This is the first lens you should buy for your Nikon

After spending over a year putting up with the consumer-grade zoom that I got with my Nikon N60, I decided that it was time to follow the advice of EVERYBODY that ever talked to me about photography: get a prime lens.

Since I could not afford the Nikkor F1.4D, I tried to grab a used F1.8 AF or worst case scenario, an older MF Nikkor F1.8.

Mission Impossible.

Something told me that there has to be something special about an item that no matter how low it is offered for sale, it always sells for almost the same price as the new item. We are talking about lenses that are anywhere from 1 to 15 years old, and people still fight to death over every single Nikkor 50mm auction that I have tried to win.

I quit and purchased a new F1.8 AF. Grand total: $95 plus tax.

And what a lens!

Everything is much sharper than my zoom. F1.8 is a compromise, you get to take the photo with less light, but won't be as sharp as at F2. I don't even use it at F1.8 anymore unless I am desperate.

Even if this is not a "D" lens, it is nearly perfect. It is a prime, so it sees almost with the same aspect as a human eye. It is light and compact.

And hard as hell to clean. I am not exactly sloppy, but no matter how careful I am, I always end up smudging it.

You can even use it as a loupe when you are in a hurry to check out a few slides or a strip of negatives.

I am planning to move up from my N60 to either a N90s, or if I hit the lotto maybe an F5. It is nice knowing that my 50mm lens will work fine with it, at least until either I can get the F1.4 D or Nikon issues a "D" version of the F1.8.

You can pry mine off my dead, cold fingers :-)