Nikon 50mm f1.8D vs older Canon FD 50mm f1.8?

[Thomas Smet]

I have had a Canon FD 50mm f1.8 for awhile now and always felt it was a great lens. Since I'm using more Lumix lenses these days the softer look hasn't been as good of a match. I thought about buying one of the newer Nikon 50mm F1.8D lenses. These are still super cheap but from what I read very high quality and should be much more "modern" looking when matching with Lumix glass. Has anybody had any experience with both lenses or used the Nikon 50mm f1.8D? I found one guy in the reviews on B&H that loves it for stills on an Olympus m4/3 camera but have not been able to find anybody using the lens for video. Personally I feel the Olympus 45mm m4/3 lens is way over priced for that focal length. Since it is Olympus as well really the only thing I think I would gain is autofocus over the Nikon f1.8D.

I already have a Nikon adapter that I bought to use with this odd Vivitar 28mm f1.9 lens I found at a garage sale.

 

[Mike Parker]

My suggestion is to pick up a really clean Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AI or AIS manual focus lens. MUCH better made than any of the AF lenses over the past 20+ years.

 

[J.F.R.]

My suggestion is to buy an Olympus 45mm f/1.8. Nikkor lenses are great, but if modern look is what you are after I would suggest the Olympus.