Nikon 35mm v. 50mm - Which one???

TexPhotog

Hello fellow DGrinners... I have a silly question that has probably been asked before but I can't seem to find the correct thread about it, so here it goes, yet again...

I'm trying to decide on a lens between the following lenses...

AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8D
AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G
AF NIKKOR 35mm f/2D

Reason for the move to a prime lens??? I need to get myself into a nice non-lazy work mode of walking and framing my shots instead of just moving the zoom lens...

The camera to be used with the lens is a D300

Thoughts and comments are greately appreciated... Thanks...

Grainbelt

D300 is ~1.5x crop (APS-C) camera, correct?

I have a 50mm 1.4 on a crop (pentax) and am looking for a 35. I've shot film with a 50mm 1.7 and 35mm on crop will be about right for a distortion free, standard field of view. I find 50 a little tight for most things and a little short for portraits on a crop camera.

Ozzwald

I own the 35mm f/1.8 and i love it. on your d300 it would be equivelent to a 50mm.

I really like the length. its not quite wide but doesnt get in too tight. Its just a great walk around lens, candids and group shots.

I had a hard decsision between the 2 lens also. I still am considering buying a 50mm for closer shots such as portraits, however i might just buy an 85mm.

If i were to get to 50mm i think i would buy the F/1.4g as i like the full time manual focus and internal focusing...just like to be worry free about having my hand on the lens.

I dont think you can really go wrong, if you have a lens that already covers the lengths 35-50 try going back through your photos and see which length you used more of.

cab.in.boston

I have both the AF-S 35mm f/1.8G and AF 50mm f/1.8D. I like both, but as others have mentioned, the 35 is more of a "normal" or "standard" lens on your D300 vs. the mild telephoto FOV that the 50 gives you. I like having the option of either lens, and while we used to use the 35 a lot, it's now used less since I got the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8.

The advantage of using a prime vs. a zoom is that typically they are faster and lighter, so you can focus and shoot in lower light and/or use larger apertures for better bokeh.

The 35 is great for indoors or just taking photos that closely replicate a normal FOV. I had the 50 before I got the 35, and I was often frustrated when using the 50 indoors because sometimes I just couldn't get far enough away to include everything I wanted in the photo. Those darn walls seem to get in the way sometimes. OTOH, I like using the 50 for portrait shots. I also would like an 85mm for portraits, but until then, the 50 (which is not much different than 85 in equivalent terms) works great for that.

If you're looking for just a normal lens, I'd recommend getting the 35 first, and maybe adding the 50 later on. If you did it the other way around (like I did), you might be frustrated by the narrower angle on the 50 when used indoors. Or maybe not. It all depends on your style of shooting.

angevin1

You've got that 18-55 in your profile, so like others have suggested on other threads, why not mount that lens, and find what framing you like. Even take some shots and then review the EXIF and buy based on your average MM/Frame you like best.