# nikon 35mm 1.8, any good?



## Paintmaster1982 (Oct 23, 2007)

Anygood? Iam wanting to take photos of landscapes, portrait and some car photography for shows etc is this a good lens for that?

Argos are doing them for £150 which i think is quite a decent price considering it isn't a g import.

Also if anyone has any photos they can post up that was taken with a 35mm then that would be brill.

Thanks in advance

Rob


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

Its a great lens.

As for the focal length yes you can shoot cars, landscapes and portraits with it but imo its probably not 'ideal' for any of those. A wider angle is generally preferred for landscapes and cars, a 35mm is not the most flattering focal length for headshots, although ideal for say group portraits. 

that said I have taken some of my fave portraits at 35mm


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

It's a brill little lens. 

On a smaller sensor, it is about 52ish mm and is great for lots and lots.

As flexible as the nifty fifty on film or full frame.


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

Gruffs said:


> It's a brill little lens.
> 
> On a smaller sensor, it is about 52ish mm and is great for lots and lots.
> 
> As flexible as the nifty fifty on film or full frame.


To be pedantic its still a 35mm on an APS-C camera albeit cropped to give a 52mm 'effect'.

Therefore the distortions one could expect with using a 35mm wide angle on full frame are still there on a crop sensor.


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## Fiesta-125 (Mar 18, 2012)

I've been looking at this lens too for my D3000. Is it a preferable lens?


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## Black.MB (Aug 22, 2012)

I was looking for 35mm 1.8 too. Bot I got 50mm 1.8 instead. That's because:
- I was looking for a good (and cheap) portrait lens, where 50mm turned out to be better.
- 50mm 1.8 work on FF and DX sensors (35mm are designed only for DX). I have the DX but you never know...
If you are not planning much indoor use consider the 50mm option.
But I don't really think I'd shoot much landscape or cars with 35mm.


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

Brazo said:


> To be pedantic its still a 35mm on an APS-C camera albeit cropped to give a 52mm 'effect'.
> 
> Therefore the distortions one could expect with using a 35mm wide angle on full frame are still there on a crop sensor.


Pedant :lol:

Doesn't stop it being the second best VFM lens in Nikon's line up.


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## WP-UK (Apr 24, 2011)

It was one of the first lenses I purchased and one of my favourites, quality is great and for a reasonable price.


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

Gruffs said:


> Pedant :lol:
> 
> Doesn't stop it being the second best VFM lens in Nikon's line up.


Your right! 
I have the Sony version and yep it's a great lens!


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## B2ONGO (May 5, 2011)

Best £150 you can spend on your Nikon in my opinion. 

I have a few lenses - including a £1200 15-70mm f2.8 and for sharpness the 35mm knocks spots off it. 

No brainer in my opinion.


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## Paintmaster1982 (Oct 23, 2007)

B2ONGO said:


> Best £150 you can spend on your Nikon in my opinion.
> 
> I have a few lenses - including a £1200 15-70mm f2.8 and for sharpness the 35mm knocks spots off it.
> 
> No brainer in my opinion.


nice one thanks for that ill give it a go i reck. Got £150 of my bday money left so may as well get that.

Also what is the best wide angle lens for that sort of money?


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## B2ONGO (May 5, 2011)

The Tokina gets great reviews. I tried it out but have to say the 10-20mm Sigma is by far the better of the two for picture quality. The Tokina is built like a tank but the Sigma is sharper (and cheaper). You can pick up a Sigma 2nd hand for about £200 these days as lots of folk are upgrading to full frame now the prices are dropping for D600 and D800.


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## Paintmaster1982 (Oct 23, 2007)

still expensive just done a little search on amazon and they are fetching £300.. After doing some reasearch for landscape am i better off just sticking with my kit lens untill i really know what i want. I just feel iam forced to buy something different lol. Would a flash be the way forward.

I am finding my feet in all aspects of photography so one min iam shooting landscaps the next iam indoors taking portraits.

Landscapes do appeal to me but is the standard kit lens good enough for now? 
or will the 35mm 1.8 really help me master the nifty fifty vibe. 
Or will an flash be a better investment for everyday use etc.

Rob


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## Jord (Apr 3, 2012)

The 35mm 1.8g was the first ever lens I bought for my Nikon D3200. It's an excellent prime lens at a very reasonable price point, pretty much a must buy for anyone with a DX camera I would say. As Brazo said, it's not very wide because of it being around an actual 50mm focal length, so it's not ideal for everything, for example taking group photos in smaller rooms. I'm looking to get a proper wide angle lens next, i'm thinking a Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 but it's around £470 cheapest so it's on hold for a while as i've just bought a new car 

Good luck!


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## Fiesta-125 (Mar 18, 2012)

So in people's opinions what's going to be better,bathe 50mm prime or 35mm? I'm after a general use lens and for car photography.


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## Toxic7862 (Mar 23, 2013)

Superb little lens, very sharp and contrasty but if you want something a little wider look out for the superb 18-70mm tack sharp and brilliant IQ.


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

Gruffs said:


> It's a brill little lens.
> 
> On a smaller sensor, it is about 52ish mm and is great for lots and lots.
> 
> As flexible as the nifty fifty on film or full frame.


Im tempted to buy the 35mm. So if when used on a DX its actually more like a 52mm, then is the prime 50mm more like a 75mm?


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

Yes but it's not actual focal length like Brazo said. 

It's relative to a 35mm sensor/film. 

So, bear in mind if you use a 35mm lens on a crop sensor you'll be using the very centre of the lens and won't see as many edge effects. Which, the 50mm is (I think). The 35 isn't. 

But, it's a great little lens that I love. It's versatility is a major plus aside from IQ. It handles landscapes and portraits well.


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

Thanks Gruffs, it will be for my D5000. I can either purchase the 35mm lens, or a reversing camera for my car/caravan!! Cant afford both


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## npinks (Feb 25, 2008)

I have a 35mm f1.8 in my collection, love it as a walk around lens

I think I have got some great shots with it


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## bigup (Jun 4, 2009)

Looking at buying this lens for my D5100:

Nikon AF-S DX 35mm f1.8G - £150 ish on most sites

read great things about it, would like to do more car photography and family stuff indoors and outdoors etc

would this lens suit me?


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## MA3RC (Jun 19, 2012)

I also have a newbie question regarding this lens. In what way does it differ from a 18-55mm kit lens that comes with a Nikon D3100:

Nikkor Lens AFS DX 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6G VR: Amazon.co.uk: Camera & Photo

Thank You


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

For a start you cant adjust the zoom, its fixed at 35mm but from my research it would appear similar to your kit lens fixed at 50mm. You will have to walk forward/backwards to get the photo composed. But prime lenses like these are regarded as being better than the standard kit lenses and take better quality photos, perhaps because of the better quality glass in the lens.


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## Singeon (Mar 27, 2013)

I have one and its a very fast lens - I've noticed this mostly in low level lighting situations that one might encounter indoors. Additionally very good for other effects such as taking portraits or close ups and blurring out the background. Note however for extreme close ups a macro will perform much better.


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## Lloyd71 (Aug 21, 2008)

Fiesta-125 said:


> So in people's opinions what's going to be better,bathe 50mm prime or 35mm? I'm after a general use lens and for car photography.


For car photography the 35mm would be better, I've got the 50mm and it's a superb little lens but it's no good for car photos unless you're doing close ups. You have to stand miles back to get the whole car in!


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