Nikon 50mm f1.8 and 35mm f1.8

swordjo

swordjo

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Jonathan
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Been having a look at these two as they seem to be decent for the price (£100 and £165).

I've seen loads of threads with people using the 50mm but not so many with the 35mm. Is there a reason for this, or is the 50 just more 'in fashion'?

Obviously the 35mm would be a little better indoors, but was just wondering if I would be better going for the 50mm as a first prime lens?
 
A nice prime for the crop sensor of your camera would be 28mm ƒ2.8, its a cracker of a lens on DX body.

Regards

Nigel
 
I assume thats well above the prices of the 35mm?

Edit just checked and they can be had for around £180.
 
35mm all the way. For me, 50mm is neither fish nor fowl, too long for indoors, too short for outdoors. The 50 may have some uses for gigs and street candid.

I think loads of people buy a 50mm for a crop sensor expecting it to be the same as a traditional fifty on a film camera, and then get a surprise.

For me, 35mm = 50% shooting time, 50mm = 1% shooting time.
 
Ok cheers... so the 28mm and the 35mm have both been recommended. Is this going to be a harder one to compare that the 35/50?

This is going to be tougher than I thought!
 
swordjo said:
Ok cheers... so the 28mm and the 35mm have both been recommended. Is this going to be a harder one to compare that the 35/50?

This is going to be tougher than I thought!
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Dead simple - width v speed.

f/1.8 is a lot faster than f/2.8.

I actually hanker after a 28mm prime, I feel it would give the ultimate "normal" field of view. However at f/2.8 it's not much faster than the kit lens, maybe I could just use that. f/2 would be a different story. I think Sigma do an f/1.8 28mm.
 
I have the 35mm f/1.8 on my D60 and love it. I think the nifty fifty is so popular because of the price and its speed, so why spend nearly double if you can make do with the 50mm.
 
martsharm said:
I think Sigma do an f/1.8 28mm.
Click to expand...

They do a 30mm f/1.4 which is a cracking lens, just to confuse issues even more. However, between the 30 and the 50 I use the 50 pretty much most of the time. The 1/4 version is high up on my list :love:
 
Think the Sigma 28mm f/1.8 and 30mm f/1.4 are out of my budget just now (just getting started).

I am getting drawn to the 35mm f/1.8. Anyone got pics they have taken with the 35mm? Some from the Nikon 28mm f/2.8 would be nice too.

cheers

Jonathan
 
swordjo said:
Think the Sigma 28mm f/1.8 and 30mm f/1.4 are out of my budget just now (just getting started).

I am getting drawn to the 35mm f/1.8. Anyone got pics they have taken with the 35mm? Some from the Nikon 28mm f/2.8 would be nice too.

cheers

Jonathan
Click to expand...

Pbase is always a good resource for sample pictures, if you click on the Nikon bit at the top of these links it will take you back to the main page, scroll down to find any Nikon lens sample pictures.

35mm f1.8

28mm f2.8
 
I think the 35mm f/1.8 may have won this little battle. 50mm is tempting for the price but most of the time the prime will be used indoors and of the reviews it seems the 35mm should cope better inside?
 
Any thoughts on the Sigma 24mm f/2.8?

Think this could be manual focus, so a no no as i'd like AF.
 
I went for the 35mm and am very glad I did, its great in low light and actually usable indoors at parties etc, the 50mm would be just too restrictive, you can't walk back through a wall! Yes the 50mm is cheaper but the 35mm is more usable IMO. AF is fast and silent too.
 
JamesH said:
I went for the 35mm and am very glad I did, its great in low light and actually usable indoors at parties etc, the 50mm would be just too restrictive, you can't walk back through a wall! Yes the 50mm is cheaper but the 35mm is more usable IMO. AF is fast and silent too.
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Thanks James, I do like the idea of a wide fastish prime and the 35mm seems to fit the bill. I have been advised the 24mm f/2.8 will auto focus on my camera (and it's only £70). Still not sure whether I want the extra width of the 24mm or the speed of the 35mm!
 
I'm also considering the two lensesnin question.

Mine will be mostly uses for portraits so would imagine the 50mm to be the best option with the cropped sensor on my D60?
 
From what I've read the 35mm will give more of a 50mm look on the cropped sensor? I'm not sure if the 50mm's auto focus on the D60 either?
 
swordjo said:
From what I've read the 35mm will give more of a 50mm look on the cropped sensor? I'm not sure if the 50mm's auto focus on the D60 either?
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No it's not which is my only worry, although I hope to upgrade to a D90 in 6months which it will AF on.

I just think the 75mm that the 50mm will give on the cropped body is a better focal length for portraits?!
 
i'm with the above, think on a cropped sensor the 50mm giving an equivalent of 75mm would be better for portraits; with obvious limitations indoors when shooting small groups though, unless it's a bigger room

out of curiosity, do people tend to use a flash option aswell in low light conditions with these lens?
 
If I was to buy the 35mm for my D60 which has AF in the lens but then
upgraded to the D90 at a later date which has AF in the body what would
then happen?

Would I switch to manual on the lens and let the AF body on the D90 do the
work?

I would probably buy the 50mm if upgrading to a full frame in the future
but as the D90 I'm thinking of upgrading to isn't I'm thinking the 35mm is
the one.
 
dan_yorkshire said:
If I was to buy the 35mm for my D60 which has AF in the lens but then
upgraded to the D90 at a later date which has AF in the body what would
then happen?

Would I switch to manual on the lens and let the AF body on the D90 do the
work?

