No Autofocus on Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 - big deal?

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fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
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I've got a D5000 with the kit 18-55 and am very ready for a new lens. The 35mm AF-S is a little rich for my blood right now and an 18-200 will definitely come down the road. I'd rather have the 35mm for casual shooting, the 50mm is a third of the price.

That said, from what I'm reading the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 autofocus won't work on my D5000.

Manual focus with the 18-55 is a bit of a pain. It feels like the focus ring doesn't have much adjustment range it's hard to tell where I'm focusing if I'm not zoomed in. Maybe this won't be as much of an issue since the 50mm is always "zoomed in?"

I have no problem using manual focus, but if it's as hit or miss as with my 18-55 I would probably elect to skip it.

Thoughts?
 
S

Sid59

Lifer
Sep 2, 2002
11,879
3
81
I don't think it's a big deal, you're taking it back to the basics and the camera is still handling all the metering. Since you're shooting digital, you can snap a bunch and not worry, you just have to work harder and smarter making on the fly adjustments. Manual focus on D5000 and other cameras that rely on a the dumb green dot is annoying. I wouldn't mind manual focus if the focus screen had a split prism screen. You can always install one from - http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/cat--Nikon-DSLRs--cat_nikon.html

Sadly, i don't think the 35mm is coming down in price any time soon, it's very popular. Nikon just announced the updated 50mm 1.8 AFS, i plopped down the money on the pre-order because i'm far too lazy to manually focus.
 
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F

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
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Sid59 said:
Manual focus on D5000 and other cameras that rely on a the dumb green dot is annoying. I wouldn't mind manual focus if the focus screen had a split prism screen. You can always install one from - http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/cat--Nikon-DSLRs--cat_nikon.html
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You lost me there. What are you talking about?

My concern is just that it seemed difficult to get an accurate idea of where I was focused with the kit lens, unless I was zoomed in quite a bit.
 
S

Sid59

Lifer
Sep 2, 2002
11,879
3
81
fbrdphreak said:
You lost me there. What are you talking about?

My concern is just that it seemed difficult to get an accurate idea of where I was focused with the kit lens, unless I was zoomed in quite a bit.
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Manual focus on your camera is indicated by a green dot to tell if you're in focus with the one of the AF sensors.

Have you used an old non AF camera body before?
 
F

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
0
Sid59 said:
Manual focus on your camera is indicated by a green dot to tell if you're in focus with the one of the AF sensors.

Have you used an old non AF camera body before?
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Nope! I haven't played around much with manual focus, just a few times on some closeup product shots.

BTW, where did you pre-order the 50mm f/1.8 AF-S and for how much?
 
JohnnyRebel

JohnnyRebel

Senior member
Feb 7, 2011
762
0
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fbrdphreak said:
I've got a D5000 with the kit 18-55 and am very ready for a new lens. The 35mm AF-S is a little rich for my blood right now and an 18-200 will definitely come down the road. I'd rather have the 35mm for casual shooting, the 50mm is a third of the price.

That said, from what I'm reading the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 autofocus won't work on my D5000.

Manual focus with the 18-55 is a bit of a pain. It feels like the focus ring doesn't have much adjustment range it's hard to tell where I'm focusing if I'm not zoomed in. Maybe this won't be as much of an issue since the 50mm is always "zoomed in?"

I have no problem using manual focus, but if it's as hit or miss as with my 18-55 I would probably elect to skip it.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I would hate to go back to manual focus. Save your money and get the af-s lens. It's not going down in price, as a matter of fact it's recently gone up from around $200 to $240 I believe.

You'll get a lot more use out of the 35mm than the 55-200.

JR
 
Anubis

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
Sid59 said:
D5000/D5100 and anything below lack the internal screw that autofocuses older D and G, non AFS/SWM lenses.
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yea but that gets fuzzy my D70 had one think the D 80 and 90 did as well but the 5000 doesnt, 7000 does.

whats ive always disliked about Nikon numbering
 
S

Sid59

Lifer
Sep 2, 2002
11,879
3
81
Amazon has pre-order up on the 50mm 1.8G for 219USD. It's gonna be 75mm on your camera almost a good fit for a portrait lens. The 35mm is better to have.

