About Face

The cover of a photography magazine photographed with a Nikon D700 and a Nikkor-O.C Auto 35mm f/2 lens. I have shied away from getting a Nikkor AF 35mm f/2 since reading of oil getting on the aperture blades. Furthermore, Bjørn Rørslett says that the AF version has a much simpler optical formula where centre sharpness is great but corner quality isn't outstanding. www.naturfotograf.com/lens_wide.html
Similarly, Thom Hogan is critical of the 35/2 AF Nikkor's performance on the corners: www.bythom.com/Nikkor-35mm-D-lensreview.htm

In 2011 Nikon introduced a 35mm f/1.4 G AF-S Nikkor lens which looks nice but currently costs around £1,400. So I turned my attention to finding an old 35mm f/2 Nikkor-O which had been factory AI’d and would therefore be safe to use on a modern digital Nikon camera whilst providing decent functionality. Thomas Pindelski pindelski.org/Photography/2012/05/05/nikkor-o-35mm-f2-lens/ reckons this lens is fully the equal of any Leitz or Leica 35mm Summicron and adds, ‘there is one huge difference compared to the Leica optic. The latter will run you $3,200 new and not much less used.’

I was lucky to obtain the later ‘C’ version with multicoating which keeps flare at bay. The contrast this lens provides is quite remarkable.

When 35mm film dominated photography, many fixed lens film cameras ('compact' cameras) had 35mm lenses. They were very popular for family holidays and general purpose photography. On full-frame you can photograph all sorts of things with a focal length of 35mm. What's more, 35mm lenses are compact in size and light in weight, and provide wonderful bokeh.