Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D Autofocus Lens good for low lighting settings?

I'm in the market for a 50mm lens and I was set on buying the 1.8 d until I read that the 1.4 D offers better clarity photos in low light settings. I usually photograph a lot of performances at my school (lit stage, strobe lights, etc.) and was wondering if the 1.8 will give me the clarity of shots that I need or if I should just buy the 1.4. If I can get pretty great shots in stage settings with the 1.8 I would rather stick with that since it's a lot cheaper, which for a college student like me would be the most beneficial.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

ps: This question is a repost from one I posted in the "photography" section. I realized it would be more beneficial to post it in the camera section so all of you tech-wizards could have a stab at it!

The lower the f/number the larger the aperture size. The larger the aperture size, the larger the hole. The larger the hole, the more light can enter the camera to make a picture. Yes, f/1.8 is trash when compared to f/1.4 which in turn is much poorer than f/1.2 which is nothing when compared to f/0.7. When it comes to low light shooting, buy the smallest f/number you can afford.

Set your camera to aperture-priority mode, select the lowest f/number then take a shot. If blur occurs, set ISO up a bit. Keep testing until you eliminate blur. Watch out for grain. The higher the ISO goes, the more grainy the picture will become. Always zoom in when you preview to make sure you see if grain becomes bothersome. When shooting in low light, you will have to choose between taking a decent shot that's grainy and not getting a valid shot at all. Blame physics on that.

P.S. If colors don't match, manually adjust white balance until you get it right.

Every photographer will tell you that a 50mm is a must own lens. It's for a very good reason. They are cheap, sharper than most zooms regardless of price, they are light, and give you great defocused backgrounds when you want it. Their biggest advantage is for low light conditions.

Yes the 1.4 has the advantage of being better optically, but the jump from f1.8 to 1.4 is nothing, it's a hair. So not a big deal if money is tight. There's one problem, you didn't mention what camera you own. Entry level Nikon bodies don't have autofocus motors. That would be Nikon d40, d3000, 3100, 5100 etc.

In those cases, this because a manual focus only lens. You will be forced to get the f/1.4, that lens has the AF motor The 1.8 has no AF motor. Nikon saves money and keeps prices of entry level bodies and some lenses down by cutting out AF motors. To get the AF motor, you'll need to step up to the mid range of Nikon bodies like the d90, D7000, D300s etc.

The 50mm f/1.8 will shoot very sharp at f/2.5 and smaller apertures out to f/16 for a DX sensor, f/22 for an FX sensor. Wide open at f/1.8, the image is a bit soft if you really look hard. The f/1.4 will be a better lens, but at a much higher cost.

You don't mention which camera you have. Makes a difference.
The 50mm f/1.8 AF will only autofocus on bodies which have a focus motor in the camera body. Those would be the D90, D7000, D300, D700, D3 and some older models like the D70, D50, D200, …

If you have a lower end camera like the D40, D60, D3000, D3100, D5100, you are best off with the 50mm f/1.8 AF-S so you can take advantage of autofocus. When shooting wide aperture lenses, focus is critical due to the narrow depth of field.

Other hints for shooting stage:
Only use manual mode. Auto exposure doesn't do well for stage lighting.

I like using center focus (might be called single area) for auto focus mode. You choose what you want to focus on (press the shutter half way to lock focus), then compose the shot.

Use manual white balance setting, typically tungsten/incandescent. Auto white balance will give inconsistent results, especially if the stage lights are gelled.

Get there early to do test shots and get a good seat/figure out where to shoot from.

Put your LCD viewer in Highlight mode so you can see if you're blowing out your images.

Turn off the AF-assist illuminator. That light is pretty bright!

You may be better off getting the new AF-S 50mm f1.8.It is reputed to be a little sharper than the AF-D version at the wider apertures. F1.4 can open a little wider, but with such a shallow depth of field and with usually not great quality at full aperture, it may not really be an improvement.
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Nikon_Nikkor_AF-S_50mm_f1-8G/

http://www.slrgear.com/...231/cat/12
http://www.slrgear.com/.../97/cat/12
http://www.slrgear.com/...432/cat/12

I will had this, since nobody told you.

If you can buy a mono pod with your 50mm, it can come handy from getting blurs if you're ever using low shutter speed due to lack of light.