Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.4G Lens

Product Information

Whether you choose the new 70-200mm f/2.8S FL VR or older versions, you will be happy to see that sharpness and color are outstanding at all focal lengths, while the bokeh is also superb. The only complaint that I have about the 70-200mm is its weight – it can be quite painful to carry around on a full day wedding. NIKON D810 + 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 100, 1/320, f/4.0 Simply put, portrait photographers, wedding photographers, casual or professional, should all try a 35mm at some point. There’s a very good chance that if you like 50mm, you might absolutely love 35mm. In use, we found the focusing to be indeed very-very quiet, and pretty fast - but not instantaneous -, with the lens mounted to a Nikon D700 body.

As for vignetting, the lens does show a rather heavy amount of vignetting wide open @ f/1.4 and the corners get considerably dark toward the edges. As you stop down to f/2.0, vignetting decreases significantly, but still remains visible. At f/2.8 vignetting starts to disappear and by f/4.0 onwards it is almost completely gone. Take a look at lens vignetting at different apertures: One thing I had issues with on the D3200 was low light. Not that great with low light when it comes to the noise it produced so when you do go to buy another lens I would def suggest something “fast” that you can open wide to pull in the most light without it compensating with a higher ISO. Focal length – the second obvious difference is the focal length. The Nikon 35mm f/1.8G has an equivalent field of view of 52.5mm on a DX sensor, while the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G has an equivalent field of view of 75mm. Interestingly, both lenses fall into the “normal” or “standard” lens category, depending on the type of sensor they are mounted on. For example, on a DX sensor, the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G is a “normal” lens, while the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G is also “normal” on a full-frame sensor. However, if the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G is mounted on a DX sensor, it becomes a telephoto lens, since its field of view narrows to 75mm. If this sounds confusing to you, read my article on “ Equivalent Focal Length and Field of View“.If you’re this type of photographer, then you might consider an alternative, as there are indeed a couple of ultralight 35mm primes for both Canon and Nikon that you can choose from. The Nikon 35mm f/1.4G has a total of 10 optical elements with 1 aspherical element and weighs a total of 600 grams, which is almost what the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G weighs. In fact, side by side, both lenses look almost identical, as seen in the below photo: There is a very noticeable longitudinal chromatic aberration (which is the effect of color fringing in front of and behind the focused area) present, especially when shooting at large apertures. Once again take a look at the Lens Align Pro crop: NIKON D3S + 35mm f/1.4 @ 35mm, ISO 200, 1/320, f/1.4 These incredibly subjective aspects of image quality are always difficult to describe in written form. Again, I’d rather let the sample images do the talking. Lenses with a fixed focal length of 35mm are among the most popular ever. It stands between wide angle and normal lenses, taking the best of both. They can provide a nice field of view, minimal distortion, and a pleasant depth of field. In this review, I’ll take a look at one of the cheapest 35mm lenses available, the Pergear 35mm f/1.4.

Tipping the scales at exactly 600 grams, the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.4G is a lot heavier - and also bulkier - than either the afore-mentioned MF Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 or the slower AF Nikkor 35mm f/2D. Coupled to the Nikon D700, as seen in the photo above, the lens doesn't look disproportionately huge, though.

While some photographers really praise the older 105mm f/2 DC as a portrait lens, after trying both out, I can tell you that there is simply no comparison – the newer f/1.4E is far better in comparison, even when both are compared at their wide open apertures. NIKON D750 + 105mm f/1.4 @ 105mm, ISO 200, 1/2500, f/1.4 When compared against the Zeiss Distagon 35mm ZF.2, Nikon handles ghosting and flares better, in my opinion. Take a look at a similar image shot with the Zeiss: NIKON D3S + Zeiss Distagon T* 2/35 ZF.2 @ 35mm, ISO 200, 1/15, f/13.0 If you’re this type of photographer, then the Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 is absolutely worth its substantial size and heft. Now, the Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 Di USD is the first f/1.4 prime lens they’ve ever made, to the best of my knowledge. So, you might assume that it’s just an experiment to “dip their toes” into the highly competitive realm of f/1.4, however, you would be totally wrong. Tamron has made a bold statement with this lens: here’s the new champion of affordable (flagship, even) 35mm primes! It used to be that third-party lenses were indeed much worse at consistently nailing focus than name brands. Now, however, any difference that may still exist is nearly impossible to discern from the general shortcoming of optical phase-detection autofocus itself.