Small size.
Build quality.
Two lenses for the price of one.
Vignettes, soft(ish) wide open
Excellent and direct focus through

Vignettes, soft(ish) wide open

I have to comment that I think that many people are missing the point of this lens....

It is really two lenses in one.

It is SUPER sharp from f2.8., however, from f1.4 to f2.8 it is soft, vignettes, but the images is takes here are beautiful and dream like.

Take photos wide open of the most ordinary objects, and they become art.

Want super (SUPER) sharp, then stop it down a bit. Want amazing images that have a real quality to them, shoot it open.

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 24mm 1.4, Leica M and R, medium format....etc.

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

None

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.

Sharp, smooth focussing.

Some CA at wider apertures

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.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 35/2 AF, Nikon 28/2.8 AIS, Nikon 24/2 AIS

good when stop down...

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

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

Customer Service

nil

Similar Products Used:

AI 35/2, Contax 35/1.4

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

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

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.

Customer Service

Sometimes good, sometimes not.

Similar Products Used:

28mm/2.8 AIS 20mm/2.8 AFD

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.

Smallest 35mm F1.4 in the world, so not hestiate to carry it around. Good sharpness and flare control. Vignetting is noticable at F1.4, but no problem once step down. Very compact and well constricted lens. Price is very very attractive.

Distortion control is in average which should not be found in 35mm lenses, but such distortion is still acceptable especially in such a large aperature lens and reasonable pricing.

I bought in it in secondhand market at around HK$2600 (easily available in HK) which is much lower than other brands 35/1.4 and it still provide good performance. There is a little weakness of it, but such a price is totally recovered its little weakness. Of course, be careful when choosing this lens coz some lenses has some "little bubbles" inside between elements, I don't know whether it would affect the image quality.

Similar Products Used:

Ais 28mm F2.

The perfect example of a "dream" lens. Sharp, fast, compact, fine craftsmanship, low cost (if you can buy one for $220!), easy to handle and short minimum focus.

Canon 35mm/1.4 might be a tiny bit better wide open, but at the cost of bulk and price. From 2.8 onwards the Nikkor totally matches Canon's performance.

My all-time dream lens for travel and portrait photography due to its tremendous sharpness, extremely compact size and optimum light gathering power. An ideal (and rare) combination of compact size, top-notch optical and mechanical quality, amazing close-focusing capabilities, low (second-hand) price and fine handling characteristics has earned this 35mm/1.4 Nikkor its well-deserved legendary status! Absolutely the best $220 investment of my entire life!

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF 35mm/1.4 "L"

Ease of focus due to large aperture, great when using polerizers. The construction would be shocking to people that only owned auto-focus "toy" lenses. For the speed and focal length, this is one small lens, (look at Canon''s 35mm f/1.4!) The optics are just outstanding from f/2.8 to about f/8.0, and more than usable at full aperture for the right kind of subjects. This lens has CRC.

The lens does exhibit barrel distortion, so it would not be a first choice for architectural photography. I find that the bokeh has different characteristics depending on whether or not you are in the range that brings the CRC into use. It took a while for me to figure this out, but the floating elements do change the out of focus rendition when you come in close. After I discovered this, my pictures have more consistent bokeh, but honestly, my old Leica M 35mm Summicron can''t be beat in this area. I accept these slight weaknesses, because this is a high speed lens for journalistic use. I therefore will not let these things take away from the highest rating. For those types of photography, there are other lenses to use.

This lens was bought after my disappointment with the optically great 35mm f/2.0 auto-focus lens, which failed because of the aperture blades. Now, I think this was a blessing. If I lost every lens I own, I would get this lens first as a replacement. Add a 24mm and 105mm lens and you can do anything.

Customer Service

not used

Similar Products Used:

Every Nikkor in this focal length from ever generation and aperture. Many Leica M 35mm lens models

* Optical chrarcteristics that rival my new Leica lens from f/4 to f/5.6. * Excellent bokeh * Perfect build quality, unlike todays plastic fantastics, and yes this does include lenses like the AF-S 28-70mm f/2.8D I used to own. * Quite small and lightweight especially compared to Canon''s AF version. * Good value for money second hand if you can get one for a good deal like I obviously did- in mint condition too.

* Barrel distortion?

This is (was) my favourite (Nikon) lens after using the best Nikon has to offer, except the AF 28mm f/1.4D. Optically from f/1.4 to f/2 results are average to poor, but still usable. From f/2.8 to f5.6 results are excellent and compare to my new Leica Summilux 35mm f/1.4 Aspherical that I now use. From f/8 to f/16 results deteriorate slightly, unlike the Leica. The main weekness of this lens, besides the softness at open apertures is the barrel distortion. Otherwise, the build quality, smooth and fast focusing and optical capabilities make this a lens sharper than all other lenses i''ve owned including the AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8D....oh it probably doesn''t quite beat the AIS 28mm f/2.8 (8-element), but comes virtually as close.?

Customer Service

Terrible in Melbourne from Maxwells and their service agent`

Similar Products Used:

Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux Aspherical Nikon AIS 28mm f/2.8 Nikon AF-S 17-35mm/28-70mm f/2.8D Others- you name it(