which prime for my d5000?

rampanthamster

rampanthamster

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,250
Edit My Images
Yes
hi all, i'm seriously considering treating myself to a prime lens for my nikon d5000, mainly for portrait stuff but also for general all round stuff.

I've been looking at the Nikkor 1.4 afs 50mm but it's fairly expensive at about £300, so i'm wondering if i ought to just get the nikon 1.8 nifty fifty instead. Mind you, i suppose i need an afs one as my d5000 doesn't have a focus motor, right? (am i right in thinking that there isn't an afs option on the fifty)

...in which case how would the 35mm afs (about 150) be?

Any way, thanks for looking. Have a good one today!
 
Last edited:
Can't go wrong with the 35 AFs. It's a great focal length great for day to day stuff. Made me remember why they used that focal length as standard back then .)
 
rampanthamster said:
hi all, i'm seriously considering treating myself to a prime lens for my nikon d5000, mainly for portrait stuff but also for general all round stuff.

I've been looking at the Nikkor 1.4 afs 50mm but it's fairly expensive at about £300, so i'm wondering if i ought to just get the nikon 1.8 nifty fifty instead. Mind you, i suppose i need an afs one as my d5000 doesn't have a focus motor, right? (am i right in thinking that there isn't an afs option on the fifty)

...in which case how would the 35mm afs (about 150) be?

Any way, thanks for looking. Have a good one today!
Click to expand...

Defo go for the 35mm 1.8 dx. You won't regret it. Mine sits on my d90 all the time, and is really sharp.
 
£~280 for a f/1.4 lens is cheap, just look at the price of 35mm and 85mm f/1.4 lenses
 
I got the 50mm 1.8 and I'm VERY happy with the quality of photographs and the focus speed!!

Let us know what you decide on...
 
Shame about the focus speed on the D5000 though eh! :P

I'd suggest either the 35 1.8 or the 50 1.4, as said above. They are the only choices really without spending lots of money :)
 
Another vote for the 35 1.8 to start with, love mine although it's not quite long enough for portraits for me so I'm getting either the 50 or 85 1.8 so it depends what you want to shoot mainly
 
going to read a few more reviews when i'm down at my parents and make my mind up next week! Thanks for the feedback guys
 
I was undecided on whether to get the 35mm f/1.8or 50mm f/1.4 for my D5000. I wanted a fast prime for indoor use- as in the home, what i did was set my kit lens to 35mm and 50mm to get an idea of the focal length. I found that at 50mm for indoors there wasn't enough room to get all i wanted into the frame. I found myself backed up into a corner... I ended up going for the 35mm. The 50mm is next on my list to purchase. Will be a lot better for using outside or if you have big rooms in your house. If you go on other nikon forums you'll be told that the 35mm is the better focal length for the dx drop sensor.

hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
Kabizm said:
I was undecided on whether to get the 35mm f/1.8or 50mm f/1.4 for my D5000. I wanted a fast prime for indoor use- as in the home, what i did was set my kit lens to 35mm and 50mm to get an idea of the focal length. I found that at 50mm for indoors there wasn't enough room to get all i wanted into the frame. I found myself backed up into a corner... I ended up going for the 35mm. The 50mm is next on my list to purchase. Will be a lot better for using outside or if you have big rooms in your house. If you go on other nikon forums you'll be told that the 35mm is the better focal length for the dx drop sensor.

hope this helps.
Click to expand...

and are you happy with the 35? Is 1.8 ok for indoor stuff, as i found over christmas, in the evening without glaring lights on, even my 2.8 wasn't quite up to it on many occasions..

What kind of increase in shutter time am i likely to see from 2.8 to 1.8? Say for example i'm in Aperture Priority and the recommend shutter time at 2.8 is 1/40...what might the recommended shutter time be at 1.8? Thanks :)
 
I'm pretty sure that the D5000 only supports AF-S lenses for autofocus ability and that the only current Nikon consumer cams that support the older AF-D screw drive lenses are the D90 & D7000.

This means that prime wise you are limited to the 35/1.8G & 50/1.4G if you want autofocus and want a lens costing under £1500.
 
boliston said:
I'm pretty sure that the D5000 only supports AF-S lenses for autofocus ability and that the only current Nikon consumer cams that support the older AF-D screw drive lenses are the D90 & D7000.

This means that prime wise you are limited to the 35/1.8G & 50/1.4G if you want autofocus and want a lens costing under £1500.
Click to expand...

yeah, i know - just trying to decide between the two, but to be honest i think i'm leaning quite heavily towards the 35mm 1.8 then with the £140 i'll save over the 1.4 50mm, i can buy a decent tripod, another mem card and perhaps a bag.
 
I'd say that the bokeh on the 50 is a bit smoother than on the 35, but the 35 has better field of view on a DX cam, and is a lot cheaper and still far better image quality than any consumer zoom. The 50 has slightly better future proofing however if you ever upgrade to an FX cam.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top