 Nikkor 50mm 1.8D Great Inexpensive and Versatile Lens 23 of 24 people found this review helpful.
Having never owned a digital SLR until the purchase of my D70 body, I wanted a good cheap lens that would give me a range of shooting options in both low and normal light. Since I didn't have a kit lens, I figured I had an opportunity to pick something out on my own. I started looking at the prime lenses such as the 1.4D and the 1.8D and found that both got great reviews, one outshining the other in certain areas and vice versa. As an amateur photographer who was just getting into digital, I was less concerned with sharpness at particular F-stops and more with overall value for the money. The 50mm 1.8d delivers in this aspect extremely well and is a bit cheaper than the 1.4. Both are great lenses and I'm sure you would be happy with either.
For a little background on the lens, the 50mm 1.8 is a set focal length, which basically means it has no zoom. On a digital camera, 50mm is more in the range of 60 or 70mm due to the small CCD area. In fact when buying any lens for a digital camera, one must be careful to understand how focal length changes on a digital SLR body. The lens is autofocus and has the D moniker which I believe brings a few upgrades from the old 50mm 1.8 available for decades now, although some still prefer the old. I believe you can find the non-D for around $60 and the D for about $100.
What you're really getting in the case of the 50mm 1.8d is a fast lens, one capable of shooting at F1.8. This gives you more range of shooting in low light and in portraiture where you can bring the subject out of the surroundings. I have only had this lens for about a month and have used it for both, as well as in scenery. I have really enjoyed this lens because it takes great shots and allows you to experiment in low light situations. As well, I find the lens to be great in just about any shooting situation except for where a zoom lens is called for, even though the lens is a slight zoom on a digital. If a majority of your shots are scenery/portrait etc, you can't go wrong with this lens and it makes a great travel companion as it adds little weight to the camera.
The one complaint I keep hearing about this lens other than gripes about sharpness at certain stops is its build construction. Made mostly of plastic, some feel this lens doesn't feel or look professional. I can't say I disagree but in reality, I don't bounce the lens around in a pelican case on top of an off road vehicle, nor do I pose for dramatic photographer shots so this is of little concern to me. Like everyone says, if you are thinking of getting one, get one. It's cheap, light, diminutive, with great saturation and sharpness. Paired with a decent zoom lens, you can't go wrong.
Review ID: 10000000001318678  Thank you for voting. If your vote meets our guidelines, it will be posted within 24 hours. You cannot vote on the helpfulness of a review you wrote. Your request cannot be processed at this time. Please try again later.  One of the best lens for portrait & low light situation 5 of 5 people found this review helpful.
I don't even know where to start. This lens produces sharp pictures and great color and contrast. I initially get this lens for low light action and sport photography. I also found out that this lens is also perfect for portrait and other general purposes (macro etc). This is definitely a very versatile lens.
Let me mention some of the limitation that you would see:
First, being a prime lens, you will need to move your feet a lot to compose your picture. If you are used to zoom lens, don't underestimate this limitation. It takes me a while to get used to it, and sometime I still find people looking at me wondering why I am moving forward and backwards. the good news is that most of the time, they don't think I'm weird, but they are actually wondering if I'm a professional photographer.
Secondly, the focal range of 50mm, which is considered the normal lens and great for portrait lens. but on a DSLR (which I assume most of you use nowadays), this lens become a 75mm equivalent which is in the border of a short tele lens. I actually like the 75mm equivalent though I often have to move backwards when taking picture of a group of people.
Third, in some situation the autofocus might not able to focus (which is common for many other lens too). It is hard for the autofocus to lock when aiming at a wall that is one color (usually black or white), or on a clear sky (day or night). This kind of makes sense to me actually. In these situations the AF assist light doesn't help either so you can opt for manual focus or set the focus to infinity when you can't find focus lock on scenic/landscape or sky photography. So far I don't have many problems with the autofocus.
Sharpness increases as you stop down to f/2.2 or f/2.5. I actually use f/1.8 most of the time and the results are still nice. On low light, I'd rather use f/1.8 aperture settings than stopped down (e.g to f/2.8) and compensate with higher ISO setting which often gives me grainy picture.
If you are wondering whether you should get a fast lens or a lens with VR, here's my take: VR does help a lot (and produce better/sharper picture than equivalent faster lens without VR) if the object is static. If the object is moving (sports/action) then VR feature doesn't really help and fast lens will be a far better solution. Using tripod (and a remote) will substitute for the need of VR feature.
Here are the summary of pros and cons:
Pros:
1. Very fast (f/1.8)
2. Very sharp pictures
3. Great for sport/action photography
4. Great for indoor and low light situation
5. Great for portrait
6. Bokeh is good
7. Fast autofocus
8. Good for wedding photography (or no-flash event)
9. 75mm equivalent which can be considered a short tele lens
10. Inexpensive
Cons:
1. Being prime lens, you need to move your feet a lot to adjust/compose
2. Autofocus issue on some situations (read detail above)
3. Plasticy build
4. Autofocus is not the most silent but very reasonable
5. 75mm equivalent with 1.5x multiplier on DSLR (many people find this is an odd range for normal lens. I actually like it)
Bottom line: This lens is so versatile that I think everyone should own it. Being a very fast lens, it enables me to take pictures in low light (sport/action photography) that I otherwise wouldn't be able to do.
Again, I would recommend everyone to get this lens. In some ways I can say that this lens makes me a better photographer.
Happy Photographing!
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