Manual with D40 / Nifty50 Prime

[Goldie Green]

Looking into buying a Nifty 50 Prime 1.8 Nikkor Lens. As of now, I shoot with a Nikon D40 18-55mm Kit Lens. ( In the future I will be upgrading to a D90 when I can afford it)

I am looking for a good portrait lens to produce crisp shots of my subject with a nice bokeh background. I have researched many different lenses and decided the 1.8 Prime is in my budget, takes wonderful pics from what I've seen. The downfall is that this lens will not autofocus on a D40. I do alright shooting objects manually, however my portraits are blurred most of the time... (which is why I want this lens...portraits.)

Is there anything I can do to take better manual shots with the Nifty 50 on the the D40?
or
Should I get the AF -S 1.4 Nikkor and splurge the extra few hundred bucks? (I know both will work perfect with the D90, but who knows how long it'll be before I can afford that!

Any tips or prior experience is welcome , and thank you in advance for helping me. - Goldie

Happy Shooting Folks... "Life is a constant upgrade"

[Aegea]

I found manual focus very difficult on a D40, as the viewfinder is not that bright. However, I was using slower lenses (f2.8 to f4 wide open). A brighter lens would help. I did change the focusing screen for one with a split prism, and this helped a great deal. Be aware, switching focusing screens is not difficult, but will void your warranty if Nikon finds out you did it (although I guess you could replace the original plain screen if you ever had to send it in for warranty work).

I'd suggest you try borrowing or renting a MF lens to see how you manage before buying.

[Goldie Green]

After doing more research I think I may be interested in an 85mm prime as well.

Ii know for sure I'd like to have the 35mm 1.8 AFS Prime for environmental portraits because it's gotten great reviews and I've seen some amazing portrait work done even close up with very little distortion, if any. I've also seen some plain jane snapshots with it that look like it came straight from a kit lens. I suppose it more the user than any so I think I'd be ok with it.

The 50mm 1.8 Prime is nice and cheap at $125 or less, plus it's gotten fantastic reviews and produces fine portraiture from examples I've seen. The downfall is that it does not auto focus on the Nikon D40 but that's ok because I want to learn to better my manual skills.

The question is the 85mm 1.8 Prime... heftier price tag at $410. I hear between 60-135 is good for portraits, but then again online you "hear" alot and don't know what to believe. I live on an island in Japan & do not have the luxury of going to the camera store and test shooting my gear... must buy everything online & it's a tedious guessing game.

I just would like to hear from anyone who has used these lenses for portraits only. If photos are available for comparable examples that would be perfect. Or maybe an just details that would help me make this tough decision.

Things to know about my shooting habits: I do shoot indoors and outdoors, mostly natural light but use slave flash on occasion (not a big fan of them yet). I will do both full body and head shots. I most desire to have a nice, pleasing to the eye bokeh in the full body shots. That is probably my main concern at this point, however I do want a sharp focus on the person as well. When shooting indoors, I do not usually have much room to back up in.

Thanks so much in advance for any help. Also if there are lenses that I have overlooked that sound like a good fit for me please shout!