prime lens for Nikon

[jbirman]

I am looking to buy a prime lens for my Nikon D40x Does anyone have any suggestions? I am a keen amateur photographer and will be travelling a lot next year Europe and Asia and want to take great photos (don't we all!) I have looked at AF-S f1.8 35mm also AF-S Micro f2.8 60mm as it is good for macro.....help

[Doug Sundseth]

Those are both very nice lenses (I've used both). To a large extent, it depends on the subjects you'll be shooting.

For landscapes, the 35 would probably be better, but it doesn't go as wide as I'd prefer for a travel lens. For people shots, either lens could work well, depending on your preferred shooting distance. The 60 is more flattering for portraits (90mm equivalent is right in the ideal portrait range); the 35 will give a more normal view angle.

tl;dr: It depends.

[Shokinen]

If I had to chose between both, it would be the 35mm. But that's really a personnal taste. Especially with primes. One thing you can do is check your current pictures and find if you use more ~35mm or ~60mm. This will give you an idea what focal lenght you are naturally attracted to.

Doug - While the 35mm get you close to what the eye is seeing (52.5mm with the 1.5 crop ratio is very close to 50mm), it still distords like a 35mm. I find my 85mm f/1.8 better for portraits if I don't want any distortion. But that's what I like from the 35mm and why I use it more then the 85mm hehehe.

Quick question Jbirman, just curious. Why a prime ? Most people will use a zoom to cover a wider range since you cannot always move around when traveling. Don't get me wrong. I love my primes and always carry them. But you have to get use to it. Just don't want you to assume you will bring "better" pictures just because people are saying picture quality with a prime is better. Proper framing > Sharpness in my opinion and you have to get use moving around with primes.

[OsmosisStudios]

A nice compromise would be the AF-S 40mm f/2.8 macro