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Nikon 35mm F2D? Or Nikon 50mm F1.4? Or both?


dubai_uae

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I planned to get the two lenses and started putting my order when I actually

found this great forum and wish to get the help from you ? I would like to know

the outstanding differences between these two lenses and wonder if they do the

same job at the end of the day or not ?. Do I need to get them both (that was

my plan at the beginning) or one will be enough ?

 

Regards,

 

Dubai

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I have the 50/1.8 for the same needs you said (no flash indoor or outdoor) I have decided to purchase the 35/2.0 for those tight indoor areas where you can not backup enough to frame the picture. I was really frustrated last week when I was at the hospital taking pictures of my new grand-daughter. I put my 18-70 and set it at 35mm and found out I could get the shots I wanted.
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For shooting kids with birthday cake with lit candles, fast lenses like 50/1.4 or 35/2.0 will give pleasant images.

 

For shooting the kids playing, I would think you'd be better off using wider range of your 18-135 with flash like SB600 or 800. With either of them, you can bounce the flash, if necessary, for more natural looking images.

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I had a 35mm and 85mm combo. Very useful focal lengths for me. I recently switched out my 35mm for the Sigma 30mm. No regrets except close focusing. I then realized I really missed the 50mm equivalent and added the 50mm 1.4. Now its 30mm, 50mm, and 85mm.
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I have both. The 50f/1.4 just hasn't turned out to be a useful focal length for me (D80)...although it does have a substantial advantage in terms of low light performance over the 35/f2. Both will give you outstanding results.

 

FWIW: The 17-55 f2.8 stays on my camera 90% of the time.

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When it comes to film, the 50mm is the answer, hands-down. If I had to use only one lens on my F100, I'd pick the 50mm. However, on digital, i found it gave a "weird" focal length. It's a tough decision, because the 1.4 is beautiful, but the 35mm focal length is also, well, beautiful. Do what I did and look closely at the 35mm 1.4 Sigma as well.
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I'm actually in a very similar situation. I currently already have 50mm 1.4 Ais and 50mm 1.8 Ais, but I am still thinking to get a 28mm 2.8 Ais.

 

From picture quality only, which one do you think is better between these 3: 50mm 1.4 Ais, or 35mm 2.0 Ais, or 28mm 2.8 Ais?

 

I'm not buying it for the focal length, but maybe it's just that I like to collect Ais lenses... Should I get it or not you reckon?

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The 50mmf1.8 is my favorite lens with my D70. I would guess I use it for about 2/3 of my images. (The 85mm is my favorite film lens, so the conversion may seem logical.) I use the 35mm lens when the 50 is too tight. It is especially nice for pictures of two people. I would miss it if I did not have it. However, the 50 was the third lens I bought. I bought the 24 after the 50 and before the 35. That would be my recommendation to you: first the 50; then the 24; and then the 35.

 

Ken

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  • 4 months later...

I am a photo hobbyist but here I have some sample images to share using the various lens if you are interested.

 

Nikon 35mm F2

http://bokehman.blogspot.com/search/label/Nikon%2035mm%20F2

 

Nikon 50mm F1.4

http://bokehman.blogspot.com/search/label/Nikon%2050mm%20F1.4

 

Nikon 85mm F1.8

http://bokehman.blogspot.com/search/label/Nikon%2085mm%20f1.8

 

Cheers!

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