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Nikkor AF 35mm f/2 D (FX) - Review / Test Report |
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Lens Reviews -
Nikon / Nikkor (full format)
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Review by Markus Stamm, published February 2011
Introduction
35 mm lenses have seen some sort of revival in the digital age, because for users of cameras with APS-C sensors these lenses offered almost the same picture angle as a 50mm lens on film cameras and thus were chosen by many as their normal primes.
One of these popular lenses in the Nikon community is the Nikkor AF-D 35/2.0. It initially was and of course still is meant to be used as a moderate wide angle prime on full frame cameras. So let's see how this somewhat aged design (introduced in 1995) behaves on our FX test camera, the Nikon D3x.
The build quality of the lens is very good and in line with most moderately
priced Nikkors. The outer barrel is made of polycarbonate combined with a
metal mount. The small rubberized focus ring is very smooth and only marginally damped, but rotates during AF operation.
Typical for lenses with a linear extension system the whole
inner tube moves during focusing thus extending the lens when focusing towards
closer focus distances.
The lens has no internal AF motor and relies on a slotted drive screw operated by the camera, so AF is not available on the motor-free entry level Nikon DSLRs. As a result of the screw drive, AF operation will generate a moderate degree of noise.
The front element does not rotate so using a polarizer is no problem.
| Specifications |
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| Optical construction | 6 elements in 5 groups |
| Number of aperture blades | 7 |
| min. focus distance | 0.25 m (max. magnification ratio 1:4.2) |
| Dimensions | 65 x 45 mm |
| Weight | 205 g |
| Filter size | 52 mm (non-rotating) |
| Hood | Nikon HN-3 (optional), barrel shaped (screw-in) |
| Other features | Lens reports distance (D) information to camera |
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