It's too bad that Nikon doesn't give the AF internal motor on all bodies, like Canon, I'm sure it adds much to the cost but they're intent is to drive upgrades to their bodies.
 
F

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
0
Got a link? I've searched Amazon and don't see a 50mm f/1.8G lens at all.

I agree, the 50mm is not ideal but would be fun to play around with at ~$100. An AF-S version at $200...hmmm, too close to the 35mm for my taste.
 
A

AkumaX

Lifer
Apr 20, 2000
12,643
3
81
Splurge and go for the 35mm AF-S f/1.8. Since you're on a crop, it'll roughly translate to around ~55mm anyway
 
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twistedlogic

Senior member
Feb 4, 2008
606
0
0
AkumaX said:
Splurge and go for the 35mm AF-S f/1.8.
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+1, you might be able to find a few stores still selling for the original $199 price.

The 50 AF-S 1.8G should be a great portrait lens but there is no word on when they will become available.
 
F

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
0
Anubis said:
also all lenses from everyone who makes them have hit price spikes because of the earthquake + tusnami
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That makes sense. Amazon had the 35mm AF-S for a while and I think it was ~$200. Then it disappeared and every 3rd party seller and eBay auction I've seen is $300+.

I'm not in a rush, but wanted something to play with when I get to wander around the garages at a race track in May. Maybe I will rent a lens for now and watch what happens over the next couple months.

Either way, the 18-200 is a priority of mine.
 
A

AkumaX

Lifer
Apr 20, 2000
12,643
3
81
fbrdphreak said:
That makes sense. Amazon had the 35mm AF-S for a while and I think it was ~$200. Then it disappeared and every 3rd party seller and eBay auction I've seen is $300+.

I'm not in a rush, but wanted something to play with when I get to wander around the garages at a race track in May. Maybe I will rent a lens for now and watch what happens over the next couple months.

Either way, the 18-200 is a priority of mine.
Click to expand...

Wow that sucks, I remember seeing deals for it anywhere between ~$160-$180. The Nikon 18-200mm is amazing :)
 
F

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
0
AkumaX said:
Wow that sucks, I remember seeing deals for it anywhere between ~$160-$180. The Nikon 18-200mm is amazing :)
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You're telling me. I had the 35mm AF-S on my "whenever I get bored" list to buy. Wishing I had bought it a couple months ago now.
 
S

Sid59

Lifer
Sep 2, 2002
11,879
3
81
fbrdphreak said:
Either way, the 18-200 is a priority of mine.
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I love mine, great all-around lens if you don't care about fast apertures. After almost 2 years with the 35mm glued to my D90, i finally took it off and shot with the 18-200 and it's great. It's nice to have it go wide @ 18 and zoom as needed. Sometimes kids will be themselves when i'm not trying to shove my camera/35mm in their face and invading their space.
 
F

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
0
Sid59 said:
I love mine, great all-around lens if you don't care about fast apertures. After almost 2 years with the 35mm glued to my D90, i finally took it off and shot with the 18-200 and it's great. It's nice to have it go wide @ 18 and zoom as needed. Sometimes kids will be themselves when i'm not trying to shove my camera/35mm in their face and invading their space.
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Yeah, it will be perfect for vacations and stuff. Zoom and wide angle in one. The 18-55 is wide enough, but nowhere enough zoom.
 
F

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
0
twistedlogic said:
You know you could snag a 55-200mm VR for $150 refurbished and the two lens combo (18-55 - 55-200) would have better IQ than the 18-200?
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Sure, but swapping two lenses is a non-starter for me. If I'm cruising around the Florida keys on a boat, trying to switch lenses to go from wide angle shots of my family on the boat to zooming in on something in the distance just won't work.

I appreciate the suggestion and have considered it. It's just that most of my trips involve wide angle and zoom shots all in the same setting and I'm not keen on switching lenses on a regular basis.
 
K

Krioni

Golden Member
Feb 4, 2000
1,371
0
71
if you're going to go manual focus, you could get one of the old 50mm lenses to hold you off for now. I got one a while back on ebay for $30 shipped.
 
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