Shooting with a prime (non-zoom), normal (50mm-equivalent) lens will make you a better photographer. This is a fact. But getting into the normal-prime sweetspot on non-full-frame DSLRs is tough. This Nikkor makes it easier.

Even though Nikon's had the same lens mount for decades, their low-end DSLRs require on-board AF motors for auto-focus, which limits your choices. And any 35mm Nikon prime lenses (the 50mm equivalent for a DX camera's smaller sensor) around before were either too old or too expensive, and the second best choice was from Sigma. You could pick up an actual 50mm f/1.8 for under $US100, but on a DX camera, that will get you an 85mm portrait lens and not the 50mm normal you would want.

But here, for around $US200, you get a lens that's multiples faster at f/1.8 than, say, the D60s standard-issue f/3.5-5.6 cheapo zoom, that can shoot the limited depth of field for blurred-out backgrounds that are also impossible on the kit lens.

Plus, you'll learn good composition about 10x faster with a prime than you would with a zoom. So, in short, if you have a low-end Nikon DSLR with only a kit lens, make this your next purchase.