Help picking out new lens please!!

[jjbovee]

Hi! I am new here so I hope that I am in the right place....
Anyway, I recently purchased a Nikon D40 which came with an 18-55mm lens. My hubby has asked for a Christmas list so I was kind of thinking about getting an additional lens, but I'm not sure which one. Our budget is about $150 or less. At first I was thinking about a larger zoom lens, but I've seen a lot of discussion about a 50 mm 1.8 lens. Mostly I photograph my children indoors (in not so great light) and outdoors. If I am understanding correctly the 50 mm would allow me to photograph indoors in less light without the flash?? My biggest concern is that I will get a different lens and then not use it. What do all you experts think I should do?
Thanks for you help!

[natek313]

I'm not a Nikon shooter, but, yes, the 50mm f/1.8 lens gives you a large maximum aperture that will let in a lot of light when you're in low-light conditions such as indoors. The optics are great for how inexpensive the lens sells for.

Plus, the 50mm focal length is a nice one for portraits.

Hope this helps, and I'm sure the Nikon shooters will have more (helpful) things to say.

[OsmosisStudios]

keep in mind that the AF 50mm f/1.8D does NOT autofocus on the D40/40x/60/3000/5000 bodies as it's an AF lens, not an AF-S lens.

For that you'd need either the AF-S 35mm f/1.8G or the AF-S 50mm f/1.4G. $200 and $400 respectively.