Tips for using a prime 35mm Nikon DX lens

javierplumey

Hey gang,

I picked up the very nice AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8 lens and while I love the bokeh it produces at close range, I'm having a hard time using it for "normal" shots. Take a look at this very casual shot I took while hanging out with some friends. This was literally minutes after getting the lens so I was just playing:



Notice how the laughing lady on the left (say that real fast five times!) is out of focus? I find this happens quite a bit with this lens. Other than upping the fstop, I can't think of another way to get the entire shot in focus at this close range.

Any tips on using this lens would be appreciated.

Thanks!

zoomer

Not going to happen with unsufficient ambient light.
Shoot it wide open indoors, focus on your subject....or drag out the flash and use a smaller f-stop.
....or take a big step to your right and get them both in the plane of focus.

System

zoomer wrote: »

Not going to happen with unsufficient ambient light.
Shoot it wide open indoors, focus on your subject....or drag out the flash and use a smaller f-stop.
....or take a big step to your right and get them both in the plane of focus.

YEP! The 1.8 will give you a shallow depth of field. Keep playing with the lens. Once you get the hang of it you'll love it. I sold mine when I went FX.

ziggy53

In the above example both subjects are well outside of the center of the image, and may be outside of your AF point settings. Where was the AF point set, relative to the subjects, and what AF mode were you using?

pathfinder

I think a little time exploring aperture and depth of field here will be helpful.

And shoot from further to the right so both women are equidistant from the film plane, like zoomer said.