{"id":977,"date":"2014-02-27T07:10:50","date_gmt":"2014-02-27T12:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pixelarge.com\/?p=977"},"modified":"2020-05-14T13:43:55","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T08:13:55","slug":"nikkor-nikon-35mm-f1-4-g-af-lens-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pixelarge.com\/nikkor-nikon-35mm-f1-4-g-af-lens-review\/","title":{"rendered":"NIKKOR Nikon 35mm f\/1.4 G AF lens – Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prologue<\/a> | Specifications<\/a> | Performance<\/a> | Recommendation<\/a> | Ratings<\/a><\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

\"Nikon<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Price –<\/h2>\n

Around $1600<\/strong><\/p>\n

Buy New : <\/strong>Amazon<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0, <\/strong>Adorama<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n

Prologue-<\/h2>\n

Finally after good forty years, the manual 35 mm f\/1.4 AI-S<\/a> made way for the Auto Focus lens with reduced coma<\/strong>. Available since September 2010,\u00a0Nikon 35mm f\/1.4 G AF<\/strong>\u00a0was taken with much appreciation because its sheer absence was felt rather strongly by the Nikon community.<\/p>\n

Over the years since its introduction, I have seen people using this lens for wedding photography and photojournalism<\/strong> as a staple.<\/p>\n

This lens is great for enhanced depth of field and can be used for landscapes, portraits, night photography and Astro-night outs<\/strong> with equal ease.<\/p>\n

I think this lens performs apt for what price Nikon asks for it and also for how much time they have taken to give us a AF 35 f\/1.4<\/strong>. It shoots delicious pictures wide open and stopped down with fantastic sharpness<\/strong> but so does the 24 mm f\/1.4 G<\/strong><\/a> (with even better optical performance and reduced limitations for a little more price). After shooting and comparing between both of these, I choose to keep the 24 mm f\/1.4 G in my arsenal.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If such wide aperture is not the requirement then the 35 mm f\/2<\/a> is also a decent piece of AF glass covering the FX and DX format camera equally. If the mechanical quality can be compromised a little then sigma 35 mm f\/1.4 art series<\/strong><\/a> is a worthy competitor in terms of optical performance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If I wanted just one prime, this would be that lens for its all purpose usage.

<\/a><\/p>\n

Specifications-<\/h2>\n

Focal length<\/h3>\n

The 35mm focal length<\/strong> of this lens is most useful one on DX and FX format cameras equally.<\/p>\n

On FX format camera, it acts as a moderate wide angle glass. On DX format camera it gives the popular 50 mm field of view<\/strong>. Since it is a FX lens it gives just the sweet spot of the centre on crop sensor<\/strong>, and hence you see the best this lens can offer.<\/p>\n

\"Nikon<\/a><\/p>\n

Aperture<\/h3>\n

The maximum wide aperture of f\/1.4<\/strong> allows amazing low light pictures. I was able to get very cheesy \u201cbokeh effect\u201d where the subject is isolated from background by blurring the backdrop and foreground.<\/p>\n

The minimum aperture goes down to f\/16<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Diaphragm<\/h3>\n

There are nine rounded diaphragm blades<\/strong>. I find it helpful in giving creamy appearance to out-of-focus objects in picture.<\/p>\n

\"Nikon<\/a><\/p>\n

Barrel and rings<\/h3>\n

The outer body is made of plastic<\/strong>, for me this is a disappointment<\/strong> for Nikon 35mm f\/1.4 G AF being\u00a0a pro lens<\/strong>. \u00a0The barrel is a curvy babe. The focus ring is the only ring<\/strong> present on the front. It gives instant manual focus even in AF. It is my favourite feature in the modern day lenses; the ease of control is addictive.<\/p>\n

The switch for manual and auto cum manual<\/strong> is handy. (Switch marked M and M\/A).<\/p>\n

There is a miniscule distance scale which is not really useful<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Mount<\/h3>\n

It predictably has a metal mount in this lens<\/strong> which gives sustainability to the lens especially for the people who indulge in changing lenses all the time. It survives rigorously long duration of wear and tear process.<\/p>\n

