nikon 50mm's

gerk86

im looking to buy a 50mm f1.4 or f1.8 for my D40. The f1.4's are going for, on average, about 170euro on ebay with the f1.8's at around 70euro.

are the differences worth 100euro?

Thirdfox

You do realise that they don't autofocus on the D40 right? (Not being smart or anything, I own a D40 too).

I approached it differently - I got a pre-AI 50mm f2 Nikkor-H for 30 euro delivered from ebay. The D40 can mount this without modification (other Nikons need it to be modified to AI mount) I'm going to have to manually expose and focus but for 30 it's worth using until they bring out a f1.8 prime AFS (or I might get the Sigma 30 f1.4).

Just something to think about.

But to answer your question - the f1.4 has much better construction (but I think my f2 all metal contruction might be better ) and is sharper than the f1.8 from f1.4 to f4, after that I think they are about the same (the f1.8 may perform slightly better from f4 onwards).

gerk86

yea, i realised it won't autofocus.(Would've liked if they included the internal focus motor in the d40 but oh well). I manually focus with my 70-300 at rugby games with mostly autofocus results!

Yes, Im that cheap. lol.

Thanks for the advice.

Thirdfox

I'm even cheaper - check out my 5 euro universal remote that I use to activate the camera in bulb mode (don't waste money buying the official Nikon one - and I can change my TV channels this way too )

My 6 euro tripod.

My business card bounce card for SB-600 flash.

It's not easy being a student who wants to enjoy photography on a shoestring budget .

thebaz

i have d 50 , and a nikon 50 mm , f 1.8 , and then bought a more expensive 30 mm , f 1.4 , can't speak more highly of the 50, it is a super lens -- love it

gerk86

good stuff baz, thanks for that.

pete4130

The extra cash will get you the extra stop (or is a half stop?) of light and a shorter depth of field wide open at 1.4
The 1.4 is made from a metal body unlike the plasic body of the 1.8

The 1.8 is rumoured to be sharper than the 1.4, how true this is I can't say. All I know is that I couldn't justify spending the extra cash on the 1.4 when in everyday shooting, the 1.8 will be more than you'd ever need.

Arciphel

Don't think all the 50mm f1.8's have plastic bodies, maybe just the series e (economy) lenses.

I have an Ai-S 50mm F1.8 (not series E) and it is a great lens, bought it for €90 off E-bay. It does only manually focus and on a d40/d40x you will have no metering either, but i use it a lot with extenstion tubes for doing macro work and i like it a lot, it is a very sharp lens and has very low distortion. Bear in mind that with the crop factor taken into account it is actually a ~75mm focal length lens, more suitable for portraits than as a true walk-around 50mm lens.

I rarely use it outside a studio setting though, since i plumped for the sigma 30mm f1.4 at christmas, which is an absolute beaut of a lens. This is HSM so will autofocus & meter on the d40/d40x. I can't recommend this lens enough!

Beef

Cheapest lens I have, favourite lens I have!

GristlyEnd

If you are lucky you could pick up a Japanese metal body 50mm f/1.8. I got one last year used from the UK (for a steal). I doubt there is any difference in image quality between the metal & plastic bodys.

Hugh_C

gerk86 wrote: »

im looking to buy a 50mm f1.4 or f1.8 for my D40. The f1.4's are going for, on average, about 170euro on ebay with the f1.8's at around 70euro.

are the differences worth 100euro?

depends if you think you're going to need (or want) to use f/1.4

The DoF is so shallow there's only a very small slice in-focus, the rest, as they say, is sheer bokeh...

I love the f/1.8, does what I need it to do and mostly use it at f/2.5 or higher.

broad_sword

I have the 50mm 1.4 and have to say I love it! Got it second hand from Berminghams - mint condition. There is no doubt the build quality is superior to the 1.8 but to be honest unless you shoot in a lot of low light conditions, I think you could do just fine with a 1.8. If worst came to worst, sure you could always sell the 1.8 and upgrade to the 1.4 if you felt you really needed it!

Good luck with your choice!

gerk86

read through the comments and decided to go with the 1.8. Thanks again guys.