Review on YONGNUO YN50mm F1.8N Standard Prime Lens: Large Aperture, Auto/Manual Focus (AF/MF) for Nikon DSLR Cameras by John Roby

Bought for my Nikon D3200 to use mainly for indoor non-flash photography. Because it's a fast lens that can let in a lot of light, it's ideal for this application. Pros: Build quality is actually pretty solid. The materials don't feel cheap, the manual focus ring is well cushioned and the metal bracket stays securely in place. Autofocus works well - a bit noisier than the standard lens - but definitely no complaints. Good bokeh. Cons: - The output images are boring. I knew that at wider apertures I should expect some softness around the edges, but it should still be sharp in the center and when I stop it the edges should get sharper. However, that was not the case with this lens. From f/1.8 to f/2.8, objects outside the focal plane are nicely blurred, but objects *in* the focal plane, in the center of the lens, are also blurred. Stopping the lens down to f/4 or f/5 gets a little better, but still not great. I did an A/B comparison with the kit lens at f/4: with the kit lens, the edges of my son's face were sharper and my dog's individual hairs were sharp, not blurry and grainy. (Before you ask, I removed the protective film from the front and back of the lens; the version I received had a blue film with a tab that's not easy to miss.) I will be returning this lens and the Buy Nikkor version. For me, the loss in image quality wasn't worth the money saved.