Prime Lens for Nikon D50

• luimneachlass

  Participant

  May 26, 2011 at 9:26 pm

  Evening All,

  Could I get some recommendations please for a good prims lens for my Nikon D50? All advice greatly appreciated!

  Cheers,
  Denise.
  shutterbug

  Participant

  May 27, 2011 at 8:00 am

  Hi Denise,
  What would you want to use it for? Portraits, Landscape, Macro? All of these genres
  would require slightly different focal lengths. But for a general prime lens most people
  would go for a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4 not a million miles between the two except the price,
  and a lens we should all have in our bags! :)
  pelagic

  Member

  May 27, 2011 at 9:12 am

  Denise,

  On a cropped sensor D50 the excellent 35mm f/1.8 is the same field of view as the suggested 50mm lens on a full frame sensor or film.

  The 35mm is a no brainer. It fast, small, light weight, very inexpensive and the “normal” lenght lens for the D50.
  damien.murphy

  Participant

  May 27, 2011 at 1:08 pm

  As noted, depends on what you’re looking for.

  If you’re looking for a lightweight flexible prime, then the 35mm f2/ f1.8 is the swiss army knife of prime lenses. The f2 AF-D also has the benefit of being full-frame compatible too, as well as focussing down to 1:4. I have a 35mm f2 AF-D which I find perfectly compliments a lightweight zoom lens when the light levels drop, or when you’re looking for something more compact.

  I find a 50mm on an APS-sensor perfect for portraits, and although I’ve just shot the 50mm f1.4 AF-D, I believe the f1.8 is a cracking lens too, although not as sharp wide open as the f1.4 AF-D or the f1.4 AF-S.

  The 24mm f2.8 becomes a flexible normal’ish wide lens on your D50, and an option people prefer too, although not as wide-apertured as the others.

  Plenty of other options too, but you’re more into specialist territory, and bit-part lenses if you’re not a specialist shooter.

  EDIT: As noted the 50mm lens would have been the normal lens on film, but such a lens becomes a telephoto lens effectively on your D50, thus the 35mm is regarded as the normal lens on APS-sensor cameras like your D50.
  luimneachlass

  Participant

  May 29, 2011 at 2:59 pm

  Thanks for all the advice,

  I’ll be mainly using it for landscape and potrait pics but I think I’ll go with the 35mm f1.8, sounds like the best one for the camera I have,

  Thanks again all!
  Cheers,
  Denise