AF Nikkor 35mm f2 vintage lens review
The lens is made of plastic, it weights around 200g, it is 45 to 52mm long
and it has an external diameter of 64mm, with a 52mm front thread.
The iris has 7 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f2 to f22 without half steps.
The focusing ring is rubberized, it turns 140 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 25cm.
The Nikon F mount has a flange distance of 46,5mm.
It is compact and light and won’t throw off the balance of your camera, but as all lenses of this series I find the aperture ring annoying to use.
Sharpness wide open is good but not great in the center, with visibly darker and softer corners. By f8 it gets sharp all over the frame.
And here you can see how much it distorts.
Chromatic aberration can be seen even up to f8, but it’s usually not too distracting.
Colors are fairly natural with good contrast and low saturation.
Specular highlights can be big and soft or have hard edges and radial gradients.
Overall I like this lens: it is small and versatile, it has good center sharpness and details wide open and the focusing is precise.
It works well for both portraits and a casual hike or stroll downtown, plus it is very unassuming for its capabilities.
Sure, there’s chromatic aberration and vignetting at wider apertures, but even at f2 it is very useable.
What I’ve learned so far by testing all of these Nikkor lenses is that the D line is a noticeable improvement over the rest in terms of image quality.
The iris has 7 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f2 to f22 without half steps.
The focusing ring is rubberized, it turns 140 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 25cm.
The Nikon F mount has a flange distance of 46,5mm.
It is compact and light and won’t throw off the balance of your camera, but as all lenses of this series I find the aperture ring annoying to use.
Sharpness wide open is good but not great in the center, with visibly darker and softer corners. By f8 it gets sharp all over the frame.
And here you can see how much it distorts.
Chromatic aberration can be seen even up to f8, but it’s usually not too distracting.
Colors are fairly natural with good contrast and low saturation.
Specular highlights can be big and soft or have hard edges and radial gradients.
Overall I like this lens: it is small and versatile, it has good center sharpness and details wide open and the focusing is precise.
It works well for both portraits and a casual hike or stroll downtown, plus it is very unassuming for its capabilities.
Sure, there’s chromatic aberration and vignetting at wider apertures, but even at f2 it is very useable.
What I’ve learned so far by testing all of these Nikkor lenses is that the D line is a noticeable improvement over the rest in terms of image quality.
Comments
Post a Comment