lens shopping etc etc

[Seraph82]

hey guys, i'm slowly in the process of sorting out decent lenses for my D5000, at the moment i have a 18-55mm and a 55-200mm,

i'm hoping to get rid of the 55-200mm and get a ' nifty fifty'?

could anyone explain ( laymans terms ) what benefits i'd see using the nifty fifty over my 18-55mm please

 

[CT]

The main benefit of a 50mm 'standard' lens is a fast maximum aperture which really increases the ability to hand hold in low light conditions. On a full frame 35mm camera this focal length also gives the closest perspective and field of view to what the human eye sees. On a crop sensor camera you do lose some of the field of view as the lens becomes effectively around 75 or 80mm.

You can argue a case for a 30 or 35mm fast lens on a crop camera to retain the width of the field of view, but of course, you're looking at a lot more money.

I personally wouldn't be without a fast 50mm prime - unless you're going for a huge max aperture, they tend to be a bargain and invaluable in low light conditions.

 

[ecniv]

Do you shoot a lot of pics at the 50mm setting?

If so, check the 50mm f1.8 (around 100ukp).

If you don't use that setting, which one do you use the most? If its closer to the 30mm there are two really good lenses... 30mm f1.4 sigma (only problem might be that it needs calibration/returning if a bad copy) and the 35mm f1.8 (nikon around 170ukp).

The latter definately works on your camera. The Sigma I am not sure (as you don't have a motor in body).

If you browse on flickr, you should be able to see the types of pics that these lenses make. In fact I think I might have the sets on the link in the sig (then on the right hand side, sets).

It'd be better to get a lens that fills a gap you are missing, or bunks up the IQ loads on your standard settings. Sometimes the difference is amazing!

 

[gad-westy]

Just be a little careful here. The Nikon 50mm 1.8 AF-D lens will not auto focus on the D5000. Your alternatives (without spending megabuck and ignoring third party options) are the 35mm 1.8 AF-S and the 50mm 1.4 AF-S. The 35mm is excellent and well priced. The 50mm 1.4 is also highly regarded and actually pretty reasonable too for a 1.4 but it is £300.

If you can hang on for a month or so, there is a Nikon 50mm 1.8 AF-S on the way that will auto focus on your D5000. Maybe worth waiting. It's likely to cost somewhere between £150 and £200 I would imagine.