the lense has no zoom and I have a nikon D50 digital camera. Thanks for your help The 50mm is the standard issue lens provided with 99.9999% of the 35mm format cameras today. It is included with them because it is essentially THE most versatile and diverse lens for a beginner to work with.
The 50mm gives you both a range of medium close up to medium wide shots, and standard portrait format shots. It is fine for your avg tourism photo without branching into another $300-500 lens that is specialty oriented, ie: telephoto, wide angle, etc. I dont see why not, if you use it correctly. It will limit you a bit, but it would be usable. There is no better way to learn composition and good photographic technique!
Learn to love your prime lens! In my experience, most vacation pictures are either portrait-style shots, ensemble pictures, or landscape shots (think Grand Canyon). All of these shots can be accomplished with the right camera/lens combo, the right tripod, and the right photographer.
The thing about primes is that you do have to be much more comfortable with your camera and with composing pictures. The 50mm prime is popular because it is long enough of a lens to take portrait shots without sticking your camera up your subject's nostril, but it is also wide enough to take a small group picture or landscape. Sometimes you have to just step one or two paces back or forward when shooting with a prime; this is what we call true manual zoom. ;-) You might also get good results with using the widescreen mode on your camera. If you decide that you cannot live without a zoom lens, then rent one first if you can. An 18-55mm lens should be sufficient for 95% of the pictures you will want to take, but you'll need more light or a faster shutter speed to take the same picture than you would with your prime lens.
I wouldn't be investing in a new lens, but I would pick up a lightweight collapsible tripod that has adjustable height and camera angles. 60" should be high enough and it will make sure those group shots and landscape pictures aren't blurry. Spend the money you'll save on a bigger, faster memory card so you can shoot some video with the camera. it will be good enough for your use. Nikon has a 1.5 lens multiplier, meaning a 50mm lens on film is 50mm but on digital it is a 75mm.(1.5 x 50mm) Its a little tighter crop on digital but more than does the job for what you want. just step back a little for landscape shots. | 