Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

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Brody LeBlanc
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p.1 #1 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

Hey folks,

I'm about to pull the trigger on the Ultron 40mm f2 ai-s, but I thought I'd wait and get some second opinions.
The lenses I'm considering are the Ultron 40/2, the Nikon 35/2 ai-s, the Nikon 35/1.4 ai-s, or possibly the Zeiss 35/2 zf.

I'll be using the lens with the soon-to-be-released Metabones F to X Speedbooster.
I'm leaning towards the 40/2 because of it's compact size and the fact that I can purchase it new (i.e. with warranty.)
The Zeiss looks good, but it's bigger, heavier, and quite a bit more expensive. All three are sort of a turn off.
I'm interested in both the Nikon 35mm's, but I don't know much about either option and have seen some mixed reviews.

Anyway any thoughts or recommended reviews would be much appreciated!

Thanks

Brody

Feb 08, 2013 at 11:15 PM

Mescalamba
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p.1 #2 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

Why not Zoid.. ehm Leica? I would say 35/2 is quite nice lens.

Well and Samyang aint bad, actually from pure performance view its rather good lens..

Feb 08, 2013 at 11:38 PM

Brody LeBlanc
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p.1 #3 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

Mescalamba wrote:
Why not Zoid.. ehm Leica? I would say 35/2 is quite nice lens.

Well and Samyang aint bad, actually from pure performance view its rather good lens..

I was looking at the Samyang, but it'd be a pretty massive lens to use on the X-Pro1, where the 40/2 with the Speedbooster will make for a pretty compact package.

Feb 08, 2013 at 11:59 PM

freaklikeme
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p.1 #4 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

The AIS 35/1.4 is nice compact lens, but the draw is heavily center-weighted for sharpness and resolution below f/4 or 5.6, which will probably work out well enough on an APS-C. It's an old-school draw with lots of character. For the going rate, I'd take it over the Sammy or the CV.

Feb 09, 2013 at 06:27 AM

Brody LeBlanc
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p.1 #5 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

What are people's thoughts on the zeiss zf 35/2?

Feb 09, 2013 at 06:32 AM

Keith B.
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p.1 #6 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

The ZF 35/2 is probably a slightly smaller in diameter but longer in length than the old Nikon 35/1.4.

It also lacks what has been described here as "character" at wide open, which to me makes it more useable. I've been using one on full frame Nikon for several years; the half-stop detenting on the aperture ring is the only thing that annoys me about it....oh yeah, it'd be nice if it was small like the CV 40/2!

Feb 09, 2013 at 06:51 AM

zhangyue
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p.1 #7 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

ZF is great lens but it is not that small. With SB, it will looks quite weird IMO for its long body. It is a very POP lens. Leica 35cron (in your original shopping list) is pretty good option. it is smaller/shorter. has slightly better center sharpness, and better Bokeh (to me), but you lose cross frame sharpness, consider you plan use SB for it, I guess you should not very sensitive to corner sharpness. It is a better option to me. The conversion to Nikon can range from cheap(ebay $20ish) to expensive (leitax $80ish)

As for 35 Nikkor AIS, size is pretty good. You could like it since you like pen 1.2. I never really like it for its Soft WO performance at the time I have it. SA is one of the craziest I have seen. Bokeh has lot of character. I sold the lens for ZF 35mm f2 at that time. But now, I might be able to appreciate its offer better. It might suit your shooting style. I would suggest looks for more samples of it from Flickr to make your mind. Don't discard it.

Feb 09, 2013 at 07:21 AM

Thorsten
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p.1 #8 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

Does it have to be MF? Otherwise the Nikon 35mm f2 AF-D is a very nice lens as well if you're on a budget, and the Sigma 35/1.4 even better if you can spend a bit more.

Feb 09, 2013 at 07:31 AM

carstenw
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p.1 #9 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

The Nikkor AI-S 35/2 is very nice, not as soft or aberrationy as the 35/1.4, but also has less character.

Feb 09, 2013 at 09:17 AM

Geoff CB
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p.1 #10 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

Get a Mir 24n . It's a russian made 35mm f/2 Zeiss copy. Sharp, close focusing with beautiful rendering. Only negative is some distortion at medium range. You should be able to find a good copy under $200.

NIKON D7000 35 mm f/4.0 1/400 sec 800 ISO -0.3 EV

NIKON D7000 35 mm f/2.0 1/125 sec 400 ISO -1.3 EV

NIKON D7000 35 mm f/2.0 1/40 sec 400 ISO -1.3 EV

Feb 09, 2013 at 01:43 PM

mawz
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p.1 #11 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

carstenw wrote:
The Nikkor AI-S 35/2 is very nice, not as soft or aberrationy as the 35/1.4, but also has less character.

The Nikkor 35/2 is not a lens I'd recommend over the 35/1.4. The 35/1.4 has better cross-frame performance and rendering at f4 and below and more character and centre-sharpness at wider than f4. The 1.4 is both a better landscape lens at small apertures and a better reportage/portraiture lens at wider apertures.

The only reasons to pick the 35/2 are cost and if you actually need cross-frame performance primarily at f2-2.8 where the f2 has less abberations. The 35/1.4 is sharper at all apertures, but wider than f4 the sharpness is increasingly limited to the centre of the frame while the f2 retains its lower performance more consistently across the frame at wide apertures.

Feb 09, 2013 at 05:20 PM

mawz
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p.1 #12 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

Thorsten wrote:
Does it have to be MF? Otherwise the Nikon 35mm f2 AF-D is a very nice lens as well if you're on a budget, and the Sigma 35/1.4 even better if you can spend a bit more.

The Nikkor 35/2's are optically similar across the line and the AF-D has much worse manual focus handling and a generally higher cost than its AI or AI-S predecessors.

The Sigma looks great, but suffers from the same size issues as the Zeiss 35/1.4 and the Samyang 35/1.4, they're large and awkward on a mirrorless solution like the OP's Fuji.

Feb 09, 2013 at 05:22 PM

mawz
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p.1 #13 · Recommendation needed! Best ai-s 35mm lens option

One option to consider, especially for B&W uses, is the Series E 35/2.5. Optical performance is very close to the 35/2 AI-S, it's smaller & much cheaper. Only downside aside from speed is it's more flare prone due to the simpler coatings (as with all Series E lenses).

Feb 09, 2013 at 05:24 PM

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