50mm Fixed f1.8 lens HElp needed

[newgreenphotographer]

Hi
i am new to this
i have a Nikon D3100 and have been offered a Nikon 50mm f1.8 lens

What are the benefits of this type of lens and what is it most used for please?

Thanks in advance

J

[scootermcq]

The benefits are it is a super sharp lens that has a large aperture and allows it to shoot in lower light then your kit lens. Being a fixed focal length, you will zoom (or compose your image) with your feet.

The big problem is that it will not auto focus on your body, because your camera requires AF-S lenses to autofocus. You can manually focus with it.

[newgreenphotographer]

Thanks for the reply
J

[prabbit237]

I've got the same situation with having a manual-focus, fixed-length lens. As the other person said, it's great for low-light situations (or where ya want the background nicely blurred.)

One bit of advice: chances are ya won't be able to manually-focus through the viewfinder (unless you've got a really high-end camera. Most cameras will look in focus through the viewfinder but will be a bit ahead or behind in actuality.) But if yer camera has "live view" (most DSLR's do except for really LOW end ones) turn that on, zoom in the view on it and use it to focus with. Takes a bit of practice but it works pretty well.

[ffscj3562130]

Even on the 3100 I think the "in-focus" indicator in the viewfinder will illuminate when the lens is focused.