BOKEH LENSES

Nikon AF-S DX 35mm f/1.8G

£159/$177

An affordable standard prime for DX cameras

Compact and lightweight, this lens is specifically designed for DX format SLRs, on which it gives a natural viewing perspective, roughly equivalent to using a 50mm ‘standard’ prime on a full-frame body. The f/1.8, rather than f/1.4 aperture rating, and the fact that the lens only needs to produce a relatively small image circle, to fill an APS-C sized sensor, help to keep the size down as well as the cost.

The construction is quite simple, with just eight optical elements in the line-up, one of which is aspherical. There’s no focus distance scale on the lens and, whereas all of the other lenses on test have a nine-blade diaphragm for controlling the aperture, this one only has seven. Even so, build quality is pretty good and the lens features a weather-seal ring on its mounting plate.

Performance

Bokeh is reasonable for such an inexpensive lens, but is less smooth than any of the other lenses in the group. The aperture actually remains fairly well rounded when stopping down a little, despite the relatively low count of diaphragm blades.

N-Photo verdict

A ‘fast’ standard prime for DX cameras, the quality of its bokeh is good rather than great, but it’s still a fair buy.