# Thoughts on NIKON 35mm 1.8 lens?



## mcguire717 (Oct 21, 2011)

I would like some imput on the NIKON 35mm 1.8 lens. I will be purchasing a dslr most likely a d7000 and would like to shoot in natural light with families and kids. I would not be using a flash at this point and I am a beginner and don't want to invest a ton of money at once. I have a friend who has a natural light photography business and she shoots with a d90 and the NIKON 35mm 1.8 lens and loves it. I wanted to make sure I purchase the best lens for what I need. I will purchase additional lenses later on.


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## mcguire717 (Oct 21, 2011)

I also may get the NIKON d90 and I'm still unsure which dslr.


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## MTVision (Oct 21, 2011)

mcguire717 said:
			
		

> I would like some imput on the NIKON 35mm 1.8 lens. I will be purchasing a dslr most likely a d7000 and would like to shoot in natural light with families and kids. I would not be using a flash at this point and I am a beginner and don't want to invest a ton of money at once. I have a friend who has a natural light photography business and she shoots with a d90 and the NIKON 35mm 1.8 lens and loves it. I wanted to make sure I purchase the best lens for what I need. I will purchase additional lenses later on.



I've never used the 35 but I've noticed a lot of people have (probably because it's inexpensive). I don't think it would be considered a professional grade lens but that doesn't matter. It's inexpensive, decent in low light and will be great for a beginner to learn on. 

Have you researched any other lenses or are you just basing it on what your friend says?

Look up some reviews. There are also some nice third party lenses. You aren't limited to brand new either. There are a lot of options so do some research.


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## kevlar21 (Oct 21, 2011)

D5000 is a good camera for starters, this one has video recording as well but if you don't have a budget, you can get D90 or even D7000..
Maybe 35mm is ok, the 50mm is good too.


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## mcguire717 (Oct 21, 2011)

My budget is $2000 so I would prefer to stick to the d90 or d7000. I have also read that the NIKON 50 mm 1.4 is excellent. Since I am very new to this and still researching I am going by what my friend is using for her business. Her pics are beautiful with the d90 and the 35mm 1.8 She just upgraded to the d3s so its a jump for her for sure. I am just trying to buy one lens to start with and get comfy with first then I will look at getting other lenses. I also was suggested the tamron 18-55 I believe.


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## jwbryson1 (Oct 21, 2011)

I have a D90 and a D40.  Love them both.  I also own the 35/1.8 and honestly, I love it.  Some people on here (KmH) complain of CA but I haven't seen that problem.  I've put the 50/1.4 on my birthday wishlist for next week.  I understand it's awesome.  I've also heard fantastic things about the D7000.  So if I were you, I'd probably opt for the D7000 + 50/1.4.  YMMV.


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## ghache (Oct 21, 2011)

If your interested in shooting portraits and natural light alot!, i would get the d7000 and the sigma 50mm 1.4 right away! 

That will leave your with enough money for a used sb-600 and a bounce card! for indoor fun.


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## fotomanjack (Oct 21, 2011)

ghache said:


> If your interested in shooting portraits and natural light a lot!, i would get the d7000 and the sigma 50mm 1.4 right away!
> 
> That will leave your with enough money for a used sb-600 and a bounce card! for indoor fun.



Forget the SB-600! Go for the SB-700 instead. Far easier to use and a much better value.


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## mnhoj (Oct 22, 2011)

The 35mm is a great value. It performs well even at F1.8. Adequate AF that is fairly quick, silent, and tracks well. For a one lens one camera solution it's really hard to beat.

The 50mm is great but if it was my only lens, I'd find myself back pedaling quite a bit. I like 50's but more for tighter people shots.


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## Bukitimah (Oct 22, 2011)

What to get is always a big challenge for beginners and I have gone through that and are still facing this after 10 months. Having owned the D5000, I must say it is a fairly decent camera but 2 main areas I faced which I want to share here.

1. The back LCD screen resolution is not great. For beginner like me, I need it to tell me about my result. Sometimes, it looks OK on the camera but when I went home and display it on my computer screen, I realised it is bad. For expert, they don't rely on it much so maybe ok.

2. Setting the various menu can be time consuming. You need to go the menu and that takes time. Although they have various pre-programmed settings, I don't use them since I am buying a DSLR. For example changing ISO, WB, single or continuous frames will have to go through the menu. 

If I have $2000 budget, I would like to buy the D90 with 18-105 mm VR kit lens to start off with. Any spare cash, I would invest on a tripod, flash and then a 50 mm prime basic lens in that order.

This is my opinion but I didn't took this path. I opt for pre-owned items except for the dry cabinet. Oh yes, for where I am, we need a dry cabinet because our humidity here is average 90% 365 days a year!


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## rmstudios (Oct 23, 2011)

D7000 and 35mm f1.8 is my favorite game, but I always have hard time with white balance, can't have decent shots at natural light. Could it be time of the day or cheap cpl filter?


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## 2WheelPhoto (Oct 23, 2011)

I sold my 35mm 1.8G due to its chromatic aberrations issue. Here is a decent write up on it, you can google several others that will say about the same: Nikon AF-S 35mm F1.8G DX Lens Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review


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## KmH (Oct 24, 2011)

The lateral CA and purple fringing the 35 mm f/1.8 produce at wide apertures can be fixed with image editing software.

Many prime lenses deliver somewhat soft focus when used wide open, which is why it's often recommended to use fast prime lenses at apertures stopped down a couple of stops.


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## rmstudios (Oct 24, 2011)

KmH said:
			
		

> The lateral CA and purple fringing the 35 mm f/1.8 produce at wide apertures can be fixed with image editing software.
> 
> Many prime lenses deliver somewhat soft focus when used wide open, which is why it's often recommended to use fast prime lenses at apertures stopped down a couple of stops.



In human language please


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## Derrel (Oct 24, 2011)

rmstudios said:


> KmH said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Do not shoot "most" lenses wide-open, because the image at the maximum aperture often suffers from softness and lowered contrast across the entire picture area. Closing the lens down one f/stop usually will improve the central area of the photo. Closing down a second f/stop will "often" bring the corners and their optical performance closer to the performance seen in the central area of the image. Closing down a third f/stop, and the image quality from the corners to the center of the frame will usually be pretty good, overall,across the entire frame. Closing down a fourth f/stop, and the corners and the central area will "usually" be almost indistinguishable in optical quality for almost all normal uses,and peak optical performance will be realized, often at around f/4.8 to f/5.6.

The above is for "most" lenses; there are very expensive lenses that do not follow the above pattern, and which are almost optimal either wide-open or nearly so, such as the supertelephoto lenses like 300/2.8 and 200/2 and 400/2.8 lenses, which are extremely good performers even wide-open, and which are sometimes better at f/4 than at f/5.6 or f/8.


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## rmstudios (Oct 24, 2011)

Thanks   That is what I read in the book Understanding Exposure , the author recommend to use f5.6


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## RichardsTPF (Oct 24, 2011)

Why would people spend $5299 on a 200/2 instead of $2399 on a 70-200/2.8? Is it really that good?


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## MTVision (Oct 24, 2011)

RichardsTPF said:
			
		

> Why would people spend $5299 on a 200/2 instead of $2399 on a 70-200/2.8? Is it really that good?



Primes are usually better.


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## mnhoj (Oct 24, 2011)

2WheelPhoto said:


> I sold my 35mm 1.8G due to its chromatic aberrations issue. Here is a decent write up on it, you can google several others that will say about the same: Nikon AF-S 35mm F1.8G DX Lens Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review



Easily said and done wielding a couple of nano F2.8 cannons.


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