Nikon 50mm f/1.8D Lens Review

© NikonUSA

Background

Everyone always tells you that you HAVE to have a 50mm.  When I got my Nikon D50, I could only afford one lens and I thought having only one focal length would be too limiting.   So I went out and got the Tamron 28-200mm lens.
As my photography progressed, I started to have a better understanding for the need of that f/1.8 aperture.  So I got the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D.

Let's get into the lens itself.

Nikon Df
1/100, f/8, ISO 400

Handling/Size/Weight

This lens was built for 135 or FX size Nikon cameras.  It will work just fine on the DX f-mount cameras. It will also work on the Nikon Z cameras if you put it on the FTZ adapter, but you lose the ability to auto focus.  In this case, I sold off my 1.8D and picked up the 50mm f/1.8G.

The lens is a mix of plastic and metal.  It does not feel cheap and I found no wiggle in any of the operational points like the aperture ring or the focus ring.   Given it's size, the lens is not really that heavy.

The lens does not have a large manual focus ring and the ring does move when you AF.  Early on I often touched the ring.   A bit annoying, but not unworkable.

Nikon D50
1/60, f/2.8, ISO 800

Weather Sealed

This is not a weather sealed lens.

Nikon D50
1/250, f/1.8, ISO 800

Image Quality

Coming from a third party "mega zoom" lens, I could really see the image quality difference.  EVen with modern lens designs, this 50/1.8D has excellent optics.  You'd have more issues with shallow depth of field causing issues with not enough in focus at wider apertures than you would from the sharpness.

Granted, f/1.8 is other where this lens is the sharpest, but for those not inclined to peep at the pixels, you'd be fine using this lens at any aperture.

Nikon D700
1/640, f/4, ISO 400

Nikon D700
1/400, f/5, ISO 400

Focusing

Auto focus on this lens is done via a screw drive mechanism in the lens.  It is rather quick for that kind of focusing.

An annoying aspect of the AF ring is the fact that the focus ring moves when you focus.  Early on, I would often be holding the focus ring and it would spin in my hand.   I wasn't used to that, even though the front focus ring on the Tamron 28-200mm lens also moved, it was far enough away from my hand that I never touched it.    You do get used to it after using it for a while.

Full time manual focus override is not available for this lens.  You'll need to switch the camera over to manual focus mode.

Nikon D700
1/125, f/2.8, ISO 6400

VR

No VR on this one, although if you use it adapted on a camera that has in built image stabilization(IBIS), you do gain it...but it is now a manual focus lens.

Nikon D300
1/125, f/6.3, ISO 200 (OCF)

Nikon Df
1/500, f/4, ISO 100

Bottom Line

After using this lens for a while, you get to understand the benefit of using the "nifty fifty" lens.   It is small, versatile, fast to focus and gives you that f/1.8 for shooting in low light.   I'd still have this version today, but I wanted a fast 50mm for the Nikon Z6 that also auto focused.

If you have a Nikon body with a screwdriver drive focusing mechanism in the body, these D lenses can be found for just over a $100 new and for between $ 50-80 used.

This is a versatile lens and can be used for many things, only limited by you.