Hey all, I'm looking to buy a 50mm (or equivalent) lens for my friend. She's kind of low on cash, and I owe her a couple birthdays' worth of presents (to say nothing of Hanukkah presents). She has a Nikon D80, so I was looking at the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, the Nikon 50mm f/1.4D, and the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D. I know that the Sigma has crap QC issues, and I've read a lot about the minor differences between the two Nikons (2/3 of a stop, slight bokeh diff., slight CA diff., slight distortion diff.). Price isn't a factor other than it being less than 400USD, so I was planning on buying the 50mm f/1.4D for 300 at Amazon. If you can recommend a cheaper price/better lens, I'd really appreciate the help!
The Sigma 30/1.4 is a great lens if you can get a good one...since I don't shoot Nikon I can't vouch for the other two but the 50/1.4 seems to be a better bet. Perhaps a Nikon shooter can chime in.
I've got the D80 with the Nikon 35mm F2D. I find 35mm a very useful focal length and is probably better suited at least for indoors than the 50mm 1.4. For indoor low light, the 35mm gives you that extra bit of room over the 50mm.
Nikon has released an AF-S version of the 50/1.4. Why not wait until it hits retail and pick it up? or for it to hit retail and push the price down of the old screwdriver? The 50/1.4 is fine, I keep in the bag as a back up lens. It has some CA issues around the edges in bright, high contrast scenes. But it's the same with all 50/1.4s. Check out DPReviews 50mm comparison. The images there are fairly accurate as to what you can expect.
Yeah, the poor QC issues make it a pain. I don't have a Nikon body to test it on before giving it as a gift, and it would be awkward to give a lens that has to be returned 3-4 times as a gift. That's why I was looking more for the 30mm f/1.4 (or Sigma's wider f/1.8 lenses). I completely forgot about the new AF-S version. The problem is that it'll be too expensive to give as a gift, despite the nice AF-S/aspherical-ness. I will definitely wait for it to make prices drop on the screw-lenses, though! Great idea.
