"Perfectly good" lens, no bad habits, usable wide open, good flare resistance, and a good prime beats a big-ass slow zoom any day of the week for speed, handling, and encouraging a personal vision.

So-so shadow separation, performance still a tier below the best. I'm not sure the build quality is really a drawback; it helps make the lens such a great value, serves the purpose perfectly well, and if it doesn't last forever, so what? Buy a new one. You can buy ten of these Nikkors for the cost of one Summicron, and I guarantee that ten Nikkors will last you a long time no matter how hard you use them.

I don't want to discourage anybody from using this lens, because it's better than virtually any zoom that ordinary people can afford. And as a lens it's "perfectly good"--meaning, there's just not going to be anything wrong with your pictures that anybody will see. That said, from a "connoisseur" standpoint this lens just doesn't quite deserve the near-5-star rating it's achieved. While it's perfectly good, it's also not quite up there with the very best 50mms, such as the Olympus 50mm f/2 Zuiko Macro, the Konica 50mm f/2 KM lens, or the Pentax SMCP-FA 50/1.4. What it is is just a good, solid, inexpensive 50mm prime, with no bad habits and very good image quality, especially compared to most zooms. However it's also not a premium lens deserving of being ranked with the very best. Shadow separation is below average, bokeh can sometimes get a bit "tizzy," highlights can be slightly harsh, and shaprness is excellent but not outstanding.

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Pretty much everything.

SUPERB value V light Quick AF and great MF ring f1.8 Top results

Perhaps lightly built, if you're used to pro lenses

I decided to try a prime lens after having used zooms all the time. I've also never used a lens with such a fast maximum aperture. I am now converted. This Nikon really is superb value. It is very light and compact, yet doesn't feel too cheap. The auto focus is very quick and quiet and the manual focus ring has a great action. The f1.8 aperture gives a fantastic bright image and really gets the shutter speeds up when you need to. It also has a good close focussing distance. (45cm, I think) Using prime lenses really simplifies taking pictures and at this price you can't go wrong. The results I've had from this lens have been excellent: sharp, distortion free and with great colours. But that 1.8 aperture will spoil those of us used to f4 or 5.6 lenses. Recommended without reservation, just be prepared to do a bit of walking backwards and forwards!

Customer Service

not needed

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Sigma 70-300

Sharp glass, shooting in available low light situations. Very lightweight. Extremely affordable.

Plastic construction could be questionable over time. Has not been a factor in the time I've own the lens though.

Lens is fast and sharp. It has to be *the* best value in all of the Nikkor product line. You simply cannot beat the $100 price tag. I am a student photographer and this lens has been absolutely ideal for me. If you're looking to buy a body/lens package on a tight budget, learn from my mistake and let this lens be your first piece of Nikkor glass you buy. Do not get fooled into thinking a 3rd party zoom lens will be good enough, because they simply aren't!

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Sigma 28-105mm F3.5

Sharp, Sharp, Sharp... Color everything.

None

The best glass I've ever seen. The new AF 50mm f/1.8D is same glass but worse make.

Customer Service

Excellent

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Pentax 50mm, Minolta 50mm (equally or sharper, but Nikon is better color)

One of Nikon's best for only a few bucks.

None

I've shot with 50mm primes for a long time and it is still my favorite focal length, because shooting with it is simple and liberating. This lens is especially good on an N80 in full program mode, because it will almost always stop the lens down a bit, whereas, a slower zoom will shoot wide open more often and reduce your sharpness. If you are a decent shooter and "need" better sharpness, then jump to medium format equipment. If you can't get a sharp image with this lens then take up a new hobby.

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n/a

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Nikon 28-100G "Not as bad as they say" Old Minolta MD primes.

Good results at 1.8 if you are not after high resolution but are working in low light and trying to capture the atmosphere of the place you are shooting in, rather than doing resolution tests. Excellent quality starting from from f2.8 upwards. High contrast and no vignetting also. Neutral color rendition. Build quality is good, even if it is made of plastic. The pieces are quite tight and it does feel solid. The front element is deeply recessed so it is well protected. I am still using a UV filter as protection, though.

none.

An excellent option, if you consider the advantages and the limitations imposed by its focal length.

Customer Service

not avaliable in eastern europe.

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nikon AIS 50mm f1.4

Not for slides if u compare to nikkor 1.4 or canon 1.4

I did a side by side comparison with this lense the NikkorAf50mm1.8 and the Nikkor 50mmf1.4 and the Canon 50mmf1.4 because mostly I did not like the colours comparing to other "pro" lenses from nikon. Not a scientific test but the same film, no filter, on a tripod and everything....to make a long story short...6 rolls of provia and some money and time....the Nikkor where sharper than the nikkor 1.4 at center of the image, but the nikkor 1.4 was sharper at the end of the image. But, the big but the colours of the nikkor where a lot more clourful and natural so the nikkor 1.4 won bigtime. Another but; the canon 50mm1.4 was even better. More contrast maybe but look just better, superior. All cameras where set to the same aperture and everyting so it was not that canon exposures where like darker, as it is normally and then could look more powerful or more contrasty

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Contax 50mm1.4 Contax 50mm1.7

Sharp and Clear Cheap f/1.8 Minor Lens Flare

Sometimes hard to focus visually "Sticky" motion in aperture ring

I purchased this lens used for only $60. I bought it to replace the crappy 35-70 zoom that came with my FM10. Photos I got back are indeed sharp and clear. Any excess glare is eliminated by stopping down to f/4. Very little lens flare thanks to the 4-element design. My only complaint is the somewhat poor build quality which is most evident when turning the aperture ring. Smooth focusing, though.

Customer Service

n/a

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Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 (old metal version)

It is just great in any aspect.

I cannot blame my lens if I take bad pictures.

I agree with all the others that it is a great lens, smooth, sharp, easy to use, fast and so on. I use it at my primary lens since I bought it.

Customer Service

I have not used any.

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Nikor 35-80, Nikor 80-200.

- Cheap. - Sharp. - Small and light. - Great color rendition.

- 50mm is not exactly my cup of tea, but that isn't really a weakness I guess...

I concur to just about everything said so far about this lens. Most impressive is the ability to faithfully reproduce soft variations in color, in particular when photographing landscapes. Besides that, 1.8 gives it an edge over an extraordinary number of lenses.

Customer Service

Not needed yet.

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28-80mm