Can 35mm f/1.8 be used for DX & FX Body

[rohan_iiitc]

Dear People,

Currently I have a DX body D5000 with kit lens. I want to buy a 35mm f/1.8. I have few queries:

1. Can I use 35mm f/1.8 on FX & DX Body. (ie: D5000 & D700 )

I know that a 35mm will be cropped in DX Body and it become 52mm.

Can you all share your exp with 35mm lens and the best way/place to use it for. ie: portraits, landscape, street, night photography etc.

Thanks
Rohan

[firebox40dash5]

I don't have a full-frame digital, but I have shot the 35/1.8 on an F100 film body. IIRC it only gets slight black corners wide open, and falloff until ~ f/4. But film doesn't have cool features like 'vignette control' either. I think you'd just have to turn off auto DX cropping on the D700, and it would work acceptably.

If you can deal with manual focus, there's the 35/2D, and Voigtlander 40mm f/2, but both are also close to the price of a 50/1.4G new, which would AF and work 100% correctly with both bodies.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by firebox40dash5

I don't have a full-frame digital, but I have shot the 35/1.8 on an F100 film body. IIRC it only gets slight black corners wide open, and falloff until ~ f/4. But film doesn't have cool features like 'vignette control' either. I think you'd just have to turn off auto DX cropping on the D700, and it would work acceptably.

As per Sam Cheung on Photo.net:

So no, I wouldnt use it on FX> That being said, all FX bodies have a crop mode for DX lenses (they move to it by default). You only get 5mp stills, but your DX lenses work.

[Almond.Butterscotch]

As for what you can shoot with it, the answer's pretty much everything. It's my workhorse.

D40 + 35mm ?/1.8 - a set on Flickr

[firebox40dash5]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

So no, I wouldnt use it on FX> That being said, all FX bodies have a crop mode for DX lenses (they move to it by default). You only get 5mp stills, but your DX lenses work.

Is the FX-size sensor a hair larger than 35mm, or do you think that's just sample-to-sample variance in the image circle?

Mine is nowhere near that bad- wide open it looks about like the upper-right corner of that pic, but not stopped down some.

[rohan_iiitc]

Thanks all

I think I will go for 35mm f/1.8. which will help m in portraits, landscape, street, night photography etc. and later on I can use the same on FX bodies.

@firebox40dash5 : have you ever tries or heard people going for 35mm instead of 50mm on FX bodies.

@OsmosisStudios: That pic explains its all.

Thanks
Rohan

[firebox40dash5]

Originally Posted by rohan_iiitc

Thanks all

I think I will go for 35mm f/1.8. which will help m in portraits, landscape, street, night photography etc. and later on I can use the same on FX bodies.

@firebox40dash5 : have you ever tries or heard people going for 35mm instead of 50mm on FX bodies.

Well, if you REALLY want a 35mm that will work on your D5k and a D700...

Amazon.com: Nikon 35mm f/1.4G AF-S FX SWM Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo

Hey, I warned you that you'd have to REALLY want it!

I don't quite understand your question... are you asking if people use the 35/1.8G on full-frame, or if people use 35mm primes on full-frame as their 'normal' lens? I can't say I know of anyone who bought the 35/1.8G specifically to use on full-frame, but I know there's a good many that use it and like it. I hadn't thought to try it until a member on dgrin.com told me it worked well. Likewise, I imagine most people who shoot a 35mm prime on full-frame also own a 50mm. I own both because a) I bought the 35mm first, b) I wanted the tighter crop of the 50mm on DX as well as the higher quality of the 50/1.4G, and c) so I can have a prime on both bodies. I thought about selling the 35mm after getting the 50 and the film body, but it's just so inexpensive, small and handy that it didn't make sense not to keep it.

That said, I think Nikon goofed making it a DX lens, especially considering how close it is to covering full-frame. I would've gladly paid an extra $100-150 to get a true full-frame 35mm AF-S lens. Even if it was a little bigger and heavier... as long as it wasn't as big, heavy (and expensive) as that 35/1.4G.

[Almond.Butterscotch]

I still wouldn't use the 35mm f/1.8 on a full-frame or 35mm camera. Yeah, the vignette isn't all that bad if you just crop the affected areas out, but its only $200 and the 35mm f/2 is only $300; get the 1.8 now and if you go full-frame, get the 35mm f/2. (The f/2 won't AF on your D5000 or that'd be the obvious choice).

[nokiN]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

As per Sam Cheung on Photo.net:

So no, I wouldnt use it on FX> That being said, all FX bodies have a crop mode for DX lenses (they move to it by default). You only get 5mp stills, but your DX lenses work.

Auto DX crop can be turned off, and FX format selected so that the image from a DX lens is not limited to only 5 MP. (page 60, D700 users manual)

Some DX lenses project a large enough image circle so there is no vignette when they are used on an FX image sensor.

[ravncat]

The 35 1.8 will vignette on an FX sensor - though the amount of vignetting is dependent upon:

Focus distance - Less vignetting at closest focus, more at infinity.

Aperture - Less vignetting at wide aperture - more at small aperture

Also - the quality of the vignetting changes with aperture - smaller aperture has a harder edge - wider aperture has a more graduated edge.

As a result, some combinations of aperture and focus distance will show very very little to nearly no vignetting, while others will show a very obvious hard edged circle...