New lens :D Nikon 35mm f1.8G (DX)

[David Mitchell]

Hi all

I have decided that I wanted to upgrade my kit lens with a normal prime lens so I decided to buy a brand new 35mm f1.8G lens which makes it a 52.5mm lens if the camera was full frame. This is a DX lens and is specifically for crop sensor cameras.

It comes with a lens cap, lens bag and hood:



Here is a good idea of how much film stuff you can get for just this DX lens, I have got the bits on the left for the same price as the bits on the right:



I also got a really nice tripod which was only £35, its got a ball head and very very sturdy, will show this off on the forum elsewhere.

Here are some test shots - these are just converted from RAW to JPEG and then the WB adjusted:

f1.8:



f22:



f1.8:



f1.8:



I will post process some other shots, they are all from my D3100 and this lens will probably be the first and only new lens I will buy for a digital camera (well until I get an NEX at some point). I also have the kit 18-55 lens which is between f3.5 and f5.6 so this 35mm f1.8G will be a very useful lens

- - - Updated - - -

Here are some post processed shots, here is one of my dad as a hand held shot:



Here is that bowl of fruit again with a slight bump in saturation and a few other levels

 

[Paul Lange]

I have this lens and find it very good and a bargain for the price. That pic of your dad in the greenhouse is rather nice Dave. He has a very relaxed natural smile and good eye contact . The greenhouse in the background says a bit about him too and the way you have just blurred it enough so he stands out but can still tell where he is in spot on.

 

[David Mitchell]

I have this lens and find it very good and a bargain for the price. That pic of your dad in the greenhouse is rather nice Dave. He has a very relaxed natural smile and good eye contact . The greenhouse in the background says a bit about him too and the way you have just blurred it enough so he stands out but can still tell where he is in spot on.

Thanks Paul, thats one of the reasons why I got this lens, its great to get a much shallower DoF which none of my other lenses (apart from a Corsina f1.4) has, its nice that its an auto focus lens but with an easy manual override.

Its on a D3100 so a very basic camera, I however don't really feel I should ever need to upgrade it unless there is an issue with it, good controls, takes good exposures. I have limited the camera to shoot up to ISO 800 so I don't get noise, now with this lens with the extra stops of light I should be able to keep the ISO low. The kit lens is either f3.5 to f5.6 so I couldn't really do anything like this. The D3100 also can't meter non CPU lenses, so I have to shoot fully manual with my other MF lenses, this should make taking shots easier. Its a fair chunk of cash for me but I don't really feel that I would need to take the lens off any time soon.

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Nice!
That's my next lens on the list!

 

[Hamish Gill]

Nice! A very good choice, and some nice results!


I know you know what you mean, but it's good to be right with these things ... Call me pedantic if you wish ....
You say:

35mm f1.8G lens which makes it a 52.5mm lens if the camera was full frame.

If it was a full frame camera is would still be a 35mm lens ... Focal length always stays the same. What you mean to say is:
"It is a 35mm lens, so mounted on a dx camera it has a field of view equivelent to a 50mm on a full frame camera"

 

[David Mitchell]

Yes, thats exactly what I mean lol seems pretty good, I had a wander outside just now, set it to f1.8, its the first time I had seen it select a shutter speed of 1/2000s lol

 

[David Mitchell]

Here are a few more test shots - really happy with the lens, it gives a nice sharp image with a nice usable focal length, these are very slightly post processed but not much, might upload a 100% crop of an image to show the sharpness, these are all handheld:

 

[Pete Askew]

That last shot shows very nice separation in an otherwise very homogenous set of tones. Certainly looks promising.

 

[David Mitchell]

Thanks Pete, its nice to have a lens that I can use that has a wide aperture but still allows in camera metering, there is some chromatic aberration in that last image, but at normal size you can't tell, very happy with the lens, especially as its a cheaper lens.