I've always wondered why Nikon hasn't opted to issue a 35mm f1.4 AF Nikkor lens, since the manual focusing version has been regarded by many as among its finest optics. The slower 35mm f2 is a fine performer in its own right, though it does not equal the 35mm f1.4 with respect to fine contrast and resolution at its maximum lens aperture. This autofocus 35mm f2 Nikkor lens is based optically on the same lens formula as the now discontinued manual focus 35mm f2; a lens design which dates from the late 1960s. Having used both the 35mm f1.4 and 35mm f2 lenses when I owned manual focusing Nikon SLR equipment, I found both to be excellent lenses, especially when stopped down to f5.6 and below. I strongly suspect that this autofocus 35mm f2 Nikkor lens is a capable performer in its own right, offering more contrast and minimal barrel distortion in comparison to all but the best of Nikon's autofocus wide angle zoom lenses. Anyone interested in "street" documentary photography will find this lens an ideal companion to a lightweight, relatively compact, Nikon autofocus SLR camera; effectively an autofocus SLR equivalent to the Leica and Zeiss Ikon rangefinder cameras with their 35mm lenses.

Very sharp lens, high contrast, good build quality

I ordered this item back in Sept of 2006. Amazon still hasn't delivered the item -- don't belive it when they say they will deliver in one or two months -- it will never happen. Amazon just keeps moving the delivery date back every month. Buy from some somebody like B&H -- they normally have the item in stock. I have contacted Amazon multiple times -all I get is the run around.

The 35mm f/2 AF is something of a hidden gem among Nikon lenses. It's a moderate wide angle for 35mm film cameras and a 53mm-equivalent normal lens for APS-C format digital SLRs. Either way it's a great lens to have. If you're a traditionalist you will love it. Mounted on a DSLR it is just like owning a 35mm film camera with a 50mm lens. You may even wish to substitute the kit lens with one of these if you're buying a D80 or D200. If you are really set on a normal DSLR lens the only real alternative is the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, which is one stop faster, but is also larger, heavier, more expensive and less good at f/2 and beyond.

If you're a technophile the Nikon 35mm is a little harder to justify. It is a plastic-barrelled fixed focal length lens with no SWM or VR. For a bit more money you can get the excellent Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8, which is just about as sharp and only one stop slower. For a lot more money you can get the vaunted Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR. But the Nikon 35mm f/2 has a certain elegance to it nonetheless: it's fast, sharp, lightweight, focuses down to a very close 25cm and is relatively inexpensive. It's ideal for environments where you can move back and forth a bit to frame your subject and you don't feel like carrying around a lot of heavy gear.

Sharp as a tack wide open. The manual focus ring operates smooth as silk, unlike some other Nikon lenses. My copy backfocuses ever so slightly on test charts, but in the real world focuses flawlessly. Quality built in Japan. This is a must have for a DSLR.

I agree that Nikon should make a 35mm f/1.4D, or better yet a 28mm f/1.4D. The f/1.8 (the 50mm) and f/2.0 (the 35mm) just barely squeek by as usable for available light street photography at night, unless you go to an ISO over 400 (which on my D80 is at the limit of usable at night in terms of noise).

Ordered this lense for a new Nikon D40x SLR Camera. Long story short, the lense that came with the camera had a wider angle on it than this $300 lense. In talking to Nikon about it they told me that this lense is meant for a 35mm film camera and not the SLR Cameras.

I purchased this lens to use on my Nikon D300. On the D300 this lens gives a standard field of view close to 50mm. It is light weight and made of plastic and easy to keep in a vest pocket. Center sharpness is good, edge sharpness is not as good wide open. The construction is not professional grade; however, I've used it quite a bit and it seems to be okay in every situation I've tried. Autofocus speed is good and quiet. The manual focus mechanism is smooth and acceptable. Bokeh is acceptable but nothing dramatic. It has a manual aperture adjustment ring and ring lock. I've also tried this lens on my Canon bodies using an adapter. On a full frame body this lens is fairly sharp wide open and vignetting is well controlled, so if you own a Nikon D3, it should work fine. I did notice a bit of corner softness on the full frame bodies. It also has mild chromatic aberration on the edges, but not excessive. For the price, it's a good prime lens and will give you as good a result as any zoom lens at 35mm. If you need better optics, you'll have to spend quite a bit more, but shooting as a professional photographer, I'd have no qualms taking this lens to any job that required this focal length.

Das 35er wird schon lange nicht mehr als echtes Weitwinkel angesehen, weil es vielfach als Standardobjektiv eingesetzt wurde und auch heute noch bei den digitalen Kompaktkameras häufig als kürzeste Brennweite (bezogen auf Kleinbild) dient. Auf der Suche nach einem lichtstarken und kompakten Normalobjektiv mußte ich feststellen, daß die 50er - bedingt durch den kleineren Sensor im APS-C-Format - an meiner D200 schon in Richtung Portraittele gehen. Ich entschied mich deshalb für das klassische 35mm-Nikkor. Hat es beim Kleinbildfilm einen Bildwinkel von 62°, so bleiben beim Nikon-DX-Format noch 44° übrig. Zum Vergleich: das 50mm bietet beim Kleinbild sogar 46°, das Mikro-Nikkor 55mm liegt bei 43°.
Positives kann ich an diesem Nikonobjektiv festhalten: geringe, aber durchaus sichtbare, tonnenförmige Verzeichnung; im DX-Format keine Abschattung in den Ecken dank des großen Bildkreises; Nahgrenze von nur 25cm (aber ohne CRC-Ausgleich); schneller Autofokus (kein AF-S!); Blendenskala von 2 bis 22; klassisches Nikkor mit hoher Abwärtskompatiblität; leicht abgeblendet als optisch gut bis sehr gut zu bezeichnen; hochwertige Verarbeitungsqualität - wer darauf Wert legt: es ist "Made in Japan"; klein und leicht bei hoher Lichtstärke; geringe Gegenlichtempfindlichkeit auch ohne Sonnenblende; Filtergewinde 52mm identisch mit vielen anderen Nikkoren. Beim Einsatz dieses Objektives an einer digitalen Spiegelreflexkamera muß in jedem Fall berücksichtigt werden, daß es nur für analoge Kameras gerechnet wurde. Je nach Kameramodell und Aufnahmesituation wird man möglicherweise einen Abfall der Auflösung zum Bildrand hin feststellen können.
Wer eine handliche Festbrennweite sucht, die egal ob analog, DX- oder FX-Format, in etwa dem "normalen" Sichtfeld des menschlichen Auges entspricht, ist mit dem AF-D Nikkor 2/35 gut bedient - auch wenn man es nicht zu dem Discountpreis des 1,8/50 bekommt.

