Reviewed by
Augusto Silva , Expert

Price Paid
$300.00

Photography Experience
21+ years , People

Summary
Lovely lens. Really nice to find such a small 35mm 1.4. Some vignetting at 1.4 (I love it...I wish it had the same when stopped down). Was the last missing lens on my Nikon set. I am using it to digital cinematography and as a full frame lens meets my expectations completely...I wish Nikon kept manufacturing the AI-S.

Strengths
Small
fast
precise and smooth focus
color matched with the other AI-S

Weaknesses
None

Reviewed by
patrickh41 , Intermediate

Price Paid
$350.00 at ebay

Photography Experience
11-20 years

Summary
Beautifully built (like most of Nikon's AI/AIS lines), very sharp, good colors, nice contrast and very pleasant boke. On a D200 acts like a 50mm lens, making it a very good contender as walkaround lens. Good in low light since sharpness is pretty good wide open.

Strengths
Sharp, smooth focussing.

Weaknesses
Some CA at wider apertures

Similar Products Used
Nikon 35/2 AF, Nikon 28/2.8 AIS, Nikon 24/2 AIS

Reviewed by
fishyu , Expert

Price Paid
$500.00 at Second hand

Photography Experience
6-10 years , Outdoor

Summary
Not bad, however not that good for the price I have paid. For that money I did expect something better, however things came out not quite as i expected. This lens suffers from extreme softness and sevre light loss in corners in wide open, and does not improve until it is stopped down to f2.8 or f4 .(You can see an almost two stop darker at corners then in centre when wide open) What is the point of buying a 1.4 lens and stop it down? I sell it and get a 35 f2

Strengths
good when stop down...

Weaknesses
loads... soft, light loss in corners...waste of money

Similar Products Used
AI 35/2, Contax 35/1.4

Customer Service
nil

Reviewed by
radarman931@optonline.net , Expert

Price Paid
$500.00 at bh photo

Photography Experience
21+ years , Outdoor

Summary
Although this lens has a perfect rating on this site, I find this is a very poor performer optically. Images are soft with no contrast at all apetures.

If you are looking for a sharp wide angle consider the 28mm/2.8 ais or the 20mm/2.8 AFD. The 20mm AFD is the sharpest lens I have ever used. It rivals the optical quality of the 60mm/2.8 AFD Micro lens, if not better. The beauty of this lens is that it takes it all in and you can crop out unwanted items and still get a tack sharp print of what is left.

Strengths
Build quality and operation is excellent as are all the Nikon AIS lenses.

Weaknesses
Poor optical performance. The cost you must pay for this lens gives you no value for your money.

Similar Products Used
28mm/2.8 AIS
20mm/2.8 AFD

Customer Service
Sometimes good, sometimes not.

Reviewed by
DJ Soroka , Expert , from NY, NY, USA

Price Paid
$660.00 at B&H PhotoVideo

Photography Experience
21+ years , People

Summary
Neat lens. Really excellent from f/2.8 thru f/8.

Field curvature makes it appear as if subject (people) 5-10 feet away float on the film, a sort of 3D effect.

At f/1.4, its usable, and improves markedly when stopped down a bit.

A great lens. You won't regret owning this beauty.

Similar Products Used
About 60 Nikon lenses, 5 Leica/Contax lenses.