Now I am not really a prime user, and prefer the versatility and flexibility my zooms offer me. That said when it comes to low light and being able to increase light coming in through the lens by more than a stop, then already primes show an advantage.
Primes generally are considered to be able to give a clearer images since there is no compromise between focus and adjusted zoom.
A photo of the Nikon 35mm DX 1.8 upright with Box
There is a running general opinion that you do not use DX ( cropped frame ) lenses on Full Frame (FX) bodies, I assume because the final image will possibly be so heavily distorted it will be useless. I am not quite sure what other reason there can be, other than the DX lens is not built with the FX body in mind.
Another photo of the Nikon 35mm DX 1.8 this time upside down and with a lens hood
A photo of the Nikon 35mm DX 1.8 upright
With that said What finally made me decide to buy the 35mm I cannot say, I will say at the price it was an easy buy. Since I am not a prime user at all I was reluctant to pick-up a lens I may never use, so the NIKON 35mm DX 1.8 make a perfect test lens, since it is cheap and a nice small lens.
Nikon 35mm DX 1.8 – Top view of the 7 blades
My quick overview of the Nikon 35mm 1.8 DX lens. This lens is a lightweight at only 200grams and 52.5mm long and a whopping 72mm with the lens hood on. It is quite impressive that within 52.5mm there are 8 lenses in 6 groups, and it is a 7 bladed diaphragm. Just a little thought, your new age mobile phone only weighs in at a few grams less than this lens.
35mm DX 1.8 photo of a flower
35mm DX 1.8 photo of same flower now really closeup
Now down to the important bit, how does it like being on a Full Frame body. First of all it works! Secondly ( for what it is ) it works very well ! Well mostly. Since I am primarily a Wedding photographer, I have a certain set of expectations from my lens, that being a robust and reliable lens that can produce a clean image.
Having played with this lens for about 3 months now I have a fair idea of what to expect from this lens and where its limitations lie in relation to my Full Frame Body.
Lets start with quality of lens build, in short it is what I expect from a Nikon lens, well built and solid. There is a lot built into this 200gram lens and somewhere in all that they made sure it stayed together as it should.
Now a few little hiccups I have encountered which I am not sure falls into reliability or image quality, it probably is a bit of both. I seem unable to get the 35mm DX to fine tune it on the FX body, and while this is fairly minor in this case, a little fine tuning would be good. So knowing that I need to make a tiny adjustment for the lens everytime I do a shot with a small Depth of Field, all is well.
I find I use the focus ring on occasion and while it is small it is quite easy to work with, so again all is good.
35mm DX 1.8 comparison images … at F1.8 / F4.0 / F8.0 / F16
Close-up of that green fuzzy stuff