Nikkor 50mm 1.4

Okay, so you guys have peaked my interest...again! My husband keeps telling me he wants me to get a lens for 'low light'. I've read some reviews, and looked at some photos on Flickr taken with this lens....and they all look pretty awesome to me. Who has this lens(or similar)? Thoughts? Other suggestions?

I don't think you can go wrong with it.

As I said in my previous thread I'm looking to upgrade to Canon's 50 1.4 and if it's in your budget to afford it (instead of the 1. then why not?

If you need to test the Canon 50mm f/1.4 let me know, cujo. We could do a short-term trade sometime.

Your husband is right! Everyone needs at least one fast lens. However, if you are serious about using available light, an SLR is not really the ideal. I assume that you are considering the current Nikkor 50mm f1.4D and not an older Nikkor?

Try looking for a 58 f/1.2 Noct-Nikkor. It will just set you back a little more money than a regular 50 f/1.4.

Since you have a Nikon, the Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 ZF Planar is an option. In my personal opinion, it is probably the best, modern 50mm for any 35mm SLR though I'm sure there will be some Leica fans that will point me to the current 50mm Summilux-R (but its over 4x the price of the Zeiss). The Planar is very well built (all metal and glass) but there is no auto-focus. It is all-manual and usually with the crappy viewfinders found on today's SLR cameras, manual focusing is usually difficult and slow. Voigtlander also makes an excellent 58mm f/1.4 Nokton for Nikons (like the Zeiss, all-metal/glass, manual focus).

Most major manufactures have stopped developing their 50mm (and other normals) in the late 1970's and early 1980's except for adding auto-focusing capabilities. Nikon is no different. From what I've read, Canon made an effort with the 55mm f/1.2 FD but it was somewhat of a flop. The fast 50's used to be the lenses that set the standard for these companies but not anymore. Now, the fast 50's are dismissed and made on the cheap.

I have four 50mm's in the f1.4 to f1.5 range. Each of them have a very unique character. If you are sensitive to lens character like I am, then you may to care when doing your research. Even different versions of 50mm's made by the same manufacturer will vary and may yield a different look. I've seen people buy the current Pentax 50mm f/1.4 thinking that it will render images just like the 1971, classic 50mm f/1.4 Super-Multi-Coated Takumar but it won't.

I have the nikor 50mm f1.8 that i use with my d-40, but also have to settle for manual focus since that body doesent support auto focus from that lens. But still takes amazing pics with that lens.

I did a little research and found that the Zeiss and Voigtlander lenses I mentioned above have a computer chip in them to allow matrix metering to work. I'm not sure if that means anything to you but it seems like a big deal to a lot of people who buy them.

I have this lens and it rarely gets off the camera..

I love it so far. It's taking some getting used to though!!

Congratulations on the lens purchase. I think that you'll very much enjoy the lens.