02-16-2011, 03:00 PM
Thanks for the review!
It wouldn't guide my purchasing decision, since I took the first available 35/1.4G I could get my greedy hands on back in December. <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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I take the chance and sound like a fanboy, but regardless of the tests, I would rate the 35/1.4G as one of the very best fast wide angle lenses I used so far, that statement include the exeptionally good new Leica M 35/1.4 Asph on a M9, but unfortunatly I don't know the EF 35/1.4L or the Sony/Minolta. I still have the 14-24G, AF 28/1.4D and the definatly not impressive AF 35/2, though.
Shure, the bokeh is a bit nervous wide open, smoothing visibly stopping down ever so slightly, but I found this behaviour quite normal with most fast lenses. Vignetting is quite visible wide open, but not disturbing in my book. Sharpness and contrast are all I did hope for, and then some, at f/1.4.
I don't shoot testchards or brickwalls, but use my lenses rarely stopped down more than f/4 (mostly around f/2 to f/2.8) and quite often place my main subjects under the outermost AF points and beyond, so detail definition (or call it sharpness) at the far sides of the frame are important for me and the 35G don't disappoint here eather.
CA's are there (and I don't like them), but not in any way exessive for a superfast wide angle lens, I think.
Maybe it helps that I use a D700 and not a D3x, so some of the shortcomings of the 35G are a bit muted for me. <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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The price of the 35G is steep. It did hurt.
But the next best thing's I encountered so far are the equally expensive 28/1.4D (thats optically very good from f/2, but definatly not as good wide open) and the very tempting Leica M 35/1.4 Asph for twice the money (plus an M9!).
So far only two things bug me, the overall size of the lens and the very odd 67mm filter thred.
WTF was Nikon thinking, we now have four new f/1.4 lenses with three differend filter sizes (58mm, 67mm, 77mm) plus the 72mm of the 28/1.4D?!
It wouldn't guide my purchasing decision, since I took the first available 35/1.4G I could get my greedy hands on back in December. <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />I take the chance and sound like a fanboy, but regardless of the tests, I would rate the 35/1.4G as one of the very best fast wide angle lenses I used so far, that statement include the exeptionally good new Leica M 35/1.4 Asph on a M9, but unfortunatly I don't know the EF 35/1.4L or the Sony/Minolta. I still have the 14-24G, AF 28/1.4D and the definatly not impressive AF 35/2, though.
Shure, the bokeh is a bit nervous wide open, smoothing visibly stopping down ever so slightly, but I found this behaviour quite normal with most fast lenses. Vignetting is quite visible wide open, but not disturbing in my book. Sharpness and contrast are all I did hope for, and then some, at f/1.4.
I don't shoot testchards or brickwalls, but use my lenses rarely stopped down more than f/4 (mostly around f/2 to f/2.8) and quite often place my main subjects under the outermost AF points and beyond, so detail definition (or call it sharpness) at the far sides of the frame are important for me and the 35G don't disappoint here eather.
CA's are there (and I don't like them), but not in any way exessive for a superfast wide angle lens, I think.
Maybe it helps that I use a D700 and not a D3x, so some of the shortcomings of the 35G are a bit muted for me. <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />The price of the 35G is steep. It did hurt.
But the next best thing's I encountered so far are the equally expensive 28/1.4D (thats optically very good from f/2, but definatly not as good wide open) and the very tempting Leica M 35/1.4 Asph for twice the money (plus an M9!).
So far only two things bug me, the overall size of the lens and the very odd 67mm filter thred.
WTF was Nikon thinking, we now have four new f/1.4 lenses with three differend filter sizes (58mm, 67mm, 77mm) plus the 72mm of the 28/1.4D?!