Samsung NX 30 mm f/2 or Nikkor 28 mm f/2.8?

arvidb wrote:

So I just bought an NX500, and I also just recently bought a Nikkor 28 mm f/2.8 AI-s lens on Ebay. Both are in the mail on their way to me. My old camera is a Nikon D40 and one of the reasons I got a new, mirrorless camera is that I want to try my hands at using older manual focus lenses (because they can be bargains - great optics for their price apparently? - and also since I like their build quality).

Do you think I will get by with the manual focus Nikkor on the NX500 or should I buy a Samsung 30 mm f/2 while stocks last? (After watching this lens test I don't feel particularly impressed by the 30 mm f/2 Samsung, but it's the only Samsung lens that has an attractive focal length and aperture to me).

On the plus side for the 30 mm is that it is a pancake lens (small).

How difficult is it to learn to use manual focusing effectively in say an indoor "dinner with friends" setting? What if I throw a dog in the situation? Will I really get more in-focus shots with the 30 mm in low light than with a good manual focus lens?

If it isn't clear yet I'm an amateur who takes photographs sporadically, but I do have an interest in learning better photography techniques and I think it would be fun to learn to use these older manual focus lenses.

Depending the dog! This past weekend,  could manage some shots on a Cane Corso (with the 45) but the smaller(and faster, and non still-able) dogs of the company were almost impossible to photograph! With the 30mm is impossible, is not a dog and kids lens. The biggest advantage is the size (+cost/performance ratio).

You can do most things with manual, and still you can travel around the world on a bicycle, but most people get an airplane!

Get your set first (doesn't the NX500 come with a 16-50pz lens?), practice/experiment, and you will decide for your needs later on, there are a few cheap NX lenses that can be attractive (the 30mm was my 3rd NX lens after the kit and the 50-200, and know days I am using it less thanthe fisheye and the 45mm).