NIKON AF-S 35MM F1.8G ED

REMARKABLY SMALL AND LIGHTWEIGHT, THE NIKON STILL PACKS A PUNCH WHEN IT COMES TO PERFORMANCE

OWN-BRAND LENSES FROM CAMERA MANUFACTURERS CAN BE NOTORIOUSLY EXPENSIVE, SO IT MAKES A PLEASANT CHANGE THAT THE NIKON AND CANON PRIMES ON TEST ARE PRETTY GOOD VALUE. DESPITE BEING A THIRD OF AN F-STOP FASTER THAN THE COMPETING CANON LENS, THE NIKON AF-S 35MM F1.8G ED IS NOTICEABLY SMALLER AND LIGHTER, WEIGHING IN AT A MODEST 305G. A SURE SIGN OF THE DOWNSIZING IS THAT THE NIKON HAS A 58MM FILTER THREAD, COMPARED WITH 67MM FOR ALL THE OTHERS IN THE GROUP.

DESPITE BEING A BIT OF A LIGHTWEIGHT, THE BUILD QUALITY OF THIS LENS FEELS PRETTY GOOD, OF A SIMILAR STANDARD TO THE COMPETING CANON LENS. ONE PLUS POINT IS THAT THE NIKON HAS A WEATHER-SEAL RING ON ITS MOUNTING PLATE, WHICH IS ABSENT ON THE CANON AND SIGMA LENSES.

AUTOFOCUS IS BASED ON THE SAME TYPE OF RING-TYPE ULTRASONIC SYSTEM THAT’S FEATURED IN ALL OF THE OTHER LENSES WE TESTED IN THIS GROUP. IT’S FAST, EFFECTIVE AND WHISPER-QUIET, AS WELL AS HAVING THE USUAL FULL-TIME MANUAL OVERRIDE. MANUAL FOCUSING IS AIDED BY A DISTANCE SCALE BUT IT’S OF LIMITED BENEFIT, WITH NO MARKINGS BETWEEN 0.7M AND INFINITY, THE POSITIONS OF WHICH ARE VERY CLOSE IN

TERMS OF ROTATIONAL ADJUSTMENT OF THE FOCUS RING. ACCURATE ZONE FOCUSING THEREFORE ISN’T REALLY AN OPTION. ON THE PLUS SIDE THOUGH, THE USUAL DIRECTIONAL INDICATORS FOR MANUAL FOCUSING ARE AVAILABLE IN THE VIEWFINDER OF NIKON DSLRS. AT THE WIDE END OF THE APERTURE RANGE, SHARPNESS AT THE CORNERS OF THE FRAME DROPS OFF MORE THAN WITH ANY OF THE OTHER LENSES ON TEST. BETTER NEWS IS THAT CENTRE SHARPNESS REALLY IS EXCELLENT BETWEEN F2.8 AND F11. VIGNETTING IS A LITTLE MORE SEVERE THAN WITH MOST COMPETING LENSES AND THE SEVEN-BLADE DIAPHRAGM ISN’T THE MOST WELLROUNDED BUT, OVERALL, THE IMAGE QUALITY IS VERY PLEASING.