This page is a collection of photo samples taken with the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Nikkor lens, plus related image galleries, user pictures and other examples that I’ve come across in forums, online communities, blogs and related websites.
This should help in determining if the image quality of the 35/1.8 G meets your expectations.
Bear in mind that the majority of these photos are resized, and may have gone through post-processing, retouching or other edits. I just thought that it would be interesting to see, at a glance, what Nikon 35mm f/1.8G owners and users are shooting with their lens.
Full-sized images, where available, will assist with judging the image quality.
Attribution is given by linking to the source and where available, the author’s homepage or photo gallery.
Recently added
Two official, full-resolution sample photos taken with the Nikon D5200.
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Official sample portrait photo, shot with the newly-announced Nikon D3100.
Sharpness, clarity and the level of detail is simply stunning — you can see the hair on the face, and the reflection of the photographer in her eyes. The new 14 MP CMOS sensor in the D3100 really delivers.
Click on the thumbnail to open up the full-resolution image in your browser, or just right-click to save to your hard drive.
EXIF data (taken from Nikon.com’s official D3100 gallery):
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Portraits of a female Japanese model — The “Photogenic Weekend” series on DC.Watch features photos of a Japanese female model taken with a Nikon D5000 and the 35/1.8G lens.
The RAW images were converted in Nikon ViewNX, and they look sharp, crisp and detailed, with great background bokeh. Here’s the list of galleries — equipment used is noted at the end of each article:
Series 2 — Google’s English translation
Series 3 — Google’s English translation
* Series 4 — Google’s English translation
Splendid Nikkor 35mm 1.8 AF-S shots in Paris
All taken by John Houston with a Nikon D300 camera.
35mm f/1.8 G DX Pictures by Neutralday
This Flickr set has full-resolution images taken with a Nikon D90, which were used in their D90 review.
Only some of the photos were shot with the 35/1.8G (the others were photographed with a Nikon 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR ED Nikkor lens), but the following three are my favorites (links open up to the images in full size) — Image 1, Image 2, Image 3.
35mm f/1.8 G DX Pictures by XLTimbo
Miscellaneous, web-sized photos with aperture EXIF data which makes it useful for judging the bokeh qualities on this lens.
Camera used was the Nikon D80.
Timbo says: “Overall, I’m happy with the lens so far, I like the perspective it offers, the color rendition is nice and the bokeh looks good too. With it’s small size it will probably stay in my bag at all times, if it’s not on my camera that is.”
Timbo added that he purchased the 35mm f/1.8 at “Tuttle Cameras in Long Beach, CA“.
Quick sharpness test with a Nikon D300
Ixon mounted the 35/1.8G on his Nikon D300 for this image.
Aperture was set to f/4, and an SB-900 used to provide the main source of illumination.
I find the bokeh, colors, and yes, sharpness to be just perfect for this kind of shot.
Miscellaneous shots in a shopping complex
Just three web-sized photos, casually snapped at a shopping center, but useful for judging the bokeh on this lens.
Portrait of a female model, shot with a Nikon D5000
This is one of Nikon’s official Nikon D5000 photos — the entire gallery is here.
Click on the thumbnail below to open up the full-resolution image in a new browser window, or just right-click to save to your hard drive.
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Portrait of a female model, shot details:
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Nikon AF-S DX 35mm f/1.8 G Nikkor test report / review samples by Photozone.de
Photozone has posted up nine, full-sized JPEG samples as part of their review of the 35/1.8.
The images were shot with a Nikon D300 camera in NEF / RAW mode.
The RAW files were converted using the Capture One 4.6 application from Phase One.
Apertures tested are f/1.8, f/3.5, f/8 and f/11.
Links to the full-sized samples are easier to obtain if you visit their 35/1.8 gallery on Smugmug.
Full-sized photos by Lukas Hron
Visit Lukas Hron’s Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX set on Flickr. There is a ton of full-sized photos taken with this lens. Camera used was a Nikon D40.
To view an image at full-size, click the photo, and then the All Sizes icon above the photo, then select the Original link.
The gallery features a couple of nice portraits. Examples of such images taken with the lens wide open at f/1.8 are here, here, here and here.
What’s interesting about this lens, based on Lukas’ samples, is that the bokeh is much more pleasing and natural-looking compared to the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF lens which I owned in the past.
I’m personally convinced by this set of images, and will be saving up to buy a 35/1.8G of my own.
Gallery of full-sized test photos at NikonClub
Right at the bottom of the Czech-language, 35mm f/1.8G review by NikonClub, you’ll find some thumbnails that link through to the original images. A Nikon D200 was used to snap the photos.
Links to the original version of three photos which I found pretty good are as follows:
- Building exterior / architecture — shot at f/8, ISO 100
- Portrait of a white horse — shot at f/2.2, ISO100
- “Product shot”-type close-up — shot at f/2.8, ISO 200
I think the bokeh quality in the white horse and product shots is great.
Full-sized samples at LetsGoDigital
From the PMA 09 event at Las Vegas, Dennis Hissink posted up six original photos taken with a production sample of the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G DX AF-S Nikkor lens. Camera used was the Nikon D3X.
According to the EXIF of one of the images (right-click to download this original photo), as viewed in Nikon ViewNX, the D3X was set in DX mode. The dimensions of the resulting image is 3968 x 2640, or approximately 10 MP (Megapixels), so this gives you a good idea of the image quality you get with this lens on a Nikon FX (full-frame) camera.
My own observations of the image that I just linked to:
- Out-of-focus points of light are pleasantly-rendered due to the rounded diaphragm opening combined with the seven-blade aperture design of the lens.
- The image is not pin-sharp owing to the slow shutter speed of 1/5s (I’m not sure if a tripod was used), and noise reduction that was applied to the ISO 800 image at normal levels.
Random images from user galleries on PBase.com
Don’t forget to hit the refresh button on your browser to serve up another set of random pictures.
You’ll also find user reviews there — at the time of writing, I’m reading a very enthusiastic user opinion on the lens by David Henry, who says:
Most of the reviews are right on. It is not “perfect”, but for the price, you can not go wrong. I am VERY happy with it. I have been using it on a D90 and a D40 and it is great on both.
David has also linked up to three of his 35/1.8 images: image 1, image 2 and image 3.
Official Samples
Great portraits, fantastic bokeh. Sample photos are at Nikon Imaging.
Related
Nikon 35mm f/1.8G – Main page.