help! going crazy..how do I use Autofocus with Nikkor 50mmf/1.8 with D3000??

[Village Idiot]

Nah, 35mm f/1.8G is an autofocusing lens on the D3000 and comes in at only $199 to boot.

I could be a dick and make a comment about how Canon is superior because you can AF with any current lens/camera combinations, like some certain forum member likes to do when it's anything that he can get in about Nikon, regardless whether or not the word Nikon was ever brought up in that thread, but I'm not going to.

Define 'current', because the same is true for Nikon... all 'current' releases of Nikon lenses have an autofocus motor built in. Not only that but almost every lens ever made will at least mount on most current bodies as well.

Every single EF and EF-S lens...except maybe the Tilt Shift lenses. But I want just making a point.

I could be a dick and make a comment about how Canon is superior because you can AF with any current lens/camera combinations

I just mounted a lens from 1986 on my Nikon body...

I just mounted a Nikon 12-24 on my Canon body.

Wait, no I didn't, but I could.

 

[KmH]

I could be a dick and make a comment about how Canon is superior because you can AF with any current lens/camera combinations, like some certain forum member likes to do when it's anything that he can get in about Nikon, regardless whether or not the word Nikon was ever brought up in that thread, but I'm not going to.

Oops. Looks like I just did. Sorry OP.

Be sure and mention that none of Canon's EF-S lenses can be used on Canon EF camera bodies, because EF-S lenses prevent the mirror from getting up out of the light path to the image sensor.

Almost every Nikon lens made since 1959 can be used to make images on every Nikon body, some may have to be manually focused, non-cpu lenses won't meter either, and the DX lenses may only use the middle part of an image sensor, but they can all be used.

 

[KmH]

thanks everyone - I am disappointed I didn't get the AF-S version, but with the huge difference in pricetag, this will have to do for now! I enjoy shooting children/babies the most, so I am going to have to figure out how to manually focus quickly while running after them...

That's what photographers did before AF was invented.

But cameras then had some focusing aids they don't have today.

However, the AF 50 mm f/1.8D lens you got is a CPU lens and it transmits distance information to your D3000 so the D3000 will know when focus has been acheived as you turn the lens focus ring, and will light up the in-focus indicator in the camera viewfinder.

In other words all of the auto focus system is there, except a motor to move the lens focus mechanism, which you do manually.

Like most things, it will take a little practice to develope and refine your technique, but you have to do that to an extent with auto focus too.

 

[gsgary]

I could be a dick and make a comment about how Canon is superior because you can AF with any current lens/camera combinations, like some certain forum member likes to do when it's anything that he can get in about Nikon, regardless whether or not the word Nikon was ever brought up in that thread, but I'm not going to.

Oops. Looks like I just did. Sorry OP.

And I personally did not find anything spectacular about 50mm on a crop sensor. I like wides. 35mm might be a better option. The wider you go, the more DOF you'll have at a wider aperture though. It's a trade off. If you want really thin DOF, get a longer lens with a wide aperture; you'll just need room to use it.

I don't know who you can be talking about sorry again to OP but couldn't resist

 

[Village Idiot]

Be sure and mention that none of Canon's EF-S lenses can be used on Canon EF camera bodies, because EF-S lenses prevent the mirror from getting up out of the light path to the image sensor.

Almost every Nikon lens made since 1959 can be used to make images on every Nikon body, some may have to be manually focused, non-cpu lenses won't meter either, and the DX lenses may only use the middle part of an image sensor, but they can all be used.

All 6 of those EF-S lenses that have much better EF lenses in those focal ranges with sharper glass and wider apertures?