I love this lens on my D300. It is 52.5mm on a 1.5x crop factor camera and gives great colors and contrast. I prefer this lens over the 50mm f/1.8, and it is sharp and focuses fast.

I typically don't bother writing reviews, but in this case I decided to since one reviewer felt compelled to "review" this lens and unfairly give it 1 star. The lens performs exactly as advertised, pictures are very sharp with good contrast. Focusing is a bit loud but I really don't care about that. Definitely soft at 2.0, but sharpness significantly increases as you stop down. I bought the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 lens at the same time and I am currently testing both out to see which one I will keep. If it weren't for the fact that the 50mm is just too much zoom I would say it's a keeper hands down, but the 35mm is perfect for indoor and family shots. Amazon really needs to screen some of the reviews a bit better than they do. With 8 reviews, 7 of which give it 4-5 stars and 1 review gives it 1 star, that really throws off it's grade. Especially when the reviewer makes it so abundantly clear that they don't know what they are talking about. Anybody who has been in the dSLR world for any amount of time at all knows that there is a crop factor involved, as well as the fact that this lens isn't even compatible with the d40 (in the sense that it won't auto-focus). The lens performs great, but you have to do your homework before you buy something like this. It would be like me reviewing a roll of film and giving it one star becasue it doesn't work with my D200.

The lens produces very nice pictures. The focus is very fast with a little noise (could be ignored). The body quality is much better than 50mm/1.8, similar to 50mm/1.4. It stays on my D80 almost all the time.

Light, fast, sharp, and as far as I'm concerned the perfect focal length.

I started out using 50mm primes, but quickly got tired of how tight they were indoors. All my shots were becoming head/shoulder shots, and forget about trying to get two or three people in the shot without them all being a posed "everyone squeeze together now" shot. That gets real old, real fast.

Let me emphasize:
This lens has a much better field of view at normal shooting distances (the distance you normally stand from your subject).

That is often overlooked, but trust me, backing up 15 feet in a crowd or a house to get your shot is tedious at best and often impossible. It is typically easier to move in towards your subject a little (or crop the photo later) than it is to keep backing up, especially while looking into the viewfinder. I realize it's not totally fair to rate other equally sharp, quality lenses differently, based solely on their focal length, but it is my opinion that this lens (with it's roughly 52mm equivalent focal length) is by far the most useful in the greatest number of situations.

I also used to be fixated on huge apertures, but have since realized that most real world shooting is not done below f/2 anyway. This lens is sharp as anything out there and is great in low light. Yes, I know f/2 isn't nearly as good in super low light as other lenses out there (I know because I have a 50mm f/1.2), but it is good enough for most shooting, and below f/2 the depth of field becomes tricky anyway, and again, not as useful.

Lastly, some people don't like the plasticy feel of new lenses, but I love them. They are so much lighter and silky smooth. I've seen enough heavy, gummy, brassed-up, old, metal lenses in my time to know there's nothing magical about all-metal builds either. So to me it's just another modern improvement that works like a charm.

Most that I've seen tend to resell online for 90%+ of full retail value, so even if you somehow didn't like it, your risk in trying and buying is super low.

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This is a D lens, made for non-digital cameras, but it works fine on digital ones too. Only, when you use it on a digital model it's not really a wide angle lens, but more like a standard length lens, the equivalent of 50mm on a film SLR. It's a fast lens and has good crisp clarity. Another great feature of the lens is its minimum focus distance, about 11 inches. I've made some very good shots using small apertures to produce very clear focus on the subject in the foreground, and blur the background. The lens is light, and automatic focuses very quickly.

I purchased this excellent optic to fill the need for a fast lens that was less expensive than the great 17-55. The 35 f2 fits the bill superbly. The build is good, but not up to pro standards, the the optical performance is. This is a very sharp, lightweight lens with a very fast F2 maximum aperture.

The only thing is that you have to zoom with your feet a few steps forward or backward in most instances to equal a much more expensive zoom. For that trade-off, you get a slightly sharper, faster, lighter solution. Great for travel. Leave it on most of the time.

This lens focuses very close for a non macro allowing stunning flower shots with beautiful bokeh. I also use it along with my 85 f1.4 for portrait shots. You have to get really close, but that's a special perspective. It has a wonderful color rendition as well as being very contrasty. I would put it slightly less than the 85 f1.4, but it's a third the price.

The only downside is that it is an AFD lens and won't autofocus with the D40, D40x, or D60, but is extremely fast focusing on a D80 or D300. One upside is that if you decide to move to FX (full frame) digital photography, this lens will work nicely.

In summary, the Nikon 35 f2 is a real bargain, especially for those of us who prefer the quality of top notch prime lenses.