Will I get a shallow depth of field with a Nikon Pre-AI 50mm 1.4 Lens?

Just want to be sure before I set my mind on getting it! I have a D3000, by the way.

Yes, you would get a shallow depth of field, but you should check into compatibility before you buy it. It would be no big deal if it won't auto-focus with the D3000, but there might be other issues.

See page 157 in your manual. It looks like there's no auto-focus and some slight limits to the metering.

Yes, and no.

It all depends on if you properly compose the photo.

There are three things that influence depth of field:

1. Focal length of the lens. The longer the focal length, the shallower the depth of field.
2. Aperture. The larger the aperture, the shallower the depth of field.
3. Focus distance. The shorter your focus point, the shallower the depth of field.

Of the three, the focal length is the most significant. You can get good results at 200mm with a lens having a maximum aperture of f/5.6. You can even get some amount of shallow focus with a $150 point-and-shoot if you do it correctly.

In fact, a 200mm lens at f/5.6 will outperform a 50mm lens at f/1.8 because focal length is more important than aperture. So you can buy that 55-200mm lens you have been wanting and get as good of a result as the 50mm f/1.4.

Here is a webpage where I show how to obtain shallow DoF using a 50mm f/1.8, 200mm (f/2.8 and f/5.6), and a Canon SX130 point and shoot.

http://www.althephoto.com/concepts/selectivefocus.php

Obtaining good results can be achieved with all of these cameras as the webpage shows. It is just all in technique. Notice that a 200mm f/2.8 gives by far the best results, and has great bokeh.

To do shallow DoF, you need to go with a long lens or a fast lens, so one lens that will not work well is your 18-55mm.

I could be wrong here, perhaps some camera guru will correct me if so, but I do not think you can mount a non-Ai lens on any current Nikon camera without damaging the camera. You would first have to get it modified, which I don't think is a big deal.

*EDIT*
Here is a conversion chart for compatibility for the non Ai lenses:

http://www.aiconversions.com/compatibilitytable.htm