Nikon's 50mm 1.4D, Beware! Extreme quality ahead!

A 50mm lens was the first lens that I ever used, and for the first 5 years of my photography career, it was the only. After I became professional, I started playing around with a bunch of zoom lenses, but was never really satisfied and still find out that my Nikon 50mm 1.4D is the lens I am starting to use more and more again. After looking at all of my best shots ever, I found out that over half of them were taken with my 50mm.

I recommend this lens for EVERYONE. If you shoot with regular zooms or pro F2.8 zooms, still keep this lens handy. If you don't like to use a big bulky flash, then you need to stick to a fast lens anyways, and this should be your first choice. You want zoom? Stop being lazy, and walk towards or away from your subject! This works for most situations, and you are going to get much better quality pictures from fixed lenses. If I could take only three lenses with me, it would be a Nikon 24mm, 50mm, and a 70-300mm. The older AI 50mm 1.4 lens has a little better quality build, but develops condensation easy on the elements (I cleaned mine myself).

Don't be caught without a 50mm fixed lens! After years of experience, this is my advice to you.