Nikon 35mm f/2D AF Wide-Angle Nikkor Lens for Nikon 35mm and Digital SLR Cameras

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Product Details

• Item Weight: 12 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005LE72
• Item model number: B00005LE72
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 22, 2002

Product Description

Manufacturer Description

Lens-making is an art--Nikon artisans craft Nikkor optics from the finest materials, taking pride in adding their intellect and technique to bring the world's finest lenses to life. They push the leading edge of lens-making in their effort to provide the "glass" that makes the world's greatest pictures.

AF Nikkor lenses work with Nikon SLRs for optimal performance, even the very latest. The Nikon 35mm f2D AF Nikkor is a compact, lightweight wide-angle lens constructed with superb optical design for architecture, wedding, and landscape photography. It features 62-degree (44-degree with Nikon DX format) picture coverage with edge-to-edge sharpness. The perfect lens for the photographer on the go, the fast f2 maximum aperture makes this ideal for low light, hand-held shooting. It also weighs an exceptionally light 7.2 ounces and boasts a 0.85-foot close focusing distance.

Nikon Super Integrated Coating ensures exceptional performance
To enhance the performance of its optical lens elements, Nikon employs an exclusive multilayer lens coating that helps reduce ghost and flare to a negligible level. Nikon Super Integrated Coating achieves a number of objectives, including minimized reflection in the wider wavelength range and superior color balance and reproduction. Nikon Super Integrated Coating is especially effective for lenses with a large number of elements, like our Zoom-Nikkors. Also, Nikon's multilayer coating process is tailored to the design of each particular lens. The number of coatings applied to each lens element is carefully calculated to match the lens type and glass used, and also to assure the uniform color balance that characterizes Nikkor lenses. This results in lenses that meet much higher standards than the rest of the industry.

Distance information
D-type and G-type Nikkors relay subject-to-camera distance information to AF Nikon camera bodies. This then makes possible advances like 3D Matrix Metering and 3D Multi-Sensor Balanced Fill-Flash. Note: D-type and G-type Nikkors provide distance information to the following cameras: Auto exposure; F6, F5, F100, F90X, F80, F75, F70, F65, F60, F55, F50, Pronea S, Pronea 600i, D2 series, D1 series, D100 and D70s/D70. Flash control; F6, F5, F100, F90X, F80, F75, F70, D2 series, D1 series, D100, and D70s/D70 cameras.

What's in the Box:
Lens, 52mm snap-on front lens cap, rear lens cap LF-1.

Product Description

Compact and lightweight, this very fast f/2 wide-angle lens is perfect for scenic and landscape photography as well as environmental portraits

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely a 5-Star Lens!, April 30, 2008

By	Bob Denhaan (Costa Mesa, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Light, fast, sharp, and as far as I'm concerned the perfect focal length.

I started out using 50mm primes, but quickly got tired of how tight they were indoors. All my shots were becoming head/shoulder shots, and forget about trying to get two or three people in the shot without them all being posed in an "everyone squeeze together now" shot. That gets real old, real fast.

Let me emphasize that:
This lens has a much better field of view at normal shooting distances (the distance that you normally stand from your subject).

That is often overlooked, but trust me, backing up 15 feet in a crowd or a house to get your shot is tedious at best, and often impossible. It is typically easier to move in towards your subject a little (or crop the photo later) than it is to keep backing up, especially while looking into the viewfinder. I realize it's not totally fair to rate other equally sharp, good quality lenses differently, based solely on their focal length, but it is my opinion that this lens is by far the most useful in the greatest number of situations.

I also used to be fixated on huge apertures, but have since realized that most real world shooting is not done below f/2 anyway. This lens is sharp as anything out there and is great in low light. Yes, I acknowledge that f/2 isn't quite as good in super low light as other lenses out there (I know because I have a 50mm f/1.2), but it is good enough for most shooting, and below f/2 the depth of field becomes tricky anyway; so again, not as useful.

Lastly, some people don't like the plasticy feel of new lenses, but I love them. They are so much lighter and silky smooth. I've seen enough heavy, gummy, brassed-up, metal lenses in my time to know there's nothing magical about all-metal builds either. So to me it's just another modern improvement that works like a charm.

Most that I've seen tend to resell online for 90%+ of full retail value, so even if you somehow didn't like it, your risk in buying and trying is very low.

...

64 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true photographer's lens, July 13, 2007

By	M. Budimirovic (Ottawa, ON) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The 35mm f/2 AF is something of a hidden gem among Nikon lenses. It's a moderate wide angle for 35mm film cameras and a 53mm-equivalent normal lens for APS-C format digital SLRs. Either way it's a great lens to have. If you're a traditionalist you will love it. Mounted on a DSLR it is just like owning a 35mm film camera with a 50mm lens. You may even wish to substitute the kit lens with one of these if you're buying a D80 or D200. If you are really set on a normal DSLR lens the only real alternative to the Nikon 35mm f/2 is the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, which is one stop faster, but is also larger, heavier, more expensive and optically less good at f/2 and beyond.

If you're a technophile the Nikon 35mm is a little harder to justify. It is a plastic-barrelled fixed focal length lens with no SWM or VR. For a bit more money you can get the excellent Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8, which is just about as sharp and only one stop slower. For a lot more money you can get the vaunted Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR. But the Nikon 35mm f/2 has a certain elegance to it nonetheless: it's fast, sharp, lightweight, focuses down to a very close 25cm and is relatively inexpensive. It's ideal for environments where you can move back and forth a bit to frame your subject and you don't feel like carrying around a lot of heavy gear.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent lens at a good price, January 17, 2008

By	Gary Gray - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchased this lens to use on my Nikon D300. On the D300 this lens gives a standard field of view close to 50mm. It is light weight and made of plastic and easy to keep in a vest pocket. Center sharpness is good, edge sharpness is not as good wide open. The construction is not professional grade; however, I've used it quite a bit and it seems to be okay in every situation I've tried. Autofocus speed is good and quiet. The manual focus mechanism is smooth and acceptable. Bokeh is acceptable but nothing dramatic. It has a manual aperture adjustment ring and ring lock. I've also tried this lens on my Canon bodies using an adapter. On a full frame body this lens is fairly sharp wide open and vignetting is well controlled, so if you own a Nikon D3, it should work fine. I did notice a bit of corner softness on the full frame bodies. It also has mild chromatic aberration on the edges, but not excessive. For the price, it's a good prime lens and will give you as good a result as any zoom lens at 35mm. If you need better optics, you'll have to spend quite a bit more, but shooting as a professional photographer, I'd have no qualms taking this lens to any job that required this focal length.