serious kit, the 1.8 is likely to still be faster than any of your other lenses. So don't be put off. And you can easily start spending a lot of money going up the ranks, 1.4, or 1.2 even..
> 
> Then again, if you think you'll seriously get into photography, you'll likely still have it in years to come, and maybe the extra wonga is worth it. Your call.


thanks butcher:thumb: im a complete newb to all this so yes your right i will be very happy as im not finely tuned to the different lens qualitys yet
i am also looking to get a 70-300 in the near future for a bit of zooomage

but for the moment if anyone is selling or knows anyone selling a nikon 50mm 1.8 for a reasonable price drop me a pm:thumb:


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

Purple Haze said:


> but for the moment if anyone is selling or knows anyone selling a nikon 50mm 1.8 for a reasonable price drop me a pm:thumb:


Does Kerso on TP not sell these. I know he runs a group buy on there for Canon, might be worth dropping him a PM to see what he's price is.


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## Dan J (Jun 18, 2008)

will go and have a look now, if i cant find it could you possibly drop me a link please?
ive been looking in the for sale section but nothing pops up while im looking then i leave it a few days and go back and have missed one.

thanks
Dan


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

I thought the 35mm was better on the D90 and other cropped sensors as it will be more like a 50mm lens, i.e. the subject appears closer to you in the view finder. So with a 50mm it probably won't be any good for indoor shots or portraits.


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## Dan J (Jun 18, 2008)

Pezza4u said:


> I thought the 35mm was better on the D90 and other cropped sensors as it will be more like a 50mm lens, i.e. the subject appears closer to you in the view finder. So with a 50mm it probably won't be any good for indoor shots or portraits.


funny you say that as i was also considering the 35mm dx lens.

have been told and have read that if you use a lens for an fx camera on crop sensor camera the zoom range is bumped up by 1.5 of something to that effect anyway lol,(dont fully understand it all yet )
phil on here has just got a d5000 and a 35mm lens and has produced some impressive shots with it.


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## GIZTO29 (May 8, 2009)

PH, have a look at the exif data of your photos and see what focal length you tend to use. If its low end then go for the 35mm. Thats what i did.
Phil


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## Dan J (Jun 18, 2008)

GIZTO29 said:


> PH, have a look at the exif data of your photos and see what focal length you tend to use. If its low end then go for the 35mm. Thats what i did.
> Phil


will do thanks phil:thumb: i am definatly getting either the 50mm or the 35mm whatever, as good as my 24-120 is i definatly want something sharper and with the abilty to get closer to the subject ie insects,flowers,faces,etc 
and a zoom lens for when i go to brands hatch and silverstone,long distance wildlife shots.
will get a true macro lens in the distant future if i really get into that side of it.

just keep missing lenses on tp which is getting annoying now:lol:


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

The 35mm f1.8 lens is said to be better on the DX sensor as the FX is 1.5 times bigger and the same size as 35mm film.

On 35mm film, the de-facto, do it all lens was the 50mm f1.8. It does portrait, landie, Narrow DOF and reversed is a cracking macro lens. The same is true of the FX sensor cams so D700, D3, D3X etc. It's made in huge numbers so the economies of scale mean it can have good glass and good internals. It's a cracker.

Now, as the D90, D200, D40, etc are DX sensors, their sensor area is 1.5 times smaller than the FX sensor (and 35mm film). 

So, the 35mm lens on the DX cam has the equivalent focal length of a 52.5mm (35mm*1.5) lens on an FX camera. Hence why the 35mm f1.8 is said to be closer (image wise) to what the old 50mm used to produce on film. 

However, using the FX 50mm f1.8 lens on a DX camera means you are using the sweet spot in the centre of the lens and you should see less or no barrel distortion, Chromatic Aberration or focus errors.

Both are great lenses. It just depends what you want.

The 50mm f1.8 on a DX sensor is the same field of view as a 75mm lens on a 35mm film camera or an FX sensor.


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## Dan J (Jun 18, 2008)

thanks Gruffs, once ive read that a few more times i think i'll fully understand everything you've put lol, you've explained it perfectly im just a bit slow when it comes to technical photography stuff,detailing is a different matter due to 16yrs experience but this tog stuff is going straight over my head atm


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

Don't worry it made me go all cross-eyed for a bit too.

There is a pictorial explanation here:

http://www.photography-forum.org/showthread.php/27423-sensor-size-amp-focal-lengths......


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## Dan J (Jun 18, 2008)

Gruffs said:


> Don't worry it made me go all cross-eyed for a bit too.
> 
> There is a pictorial explanation here:
> 
> http://www.photography-forum.org/showthread.php/27423-sensor-size-amp-focal-lengths......


thanks mate:thumb: yes it does get a bit confusing but its like everything i suppose,once you learn how to do it and repeatedly do the same thing it becomes second nature to a degree.

had read and couldnt look at the pics unless i sign up but get the idea from what they were saying.
thanks again for your help Gruffs really appreciated:thumb:


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## butcher (Sep 3, 2010)

The 50mm will likely be sharper. I don't know anything about the specific Nikon lenses in question, but that's generally the case. The 50mm was always the 'portrait' lens, so the 35mm with crop on digital cameras now is closer to that, but I find the 50mm fine. It's not great as an all day lens (I prefer my 28mm for that), but it does make you think.


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

Purple Haze said:


> will go and have a look now, if i cant find it could you possibly drop me a link please?
> ive been looking in the for sale section but nothing pops up while im looking then i leave it a few days and go back and have missed one.
> 
> thanks
> Dan


Sorry, not been on for a couple of days, here's the link to the canon 50mm lens though.


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## GIZTO29 (May 8, 2009)

35mm f1.8



























Phil


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## Ebbe J (Jun 18, 2008)

Get the AF-S f/1.4. It's a fine lens on a crop body. I would say it's useable(performance-wise) from 1.8. You can get sharp images on 1.4, but I think there's too much fringing/purple edges at the extreme apertures.

Here's a few I've shot using this lens and a D90:

































Kind regards,

Ebbe


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## Dan J (Jun 18, 2008)

some great shots there guys thanks for posting them up, both very tempting lenses but cant afford the 35mm atm plus what would be the gains if any of getting one over the other.

@beancounter, thanks for that link mate i found it in the end and have pm'd him.

got the mrs a canon 400D with kits lens the other day as she was feeling left out when i got my D90 a few weeks back, she's well happy and is making me laugh as she's walking round the house and garden taking random pics, its nice to see her getting into it so she'll be after some lenses no doubt in the future.


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

Purple Haze said:


> got the mrs a canon 400D with kits lens the other day as she was feeling left out when i got my D90 a few weeks back, she's well happy and is making me laugh as she's walking round the house and garden taking random pics, its nice to see her getting into it so she'll be after some lenses no doubt in the future.


Definitely get her the Canon 50mm f/1.8, its a great lens to learn with. Great thing with them too is that there's always a good market for them so you should get most of your money back if you decide to upgrade/change lenses.


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