Nikon AF-S DX 35mm f/1.8G Lens

Nikon 35mm AF-S DX lensOnce upon a time in the days of film ALL film SLR cameras came with a “fast” 50mm lens – usually f1.8 ( or more rarely f1.4) giving the same angle of view as human vision. Wide aperture allowed slower, sharper film and the ability to focus closely and provide shallow “depth of focus” to highlight the subject. Zoom lenses were expensive and less sharp than “prime” or single focal length lenses.Most modern digital (D)SLR’s now come with excellent zooms but only moderate apertures across the zoom range ( except for megabucks f2.8 professional lenses)Whilst the zoom lens gives great flexibility in framing a subject it is easy to become sloppy by not moving to fill the frame with this human vision perspective. This “standard” perspective lens makes you think more about your compositions (but also works well as simple point and shoots)This 35mm (52.5mm equivalent on a DX sensor like my Nikon D3100/D5100 – or modern equivalents) dual type autofocus lens is a total cracker .Very lightweight (yet sturdy) it is nice to get back to a “standard” lens again. Even better, when creating movies (or getting “differential focus on stills), this fast lens allows both a shallow focus and enhances the sensitivity of the camera at full aperture at lower. ISO values (reducing electronic noise).It also covers a full aperture range from f1.8 – f22The f1.8 speed allows many photographs to be taken indoors (or dull outdoors) without flash. - Or video without additional lighting.The standard 18-55mm zoom lens is only f4 at the 35mm DX ( 50mm standard) so there is at least 2 stops gain and a corresponding reduction in shutter speed with this prime lens - i.e. faster shutter speeds can be used and sharper pictures result.The ability to tweak the manual focus whilst still in auto is great as any off centre subject missed by the auto focussing can be rapidly correctedThe lens takes a 52mm diameter filter – either as protection, minor colour correction or effect filters. Relatively cheap close up lenses also seem to work extremely well giving a genuine super macro lens with minimal softness at the edges of the imageNOTE – you could get the cheaper non DX, manual focus f1.8 Nikkor but this will be 75mm equivalent (and possibly of interest as a portrait lens although a 105mm prime lens is usually used for this.)

I’m pretty new to photography but felt it was time to upgrade from my kit (18-55mm) lens. I bought this as it was a) a cheap prime lens and b) I had heard it was good for general photography and portraits. I think it’s fantastic and excellent value for money and has really helped me develop as a photographer. It’s excellent for general photography and especially portraits. I love using it for street photography in particular. The large aperture of this lens really allows for a great control over depth of field and is also really useful in low light or indoor conditions. I have found this especially useful in practicing and improving my photographic skills. It produced really high quality photos and I’m really happy with it. Highly recommend.The lens also comes with a hood, cap (obviously) and storage pouch. The hoods great when shooting outside and can be neatly stowed in reverse down the body of the lens when not in use which is great for saving space and not having loose things lying about. The pouch is great for storage and whilst it won’t help in the case of knocks and bumps is great for a little light protection and protection from the elements and things like dust. The lens also has a great autofocus that's both accurate and swift which is really really useful when photographing. It won't go super close to the lens, you'll need a specialised macro for that, but does a really great job for all other parts.The lens is great, in my opinion, as a bit of a general lens to keep on the camera. It’s useable in a wide variety of situations and is quite versatile. It’s also incredibly light weight and compact meaning you will barely even notice it’s there. Great for when you’re just carrying your camera around (such as on holiday) or exploring.As this is so cheap and also high quality i would really recommend this to beginners looking to up there game and learn a bit more and improve. I certainly have. The wide aperture really helps in developing your understanding of the exposure triangle and to play about a bit to really learn by doing. I’m still improving and have a long way to go but this is still proving valuable some time on and I believe I’ll be using it for a long time yet.Overall: 5 stars! Would award 6 if I could. Absolutely excellent bit of kit that comes at a great price.If you found this review in any way useful or informative I’d be really grateful if you let me know by hitting the “helpful” button below :)

Since buying this for myself, along with one for my brother, we have barely touched our kit lenses. I find this lens perfect for landscapes and skylines, while my brother uses it almost exclusively in his fashion/modelling/art ventures.My only criticism of this lens is that you get slight c/a around edges that are out of focus at f/1.8. This is really only noticeable though if you pixel-peep or enlarge to A1 or larger, and is easy correctable in software under such circumstances. My brother's lens does not do this at all, so it may just be due to the abuse that mine has received outdoors.The only time this lens ever comes off my D5100 nowadays is when I want to use my Sigma 10-20 f/4, or my Sigma 150-500 f/5. A must have for anyone who regularly uses a DX-frame DSLR, and I would recommend getting this instead of the kit lens with a new Nikon DSLR as you'll (a) get sharper pictures and (b) learn a lot faster.Stopped down to f/4-16 and this lens is so sharp that I really cannot fault it in any way. Wider than f/4 and the sharpness is *slightly* reduced but is still better than a kit lens in any configuration. Bokeh is amazing and sharp, build quality is good, speed is great, sharpness is amazing, the lens is almost weightless!