portraits manual 35 digital nikon d3300 advice

I just got a 50mm AIS. I love it - built well, nice focus ring, super sharp. It seems, however, many think portraits are too hard with manual focus. I used to do that on my Nikon APS-C body(ies) with a 50 1.8 D lens. Sometimes I missed focus I guess - but it didn't seem to slow me down that...