Is autofocus important for portraiture?

I currently have a Nikon D5000, and I'm mostly using the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D. The problem is - I can't autofocus with the f/1.8D as my camera is only a simple SLR. I can only autofocus with the f/1.8G.

So my question is - if I were to begin doing photoshoots, would the f/1.8G be necessary? I do find it quite hard having to continually manual focus - especially when I'm using 1.8…

Hmm. Anyway. I'm tight on money. Should I squeeze in, and buy the f/1.8G? (I bought the f/1.8D for $125, the G will cost me $250).

Are you shooting just "studio" work? Posed portraits and the likes? Then manual focus should be dine once you get the hang of it… Shooting events on the other hand really benefits from auto-focus.

But this is all moot anyways as you don;t ave the skills/knowledge to do paid shoots. If you did, you wouldn't be asking these questions.

This all depends upon your eyesight and ability to focus. I went decades with manual focus lenses.

Buy the G. Three reasons:

(1) the d5000 isn't conducisive for manual focusing. It is difficult to manually focus in such a small viewfinder - unless you buy a different focusing screen which will introduce other problems.

(2) auto focus is easier. And I'm guessing that at your experience level, manual focusing will be a hassel.

(3) the G is reported to perform much better optically than the D. Although, when you are shooting at f/4, there will be no difference