Nikon 35mm f/1.4 Nikkor AI-S Reviews

Rating
Reviewed by:

patrickh41
( Intermediate)

Review Date
June 3, 2007

Overall Rating
4 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Review 1 of 11

Price Paid: $350.00 from ebay

Summary:

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.

Strengths:

Sharp, smooth focussing.

Weaknesses:

Some CA at wider apertures

Similar Products Used:

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

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Rating
Reviewed by:

fishyu
( Expert)

Review Date
October 2, 2004

Overall Rating
2 of 5

Value Rating
1 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
2.18 of 5,
11 votes

Review 2 of 11

Price Paid: $500.00 from Second hand

Summary:

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

Strengths:

good when stop down...

Weaknesses:

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

Similar Products Used:

AI 35/2, Contax 35/1.4

Customer Service:

nil

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Rating
Reviewed by:

radarman931@optonline.net
( Expert)

Review Date
August 4, 2004

Overall Rating
1 of 5

Value Rating
1 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.09 of 5,
11 votes

Review 3 of 11

Price Paid: $500.00 from bh photo

Summary:

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.

Strengths:

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

Weaknesses:

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

Similar Products Used:

28mm/2.8 AIS 20mm/2.8 AFD

Customer Service:

Sometimes good, sometimes not.

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Rating
Reviewed by: DJ Soroka
(Expert)

Review Date
June 21, 2003

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5,
2 votes

Review 4 of 11

Price Paid: $660.00 from B&H PhotoVideo

Summary:

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.

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Rating
Reviewed by:
(Casual)

Review Date
March 19, 2003

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5,
4 votes

Review 5 of 11

Price Paid: $0.00

Summary:

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.

Strengths:

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.

Weaknesses:

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.

Similar Products Used:

Ais 28mm F2.

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