Nikon 35mm f1.8G review
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Written by Thomas
Samples
The following images were taken with the Nikon AF-S 35mm f1.8G ED on a D800. Each image was recorded in RAW and converted with Lightroom 5.3 at Camera Standard settings. Reduction of lateral CA is ON, Noise-reduction is set to 0, sharpening to 70/0.5/36/10.Apart from WB or exposure no extra tone-, color-, or saturation-adjustment was used. You can click on each image to access the large original. Please respect our copyright and only use those images for personal use.Most of the following images were shot wide open at f1.8. The first shot should give you an impression of the bokeh that this lens can produce wide open. The 50% crops are from the foreground, the sharpest point, and the background in the overall image and demonstrate the rendering of out-of-focus elements at closer distances (approximately 0.9m). The foreground Bokeh looks pretty smooth but the background shows outlining which leads to a nervous Bokeh.
Books: Bokeh shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | ||||
Main image and all 50% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/50 sec, 100 ISO This shot is also available in f2.0, f2.8, f4.0, and f5.6 | ||||
foreground, f1.8, 100 ISO | center, f1.8, 100 ISO | background, f1.8, 100 ISO |
The following shot shows good resolution at close-up distances.
Flowers: close-up shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f2.8 on a D800 from around 50 cm | ||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f2.8, 1/60 sec, 100 ISO This shot is also available in f1.8, f2.0, f4.0, f5.6, f8, f11, and f16 | ||||
left, f2.8, 100 ISO | center, f2.8, 100 ISO | right, f2.8, 100 ISO |
Green outlining in the background from loCA is pretty limited in the following shot, which also shows the barrel-distortion of this lens very clearly:
Pillars: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | |||||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/1600 sec, 100 ISO This shot is also available in f2.0, f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, and f8.0 |
Next up is a portrait of a cat which was already heavily cropped to around 30% from the center. Zooming further in to 100% crops reveals the very fine details that this lens is capable of reproducing in the center even wide open.
Portrait of a cat: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | |||||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/1000 sec, 100 ISO |
Good detail with acceptable vignetting is shown in the next shot of the church against the bright sky – again wide open.
Lorenzkirche: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | |||||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/500 sec, 100 ISO This shot is also available in f2.8 |
Nice blurring of out-of-focus areas with sharp reproduction of details on the Putto’s face.
Putto: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | ||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/160 sec, 100 ISO | ||||
f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO |
Some green outlining in the background shows up here, while the foreground-blur is very smooth.
Schoener Brunnen: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | |||||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/640 sec, 100 ISO |
The texture of the metal and rust is faithfully reproduced. And again there is some green outlining in the background.
Rusty Breaks: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | ||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/60 sec, 100 ISO | ||||
f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO |
Some challenging situation showing twigs in front of the bright sky. Reproduction is pretty good even wide open.
Heilig Geist Spittal: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | ||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/320 sec, 100 ISO This shot is also available in f2.0, f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, and f8.0 | ||||
f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO |
High contrast and nice details rendered in the following shot.
Sculpture: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | |||||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/320 sec, 100 ISO |
Very fine details can be seen in this wide-open shot. But the background rendering is not the most smooth and shows quite some CAs.
Cattails: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | ||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/100 sec, 100 ISO | ||||
f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO |
Highly detailed again from top to bottom at f1.8.
Tower: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | |||||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/200 sec, 100 ISO |
The texture of the concrete wall is rendered in great detail.
Graffiti: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | ||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/320 sec, 100 ISO | ||||
f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO |
The texture of the walls and the pavement look good at f1.8.
Hair Cut: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | |||||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/160 sec, 100 ISO |
The reproduction of the painting shows every detail of the canvas and the brush-strokes.
Painting: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f2.8 on a D800 | |||||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f2.8, 1/80 sec, 100 ISO |
The old house is a good source for judging background rendering as the beams and spars reach further and further away.
House: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | ||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/30 sec, 100 ISO | ||||
f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO |
Another proof for the capability of this lens to reproduce fine textures, this time at f2.0. Only the loCA in the background is a bit disappointing.
Legs: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f2.0 on a D800 | ||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f2.0, 1/80 sec, 160 ISO | ||||
f2.0, 160 ISO | f2.0, 160 ISO | f2.0, 160 ISO |
Sharp details all over the FX image circle and a good contrast against the bright sky.
Castle: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | |||||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/800 sec, 100 ISO This shot is also available in f2.0, f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, f8.0 , f11, and f16 |
Following is one of the most brutal tests for lenses: the sun reflecting on water. This produces extreme specular highlights which mercilessly reveal longitudinal CAs, purple fringing and coma. The new Nikon shows moderate loCA but strong coma in this situation.
loCA and coma: shot with Nikon 35/1.8 at f2.0 on a D800 | ||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f2.0, 1/1600 sec, 100 ISO | ||||
background, f2.0, 100 ISO | center, f2.0, 100 ISO | corner, f2.0, 100 ISO |
Bright sunlight reveals the capability of this lens to reproduce high contrast scenes even wide open.
Gate: shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | ||||
Main image and all 100% crops: 35mm, f1.8, 1/2500 sec, 100 ISO This shot is also available in f2.0, f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, and f8.0 | ||||
f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO | f1.8, 100 ISO |
The following night-shot is a good test for coma. The crops show the effect from the right corner at various apertures. Stepping down to at least f4 reduces coma pretty effectively.
Landscape: night shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 | ||||
Main image 35mm, f1.8, 4 sec, 100 ISO | ||||
f1.8, 4 sec, 100 ISO | f2.8, 6 sec, 100 ISO | f4.0, 15 sec, 100 ISO |
Defocussing the lens produces nice round blobs at f1.8 which only deteriorate slightly from their round form when you look at the corners. You can also observe some outlining.
Defocussed Landscape: night shot with Nikon 35/1.8G at f1.8 on a D800 |
35mm, f1.8, 4 sec, 100 ISO |
For more examples check out all my high-resolution Nikon 35mm f/1.8G sample images.
Now check out my verdict of the lens! |