I would probably buy the 50mm if upgrading to a full frame in the future
but as the D90 I'm thinking of upgrading to isn't I'm thinking the 35mm is
the one.
Click to expand...

on the 35mm i let the lens do all the focussing. out of all my lenses the 35 has the fastest focus, its blindingly quick.if my memory serves me you cant decide who does the autofucusing on newer lenses with the lens motor built in. Its lens all the time.

the 50mm you would have to flick the switch on the d90 body to make the camera do the autofocusing, and on your d60 the 50mm would be manual focus only
 
seventythree said:
on the 35mm i let the lens do all the focussing. out of all my lenses the 35 has the fastest focus, its blindingly quick.if my memory serves me you cant decide who does the autofucusing on newer lenses with the lens motor built in. Its lens all the time.

the 50mm you would have to flick the switch on the d90 body to make the camera do the autofocusing, and on your d60 the 50mm would be manual focus only
Click to expand...

Great, so there would be no AF problems with the 35mm DX on a D90?

Thought the AF systems might clash and cause problems... delayed focus for example?
 
dan_yorkshire said:
If I was to buy the 35mm for my D60 which has AF in the lens but then
upgraded to the D90 at a later date which has AF in the body what would
then happen?
Click to expand...

It would carry on auto focusing in exactly the same way as it does on the D60.

The D90 will know it has an AF S lens mounted and disengage the in body motor system.
 
Martyn... said:
Everything from the old D50 up through to the D3X has in body focus motors, and all AF S lenses work 100% on those, no clash to worry about :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Brilliant, thanks for your help
 
I would go for the 35mm on a crop - makes for a much better focal length IMO!
 
Just another quick one. How noticeable is the differnce between f/1.8 and f/2.8 on a wide prime lens. Would I be hankering for something quicker if I went for a 24mm 2.8?
 
Depends on what light your talking about, the f1.8 has great low low light capabiites from my experiance, at f2.8 you just cant get the same shutter speeds.
 
This little snap illustrates the very shallow depth of field possible @ f/1.8 with the 35mm:



It's not possible to get as dramatic an effect @ f/2.8.

The great thing about a 35mm focal length is it can look reasonably wide outdoors, and can do a good job of portraits in the absence of a longer lens. A 28mm or less focal length is about width, which is great for landscapes but not as good for details or people. The 35mm f/1.8 focuses very close as well.

Here's a couple of examples in full-on low light mode:

Michael and Emily Eavis:

Nikon D40, 35mm @ f/1.8, 1/125, ISO 400

Glastonbury from the hill:

Nikon D40, 35mm @ f/1.8, 1/15, ISO 1600, hand-held

In particular you can see from the last shot where I've focussed on the group in the lower left, how sharp the lens is in the far corners even in challenging light @ f/1.8. Very pleasing.
 
Thanks mate, I think I have made up my mind(at last) and i shall be going for the 35mm F/1.8. I might even buy a 2nd hand 50mm at some point just to test it, as they always sell quickly again.
 
Thanks guys, very interesting thread. Although I had already placed my order for a 35mm its nice to have jolly good reasons for my decision. It should arrive at any moment, I can't wait.
 
Just ordered the 35mm one myself.

From Jessops and with 4% back on quidco it worked out at £162ish....

Cant wait to use it.
 
dan_yorkshire said:
Just ordered the 35mm one myself.

From Jessops and with 4% back on quidco it worked out at £162ish....

Cant wait to use it.
Click to expand...


:thumbs:, glad to see my complete lack of knowledge:bonk: and mutiple question have helped people get some answers:lol:
 
swordjo said:
:thumbs:, glad to see my complete lack of knowledge:bonk: and mutiple question have helped people get some answers:lol:
Click to expand...

I didnt take much convincing, was hovering over the 'buy' button on the website long before asking on here....

:thumbs:
 
dan_yorkshire said:
I didnt take much convincing, was hovering over the 'buy' button on the website long before asking on here....

:thumbs:
Click to expand...


Same as me mate, just need the nod from a few people(would have probably bought it anyway) and then the card number gets banged into the website:lol:
 
p1tse said:
i'm with the above, think on a cropped sensor the 50mm giving an equivalent of 75mm would be better for portraits; with obvious limitations indoors when shooting small groups though, unless it's a bigger room

out of curiosity, do people tend to use a flash option aswell in low light conditions with these lens?
Click to expand...

I have an SB400 that I take in case I want to use flash, most of the time its not needed, however sometimes you want to use a higher shutter speed so its useful to use, I just bounce the flash to avoid harsher flash light.

Another thing to remember that at f1.8 you have very little DOF so trying to get several people in focus can be harder, espescially after they (and you!) have had a few drinks :) so using a flash to increase aperture is needed. Depends on your style of shooting though.

Even at f1.8 you will be using slower shutter speeds, but I love the high ISO range of the D90, even up to 1600 produces very nice images so I usually put that to around 1000 and adjust shutter and aperture to suit.

I really love my 35mm f1.8, I took it with me to Vietnam and it was great as an unobtrusive night lens, also produced quite nice videos too, all this under light I thought would be impossible to work in.
 
Looks like I'll need to look into a flash aswell now. I fancied a quick lens for my girlfriend sisters wedding next year. They have a Pro doing the shoot but I wanted to capture some of the things that he might not see (as he doesn't personally know the bride and family, I know who too look out for!)
 
I like the SB400, I bought an off camera cable for it as well but haven't used it yet. The only thing with the SB400 is that it only rotates the flash unit rather than the whole thing, so portraits with bounce you might need the cable as you cant trigger it wirelessly (as far as I know). Its a nice unobtrusive flash though and better than the onboard, also lasts for ages with some NIMH batteries I have in it! I would consider maybe the SB600 in the future but for now I am happy.
 
bit of the topic now, but wished the sb400 had a rotating head, as above it's a nice size
 
Would one of the cheapo rotating ebay jobs do me in the mean time while I save up for a decent flash (and the other lenses I wish to buy too).
 
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