\"Nikon<\/a><\/h3>\n

Filter thread<\/h3>\n

This lens has an unusual filter size of screw-on 67 mm<\/strong>. I used it with a step-up ring<\/strong> to get the normal 77 mm filter size.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hood<\/h3>\n

\"Nikon<\/a><\/p>\n

It comes supplied with Bayonet Hood HB-59<\/strong><\/a>. I found it working fine although i don\u2019t use it most of the time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lens construction<\/h3>\n

\"Nikon<\/a><\/p>\n

This lens is made of 10 elements in 7 groups with one aspherical lens element<\/strong>. The Aspherical lens element reduces lens aberration and gives better resolution even at widest aperture. Lens is equipped with Nano crystal coating for internal flare and ghost control.<\/p>\n

I always find the dust and weather sealing good to have.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Size and weight<\/h3>\n

Nikon 35mm f\/1.4 G AF\u00a0stretches 3.3 inches or 83 mm in diameter and 3.5 inches or 89.5 mm in length<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Nikon<\/a><\/p>\n

This lens weighs approximately 600 grams or 21.2 oz<\/strong>.

<\/a><\/p>\n

Performance-<\/h2>\n

Focus<\/h3>\n

The close focus is 0.3 m\/0.98 ft.<\/strong> It is fairly close for me.<\/p>\n

AF is very accurate and sufficiently fast<\/strong>. With the silent wave motor<\/strong>, the auto focus is somewhat less noisy<\/strong> but I would have appreciated more on this.<\/p>\n

Manual focus is very easy anytime with broad focus ring and its smooth movement<\/strong>. I liked how the focus was just right during shooting portraits without time lag.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sharpness<\/h3>\n

\"Nikon<\/a><\/p>\n

Images shot even at wide aperture are sharp<\/strong> especially so in the centre. The skin tones in portraits are natural and the out of focus elements are not overtly high contrast.<\/p>\n

I have seen sharpness improve a little at f\/4 and beyond till f\/11<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Distortion<\/h3>\n

There is slight to moderate amount of barrel distortion<\/strong> which becomes apparent on shooting straight lines at close distance. My 24 mm f\/1.4 shows less distortion<\/strong> in spite of being of lower focal length. I believe this will not bother anyone except a person into photographing architectures. Others can simply fix this distortion in post processing.<\/p>\n

\"Nikon<\/p>\n

#Straight grid as seen by camera<\/em><\/p>\n

Chromatic aberration<\/h3>\n

I encountered more chromatic aberration than what I should have on such an expensive lens<\/strong>. This is one limitation which i would have happily done with on a cheap piece of optics but to compromise over this in this pricey lens is asking too much of me.<\/p>\n

There is magenta fringing in foreground and green fringing in background<\/strong> of high color contrast objects at aperture wide open (known as longitudinal chromatic aberration). I understand that this is a standing feature of all fast wide lenses.<\/p>\n

This longitudinal chromatic aberration can be corrected in post processing on the Nikon software easily or to some extent in the camera itself. But I shouldn’t have to do that with a glass like this. The Nikkor 24 f\/1.4 G has ED glass to combat this issue<\/strong>, why this lens doesn’t have it is beyond my comprehension.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Flares and ghosting<\/h3>\n

Nikon 35mm f\/1.4 G AF\u00a0lens wins brownie points in remarkable flare and ghost elimination in random usage. These are visible only when you would anyway expect ghosting like when shooting directly the sun.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Nikon<\/a>
<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pixelarge Recommendation-<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are a lot of positive qualities<\/strong> to rave about in this lens.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • It is super sharp; <\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Amazing color reproduction;<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Great Depth of field control;<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • User friendly ergonomics.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    I didn\u2019t expect these limitations<\/strong> from a lens for pros after paying up but it\u2019s there, and we have to find ways around it.<\/p>\n

      \n
    • The plastic construction reduces its durability<\/b>;<\/li>\n
    • The chromatic aberration is an irritant; <\/strong><\/li>\n
    • Barrel distortion; <\/strong><\/li>\n
    • Unusual filter size of 67mm<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n