Nikkor AF 35mm f/2D

Back in the days when I was shooting Velvia film, the AF 35mm f/2D lens was one of my favorite lenses. I have used this lens successfully for landscapes, environmental portraits, group shots and street candid’s. But the DX format has robbed the lens form its mild wide effect resulting in an angle of view similar to a standard 50mm lens.

Build

First let’s get some specs out of the way. The AF 35mm f/2D lens has 6 elements in 5 groups and has shown to be a better optical performer than the earlier, manual-focus eight-element design which it replaced. It also focuses closer than the manual version (0.25m).

Like most of the small primes built in the 90’s, the AF 35mm f/2D lens is mainly made of metal and plastic and is unobtrusive when mounted. Plus at 205gr it’s also very lightweight. The mount is chrome plated brass and the outer shells are polycarbonate and the inner shell protrudes when focusing up close without rotating so filters can be used.

When compared to my wobbly Thailand built AF 50mm f/1.4D lens, the construction of the Japanese built AF 35mm f/2D lens feels much better with tighter tolerances and has no wobble whatsoever. The manual focus ring feels OK and pretty precise, though to be able to use manual focusing effortlessly you would need a bright and clear 100% viewfinder as found in the D2x or D3. With darker viewfinders such as those on the D70 and D200, focusing is best performed by the camera (AF). Overall the construction is good and has proven over the years to be very rugged. I once dropped my first copy of this lens 1.5 meters onto the ground (hard dirt and stone) and it survived without any hiccups.

Fisherman on Lemnos Island, Greece. Shot with Nikon F5, AF 35mm f/2D lens and Fuji Provia 100 @ 200 ISO. Exposure was 1/500 @ f/5.6.

There are a lot of reports of this lens having a problem with sticky aperture blades due to a change in the lubricant used. Some production runs of various Nikkor lenses between 1999 and 2000 used this faulty oil. I haven’t had this problem with this particular lens, but any authorised Nikon repair centre can clean the blades and replace the lubricant.

Optical performance

This lens performs best between f/4-f/16. Wide open the performance doesn’t impress since some softness and light fall-off are evident towards the edges. Also contrast is low up to about f/2.8. Wide open produces a soft image resembling the effects of a dream filter. One click of the aperture dial to f/2.2 and the effect disappears with a large improvement both in contrast and in sharpness, but still far from being good. Most users may want to avoid using this lens wide or near wide open and limit its range between f/2.8 and f/13 for best performance. From f/2.8 the optical performance starts to improve with f/4 being very good and excellent from f/5.6 onwards.

A quick grab shot at f/2.2 looks promising, but others perform better.

A 100% screengrab at f/2.2. The result is a little on the soft side with contrast lacking, but still pretty good when printed especially after some photoshop tweaking.

This little lens doesn’t flare easily, but when it does its only in a mild manner, so I would recommend the use of the HN-3 hood and the removal of any unnecessary filters, especially when shooting against the light.

A lonely tree during a winter rain. Used a Nikon F5 and AF 35mm f/2D lens on Fuji Velvia 50 ISO film. Exposure was f/16 @ 1/8, tripod mounted.

You don't need to worry about distortion with this lens since its non detectable unless you shoot a brick wall. In such a case you may notice some slight barrel distortion that in most cases will go unnoticed.

Use

Today most small lenses are valued for their lightweight and unobtrusiveness as long as they can perform well. Unfortunately the AF 35mm f/2D lens although sharp has two drawbacks, first its lost its wide effect and secondly its not very good wide open, so its usefulness is narrowed to become a decent standard 50mm lens for the DX format. So if you like the 50mm perspective then this may suit you.

When i first hiked to get to the Fatsands on Lemnos island (years before the road was opened) i used a Nikon F801 and a 35mm lens for the hot and dusty conditions. No exposure recorded.

My recommendation

If you don’t already own it and are shopping for a low light performer, don’t buy this lens! Look at the MF 35mm f/1.4, AF 50mm f/1.4D or even the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. Thinking of using it for scapes? Well as I have already mentioned, back when I was using film this was my sharpest landscape lens, but I have since replaced it with the AFS 17-35mm f/2.8D zoom. And come to think of it, most modern Nikkor zooms that cover the 35mm focal length perform just as good if not better. So this once lovely lens is now outdated and probably will only regain some attention on the FX format.

IN SUMMARY

Chromatic aberrations

No CA’s to worry about.

Vignetting
On the DX format cameras there is some light fall off when shooting wide or near wide open. It mostly goes unnoticed so I wouldn’t worry about it. From f/2.8 onwards it’s totally gone.

Distortion
On the DX format cameras no distortion is noticeable unless you shoot a brick wall. In such a case, you may be able to detect some minor barrel distortion.

Sharpness

Between f/5.6 and f/11 this lens can produce stunning results. Wide open though it can be a bit too soft. One click to f/2.2 improves sharpness and from f/2.8 results are much better.

NOTES

Unfortunately for DX users, this lens hasn’t much to offer.

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MTF chart as published by Nikon

How to read the MTF chart