The Nikkor 50mm 1.8 E pancake lens

General impressions

This is one of the cheapest Nikkor lenses (used). It is a very old design and the look and feel are not too good. From an optical point of view, I find this lens equal to the more recent 50 1.8 AF-D. The lens is just a piece of plastic with rings which are not too easy to use, but the pictures are excellent. Relatively close focusing is also possible, and the lens also works in combination with extension tubes for macro work.

The lens does not come with a pouch or a sun hood, only the lens caps are being delivered in the package.
I would recommend to buy a cheap rubber hood you can easily fold or unfold.

Pros
- incredible bargain - cheap
- excellent image quality
- normal field of view on a film/FX camera, a short telelens on a DX DSLR
- ideal for portrait, low light shooting, and to play with thin DOF
- large aperture (1.8)

- very compact (in fact the most compact I have seen until now) - funny to use on a pro-body (people ask questions - is that a lens ?)

Cons
- focal distance not ideal for DX format DSLRs
- cheap plastic build
- MF only (focus ring not well designed - too thin)
- no sun hood provided

Highly recommended for the fun - good value for money as a collector's item.