Nikon NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G Lens, 2183

This is a very very sharp prime lens with autofocus. It takes pictures so clear and pleasing that the kit lens generally can’t come close to this quality. This lens is good for low lights as well. It is NOT A ZOOM lens…for people who are looking to get this as their main lens. This is perhaps the sharpest nikkor lense you can get for general purpose indoor use. Get an external flash and the results will be even better.

IS THIS FOR PORTRAITS?
Yes and no. Good for full or half body portraits but not good for head shots on DX cameras.
This is good for general purpose photography. I have tried portraits with this lens and while there is no problem that people notice at first, anybody can see the difference when shown a portrait or a head shot taken with a 105 or 135 mm. See, the thing is that in portrait pictures, you do not want too much depth. If you want to take a head shot with this lens, you have to stand so close to the subject that the tip of the nose and ears both can’t be in focus at the same time. There is also a subtle distortion of facial feature when you are so close to the subject. Of course you can stand a bit further and crop your picture later but it is not ideal. On the other hand, if you want to take a portrait snap of half or full body, this is a good lens for that.
My tests show that for portraits, you need a combination of focal lengths ranging from 70 mm to 105mm(DX format cameras such as nikon d5100). If you have a full format camera, you will shoot best portraits using lenses ranging from 85 to 135mm or so. No professional photographer will use this as their main portrait lens. So, if you want to shoot portraits, get a different lens as well. The best general purpose travel or outdoors lens is 18-200 mm f3.5 nikkor but that is at least $900 new.

The bokeh on this lens is very very good as well and this is what makes things stand out. I showed a picture of my daughter taken at f1.8 in bright light outdoors to her and he reaction was that “it looks like a photo from a movie”. That is what excellent bokeh means to people who just look at pictures but don’t know what bokeh is. Even to them, bokeh makes portraits pleasing. Your kit lens will generally not provide this kind of bokeh, in fact it won’t even come close.

Auto focus is fast. The lens is quite small and will be no problem to carry around. videos with this are also very good. On my Nikon d 5100, the videos are affected badly due to the auto focus noise and speed if the subject is moving or you pan the camera. The auto focus is fast but not fast enough for videos.

If you are a serious photographer, then you should have at least one prime lense suitable for your main purpose. I am not a professional but I still have this and a Rokinon 85 mm 1.4f. I will eventually get the 18-200 zoom but for now, I am happy with my prime lenses. People are stunned at the quality of pictures that this lens can take. For people who have mostly used point and shoot cameras, this will blow their mind. I also use an external flash and it makes things look even better.

For hobbyists looking to setup a home studio, a strobe light setup will help immensely. For those looking to shoot models, this is not the best lens. Get a longer and fast telephoto for that. If you are just trying a DSLR for the time, and will mostly shoot in good light, get the kit lens or another zoom of your choice and you will be happy. Sometimes, knowing less about photo equipment is a blessing as it is very easy to know so much that you will find it hard to afford the expensive gear you read about. Great photos can still be taken with kit lenses. Limit equipment research to a reasonable level and focus more on the pictures. It is much more fun to take pictures than to worry about that 400 mm f1.8 that most can’t afford and quite frankly don’t need.

I was looking at getting either this lens or the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens. The 50mm lens was only $135, but doesn’t autofocus on the D40 which is my camera. I know I am looking to upgrade to the D90 soon, so that wasn’t as much of an issue, but something to consider as I purchased a prime lens. Of course this 35mm lens does autofocus on the D40, so that was one point in it’s favor.

Truly my main reason for purchasing this lens was to use in low light, indoors, typically at home during family functions. The photos are sharp! I even had all the lights turned off in the basement and took photos of my son, and WOW,it gave nice, natural tones to his skin and his eyes are amazing in the photos. I have to get closer to my subject(s) than with the 50mm, but when you are in a room that is crowded and you are trying to get a photo with everyone in it, you don’t have to back up very far. With the 50mm, you need much more room to backup to get the same shot including all the subjects. My sisters kitchen is small. My little neice was about to blow out the candles, and I got not only her, but mom and dad in the photo as well. I would not have enough room to backup and get the same shot with the 50mm lens.

Being able to take photos in low light (indoors) without a flash is very handy, and paticuallary when you are in a situation where flashes aren’t allowed. (I have been at several museums, historical homes during a tour, and even a 50th anniversary ceremony at a church were photos were ok, but no flash allowed). The last wedding I was at, everyone was taking photos and the photographer said that was ok while she was shooting, but no flashes please because it intereferred with her shots. Everyone had to stop taking photos, because they needed their flashes to get a decent shot. How nice to be the one able to continue to shoot photos and not have to put my camera away. I didn’t need a flash.

I also had to consider price. I got this lens for $199 with free shipping. I ordered this and waited a little over 4 weeks to recieve it. If you are looking at this lens, and order DIRECTLY from Amazon, the price is $199. It will say “not in, stock order now and we will deliver as soon as available”. I didn’t really want to wait, especially knowing I could order the 50mm that day, and get it in a week, but I knew if I was to choose between the 2 lenses, I wanted this one. I don’t think it is justified paying the $300+ price just to get the one in stock. My opinion, order the one listed at $199, and be willing to wait, like I said, mine arrived about 4 weeks after ordering it.

Pros: Absolutely sharp photos in low light.
Price, if you are willing to wait, totally worth every penny.
Fast and light lens.
You can shoot indoors with low light without a flash.

Cons: Only one I can think of is waiting a full month to recieve.
But I would do it again in a heartbeat for a fantastic lens.

Comprei pro meu pai que é fotógrafo. A imagem muito nítida, produto de qualidade, vale a pena a compra.

I gave 1 star for “image stabilization” as this lens does not have that feature. TBH you don’t need it on a lens like this. If your pictures are blurry, you need to look at your camera technique!
So what’s good about it?
The picture quality from this lens is comparable to much more expensive lenses. It is significantly better than most kit lenses that come with DX nikon cameras. It has very low distortion and has a field of view comparable to what you see, so perfect for reportage, travel, landscapes etc.
It’s also really fast – i.e. it goes down to f1.8 which means you can shoot with a lower ISO and still have a good shutter speed in lower lighting. It also means you can shoot really professional looking portraits with a lovely blurry background or beautiful bokeh if you have christmas lights or such like about 20 feet or more behind the subject. The final comment is that this lens is very small and light, and is now my preferred ‘default’ lens if i’m out and about with the camera without a specific shot in mind. Being a prime lens, you can’t zoom in or out, so you need to position yourself to get the best shot, and that encourages more creative photography I think. Great little lens for the money!