Nikon 50mm 1.8 or cheaper alternatives

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kabalman

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I have finally made up my mind on buying a nifty fifty for my Nikon D3000 and am eyeing the Nikon 1.8G AF-S, which can auto focus on my camera. However it costs about £185 or so at the moment, and also noticed that the equivalent Canon one only costs about half the price. Why this difference, and will this Canon lens work on my camera?
Are there any cheaper alternatives from Sigma/Tamron I can look into? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
 
kabalman said:
I have finally made up my mind on buying a nifty fifty for my Nikon D3000 and am eyeing the Nikon 1.8G AF-S, which can auto focus on my camera. However it costs about £185 or so at the moment, and also noticed that the equivalent Canon one only costs about half the price. Why this difference, and will this Canon lens work on my camera?
Are there any cheaper alternatives from Sigma/Tamron I can look into? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
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Can't tell you exactly why there is a difference in price between the 2 lenses, if there is a reason, as I'm a canon bod, but in answer to your other question, no the canon lens won't work on the Nikon body.

Yes Sigma etc do lenses for the Nilon fit, have a look at Camerapricebuster and they'll give you a good indication of price.
 
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The basic difference is inclusion of a focusing motor in the lens in the AF-S model, The AF uses screwdrive focusing off a motor in the Camera body, Hence why the AF-S costs more, it's also newer in design, so possibly, it may have better glass inside but i'm not sure on that,
 
As mentioned, the AF-S has a motor for focus, whereas the much cheaper AF using a motor on the camera for this. However, the AF will not auto focus on your body.

On the point of the Canon being cheaper, you can certainly tell why. My best friend has a Canon 60D and their nifty fifty and even he admits that the build quality is very poor and nowhere near that of the Nikon. Neither does the Canon have a DOF scale or distance scale.

I am fortunate in having the D7000 and as such, can use the AF version but I for you I do think that the AF-S is worth the money.

As for third party lenses, it seems that Sigma only make a high quality f1.4 version and Tamron don't do prime lenses, only zooms.

I hope that this helps.

Jason
 
Hi,

You may want to look at the 35mm f1.8 on the crop body - gives a wider pic. If you get the chance try both to see which looks nicer!

If your kit lens can, set it at 35 and at 50mm to see the difference.

The 35mm f1.8 is around 170ukp at jessops online.
I have the 50mm f1.4d (around 200ukp) but it would be manual focus on your camera.

You could always check a local used camera store see whether they have any in at a cheaper price (london camera exchange?)
 
The Nikon lens will have a metal mount where the canon one is plastic. The nikon 50mm afs is also full weather sealed , the canon one is not. The nikon one produce much shaper image compare to the canon one.
 
jasonhb said:
As mentioned, the AF-S has a motor for focus, whereas the much cheaper AF using a motor on the camera for this. However, the AF will not auto focus on your body.

On the point of the Canon being cheaper, you can certainly tell why. My best friend has a Canon 60D and their nifty fifty and even he admits that the build quality is very poor and nowhere near that of the Nikon. Neither does the Canon have a DOF scale or distance scale.

I am fortunate in having the D7000 and as such, can use the AF version but I for you I do think that the AF-S is worth the money.

As for third party lenses, it seems that Sigma only make a high quality f1.4 version and Tamron don't do prime lenses, only zooms.

I hope that this helps.

If Tamron don't do primes,then what about the 90mm 2.8 macro?

Jason
Click to expand...
 
By the way man, if you look around you can get the 50mm 1.8 a lot cheaper, I saw it around £50 quid cheaper earlier today online, can't remember what site though :)
 
Check the 'Samyang' 35mm f/1.4, a good alternative for the 50mm, an excellent contender for little money. UK Digital stock/sell them.

I've just ordered one for my 5D Mk1.
 
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