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Will Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens work on my D40? Anonymous
I know it won't manually focus, but will that be an issue? Will it even work on it? Is it worth it for me to buy it?

Started thinking about it because I wanna take better pics at low lighting.
>> Anonymous
itll work except it wont autofocus is it. if you can manually focus, then yes. if you absolutely suck at manual focus, maybe no.
>> Anonymous
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm

Says it's OK
>> Anonymous
Except you can't light meter.
>> Anonymous
>>84678
The meter works fine, You have no idea what you are talking about.

Also To Guy with D40, I would get it, but don't rely on your manual focusing to be that accurate, Its hard to judge when looking through the smallish D40 viewfinder.
>> Jeremo !iKGMr61IHM
>>84679

The main problem you'll have is that manual focus with shallow depth of field can be really unforgiving.

Sometimes the Autofocus on my D70s will miss and if i'm shooting anything larger than f/2.8 it just kills the shot, especially with people shots.
>> Anonymous
>>84684
Basically impossible with an autofocus SLR at wider than f/2.5.

If you have an SLR with DoF preview, you can test this. Set it to f/2.8 and hit the DoF preview button. Note the view changes. Then set it to anything wider and hit the DoF preview button and note how the view stays the same.
>> Anonymous
OP here, thanks for the advice guys. There's a shop by university that rents out lenses. I figure I'll try it out and see for myself.

I do manual focus on just about everything I do (it's the reason I got a SLR) so I don't think it'll be that bad. However, the unforgiving depth of field is the only thing I'm worried about.
>> Anonymous
>>84706
It's my understanding it gets sharper a few stops up anyways. Wouldn't that also increase the depth of field? Just food for thought.
>> Anonymous
>>84723
no lens gets sharper by stoping down.
it may fix your shitty focus, but thats not the lens' fault
>> Anonymous
>>84737
actually, lenses have an aperture of maximum sharpness. in general its somewhere around f/5.6-8 but it depends on the lens and sample to sample variation, etc.
>> Anonymous
>>84740
nope.
angular resolution is directly proportional to aperture.
optics 101, 1st day of class
>> Anonymous
>>84743

1st day of optics 101 applies to hypothetical perfect lenses, not the real world and especially not modern multi-element photographic lenses. There is a point of diminishing returns between increasing sharpness from stopping down and decrease in maximum resolution from angular resolution. In most lenses the sharpest aperture occurs 2-3 stops down from wide open and degradation due to decreased angular resolution becomes apparent at around f/16.
>> Anonymous
>>84743
how does that not mean it wouldnt be sharper? higher angular resolution = more resolving power = more precision in the image, etc up to the point of diffraction. im no expert in optics, but if thats wrong go ahead and explain. also, ignoring all the technical aspects, you can see it actually happens in practice.
>> Anonymous
Here
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm
>> Anonymous
>>84746
see
>>84677
>> Anonymous
>>84745
Because when dealing with real-world lenses, the optical limit set by the angular resolution is often much higher than the film or sensor can resolve, so you don't see any difference as you stop down until you hit the diffraction limit.

Meanwhile there are a number of other factors that reduce the lens's resolving power well within the detectable limits of the film/sensor. Chromatic aberration, spherical aberration, internal flare, and manufacturing variability all have a much more pronounced effect on the real-world resolution of a lens, and all of them are reduced by stopping the lens down.

It's an easy experiment to do at home. Photograph a test pattern under controlled conditions at different apertures, and with most lenses you will see the lowest sharpness and contrast wide open with a marked improvement as you stop down, peaking 2-3 stops from wide open, and falling off due to diffraction 1-2 stops from the lens's minimum aperture.
>> Anonymous
>>84753
soooooooo...stopping down allows more sharpness along with reducing other factors that increase sharpness. why doesnt aperture increase sharpness again?
>> Teus !QbSstcPD6U
forget about manually focusing on a D40, check my thread a few pages back. D40 viewfinder is pretty small. I've got a lot of manual focus experience, and it will really be hit or miss for you pretty often :(
>> annoyingmouse
you guys just suck.
Take a look at an MTF chart of any lens before you start making these random pronouncements.
the 50mm/1.8 that OP wants to buy is sharpest at f/4 and sharp enough also when wide open.
This refers to the center only by the way, the borders of the picture (and not only the corners - its a fairly wide border) SUCK when wide open but get better around f/2.8 - maybe they will even maximise the potential of the D40 sensor. from F/4 and up the lens will maximise the sensor, but on a perfect sensor you will notice a slow degradation of center resolution.
I think that this pattern is more or less typical, but changes from lens to lens - some behave really strangely.
soft edges when wide open is also not really a problem, because they tend to be out of focus anyway if your object is more or less centered.
>> Anonymous
>>84743

You are an idiot. Look at almost every professional lens review ever. They all agree with the other guy.