Nikon mount prime lens

fluppet

I want a fast prime lens for my Nikon D50, but there doesn't seem to be much of a selection. The only possibilities that I found were two Nikkor 50mm lens (f/1.4D and f/1.8D). I'd prefer 35mm, and it can be DX format, but I can't find one. I've tried Sigma and Tamron, but they don't seem to make a suitable lens either. Does anyone have a suggestion?

Edit: Okay, just found a 35mm Nikkor f/2D lens on Amazon... don't know why I didn't see this on the Nikon website... Does anyone know of any other suitable lenses?

eas

hey fluppet

Not sure of your budget, but Nikon make dozens of fast primes - if your looking for a wider angle these are some of the choices - 14mm 2.8, 16mm 2.8, 18mm 2.8, 20mm 2.8, 28mm 1.4, 24mm 1.4, 28mm 2.8, 35mm 2.0. I'm sure more or less the same range is also available from sigma or Tamron.

I personally couldn't recommend the 50mm 1.8 enough though, and quite honestly feel that for the price (around €100 online), it's the best lens you can buy from Nikon. I use it mostly for natural light portraits, but find it fairly versatile.

Ken Rockwells review > http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/5018daf.htm


Some examples :










hope this hepls

cheers

halenger

I've got to ask the thick question... Why? I can understand wanting a fast fixed lens and I know 50mm is the typical fast fixed lens but on the D50 this becomes a 75mm lens effectively. Is it still as versitile and usable? The samples you provided are very impressive though. (If I end up considering this, I hate you. I really do. No seriously, I do.)

DotOrg

halenger wrote:

I know 50mm is the typical fast fixed lens but on the D50 this becomes a 75mm lens effectively. Is it still as versitile and usable?

depends what you shoot, for me, my 50mm f1.4 lens is brilliant for portraits and for live concert shooting

eas

For me, in this case 75MM actually suits better than 50MM. It's closer to the portrait "sweet spot" and that's my main use for this lense.

The examples above where to show results from different set ups - the portrait was taken using available natural light (big window), the second one is more of a studio type set up and also shows the bokeh of the lens (although not at it's best). The 3rd taken in a dark (very dark) nightclub. no cropping on any of them.

anyhow, there are defiantly more desirable lenses , but this one is so affordable and good that I don't see why anyone would do without it.

you can see more 50MM 1.8 portrait examples here >

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1034&message=14569002

fluppet

Thanks for the replies and samples.
50mm (or 75mm on my D50) is just too small of an angle for me. The main reason I want it is for hand-held night landscapes. The 35mm seems better to me (do you think f2 would be fast enough?), but I'm not in any rush to buy the lens (I'll probably wait a year), and I don't want to spend more than necessary, so I'll wait and see if they introduce a DX prime, which might be cheaper, or might at least reduce the prices of the other 35mm. What do you think?

eas

hand-held night landscapes? I'm not sure what you can achieve with any speed of lens using this technique - can you show some samples of what you'd like to do?

fluppet

Well, forget about me asking if f2 would be fast enough - I know it is... I used to take these pictures on my old Pentax camera at f2. I'm actually thinking that perhaps 35mm isn't wide enough, I do seem to take most shots at 18mm on the kit lens, although that may because I want the widest aperture... I'll have to think about that a bit more