This unassuming lens is the best budget choice for a D3 or D700, much better than any zoom, to get you the fast autofocus, great low-light performance and the sharpness for which you bought a D3 or D700 in the first place. If you do buy one of those expensive cameras, consider as well the 50mm f/1.4 version. From left to right: Nikon 50mm f/1.8D, Nikon 50mm f/1.8G, Nikon 50mm f/1.4D, Nikon 50mm f/1.4G and Sigma 50mm EX DG HSM. Autofocus Performance and Accuracy Everyone needs a 50mm lens, and it's about the only lens you'll need. This 50mm f/1.8 G is super sharp, focuses perfectly, and has superb bokeh as well. For all other Nikon DSLRs and Nikon AF cameras made since about 1990, the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D does the same thing for half the price, however this new "G" lens offers a much tougher mechanical design and significantly better ergonomics because one can just grab the manual focus ring at any time for instant manual focus override.

See Nikon Lens Compatibility for details with your camera. Read down the "AF-S, AF-I" and "G" columns for this lens. You'll get the least of all the features displayed in all columns, since "G" ( gelding) is a deliberate handicap which removes features. The lenses on this list aren’t just for DSLRs, however. The best Nikon mirrorless cameras in the Z system have taken centre-stage in recent years, but thanks to Nikon’s FTZ mount adapters, Nikon F lenses can be used on these cameras, too. In most cases, they’ll work with full functionality of autofocus and stabilisation, so owners of mirrorless cameras will also find opportunities for a bargain from our list. It includes a mix of lenses available new, and some that will need to be bought second-hand – a chance to make greater savings. You’ll see these letters in the names of all Nikon F-mount lenses, and they refer to the sensor size of the camera they pair with. Nikon DSLRs come in two varieties – APS-C sensor (DX) and full-frame sensor (FX). A DX lens will create a smaller image circle, designed to fit a smaller APS-C sensor found on Nikon’s DX series DSLRs, such as the Nikon D5600. The Nikkor AF-S 50/1.4G. The higher prices gets you another 2/3 of a stop and AF-S. See my review here.The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column. The maximum aperture is relatively slow, running from f/3.5 to f/5.6 once you’ve zoomed in. This will be fine for most day-to-day shooting, but you may start to struggle once light levels start to get low – though the aforementioned stabilisation will help by letting you get away with slower shutter speeds to let in more light.

Vignetting: Probably the worst of the optical attributes at distance: not only is the wide open performance clear (about 2EV in the corners), Autofocus cameras have been around since 1977, so it might seem strange that Zeiss is still doggedly making manual-focus lenses. However, the range of Milvus prime lenses certainly gives a hands-on, feel-good factor.It's also perfect on decent or recent AF film cameras like the F6, F100, F5, N80 and N75. I tried it on my Nikon F4, and it works great, although there's no way to set a manual aperture as explained below. Everything works perfectly on every digital Nikon, both FX and DX, and even on Nikon's cheapest digitals like the D40, D40x, D60, D3000, D3100, D5000 and D5100. This is the world's first 50mm f/1.8 that autofocuses on Nikon's cheapest DSLRs like the D3100 and D5100. The Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED was introduced in 2007, and is quite simply a beautiful feat of optical engineering. It delivers images of outstanding sharpness thanks to its extra-low dispersion elements and the Nano Crystal Coating and Super Integrated Coating that have been added. It’s also weather-sealed, and the constant aperture of f/2.8 enables real creative freedom. The Nikon 50mm f/1.8 G AF-S is solid, inexpensive and well made (by current standards that accept made-in-China plastic), and it's a great performer. If you don't already have something similar, everyone deserves one of these.