Moderate wide angle lenses for Nikon D810

35/1.8 DX produces very dark (black) corners on full frame at infinity. It is not intended for FX.

D700 35DX f/1.8 uncorrected

D700 35DX f/1.8 corrected ACR

D700 35DX f/1.8 corrected ACR +100manual

Whether or not you are happy with the sharpness in the corners depends on how high or low you set the bar; stopped down to f/5.6 it doesn't do all that poorly (still requires vignetting correction).

 

There is the 28mm f/1.8 ED as well.

Said to suffer from focus shift and field curvature.

 

Some more options (not Nikkors though):

Tamron 35/1.8 VC (yes, it does have image stabilization): TamronSP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD Lens for Nikon F

Don't know how bad or good the Yongnuo 35/2 lens is - but it is cheap: YongnuoYN 35mm f/2 Lens for Nikon F

I guess it is personal preference.

I have always used a 24/2.8 on my film cameras. At the time, the widest lens that still used a 52mm filter.

If you want something a bit less wide I would go with a 28. I feel the 35 is not wide enough, if you have a 50.

Ah, I see now there is an f/2 Nikkor AF. Looks similar to my Canon lens:

NikonAF NIKKOR 35mm f/2D Lens

 

And then again the 1.8, which I'd guess is a little more solid:

NikonAF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G ED Lens

I've said this before, but I think it bears repeating.

"If you want a great f/2 lens, then buy a good f/1.4 lens"

 

I haven't yet met an f/1.4 lens that performs more than adequately wide open, but stop them down to f/2 and they shine. Most of them outperform lenses whose maximum aperture is f/2 at like-for-like stops.

 

So while you might not absolutely need the f/1.4 aperture, it shows that some extra care has gone into the design and build of the lens..... and an extra stop is always handy.

 

"Ah, I see now there is an f/2 Nikkor AF."

 

- That AF-D lens is even worse than the old 8 element Ai/Ai-S design from the 1970s Ray.

D810 corrects for focus shift automatically if you use AF, and in live view you can choose the aperture at which you focus. Photozone says their copy of the 28/1.8 did not exhibit focus shift. Perhaps you could show links of those pics illustrating focus shift so we can discuss their credibility and method used to test.

I use the Zeiss 25mm f2 lens on my D800 and film cameras. Good wide open and CA is well controlled. An alternative I us is the Nikkor 35mm f1.4 ais that is good stopped down but soft wide open.

Perhaps you could show links of those pics illustrating focus shift so we can discuss their credibility and method used to test.

Lloyd Chambers reports it. Nasim Mansurov (photographylife.com) reports it. And here are pictures: Focus Shift with Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28mm f/1.8G

 

D810 corrects for focus shift automatically if you use AF

How does it do that?

Using a lookup table of known lenses, I suspect.

D810 corrects for focus shift automatically if you use AF

Just did some brief search, allegedly a firmware update on the D810 and also a feature in the D5 and D500. Nikon appears to be totally silent on the issue - great service to the customer. Likely they don't want to admit that some lenses do have focus shift issues.

Using a lookup table of known lenses, I suspect.

And apparently modifying the AF fine tune parameters depending on aperture. So don't AF at one, switch to MF and then change the aperture;)

A side note- I hadn't known Nikon was having financial issues. Is their survival as a company or camera maker an open question? Perhaps the DSLR is going the way of the dinosaur.

One thing about the Sony cameras and others I suppose that I couldn't opt for is not having an optical finder option. Apparently buttons are mushy and/or easy to inadvertently change on the A7r ii- another deal breaker.

 

Watched a tutorial on the D810 last night- Seemingly has a web of controls to go through which in certain instances could be simpler or more accessible. I'm sure getting the hang just takes a little time, and I'd probably not use a good 3/4 of the options. Single point autofocus for the most part, hold the shutter button down, recompose if necessary, and shoot.

Nikon had a bad 2016 (losses mainly due to semiconductor lithography business but they also had difficulties with cameras: sales were affected by the lack of availability of sensors after the Kumamoto earthquake and they also cancelled the DL series and produced a flawed Keymission) but now they are again making a healthy profit and their stock price is at its highest value since 2013. D850 waiting lines remain long suggesting high demand.

 

If you look at the past ten years of any major camera manufacturer, you’ll find some years of making a loss as the dedicated camera market has collapsed (mainly the point and shoots). This isn’t specific to Nikon. Personally I have no intention of buying any electronic viewfinder product in the foreseeable future so for me they are doing the right thing by developing DSLR technology. However it is obvious that they are also working on new mirrorless camera system(s).

"And here are pictures:Focus Shift with Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28mm f/1.8G"

 

- Does the author of that article not understand that depth-of-field increases more behind the plane of focus than in front? So of course there is asymmetry in the DoF with stopping down.

 

I'd be much more concerned about the obvious LoCA, as shown by the green and purple fringes that refuse to go away by f/5.6.

 

And incidentally, those green and purple fringes disappear (or change colour) at the zero plane of the focus indicator. Exactly as you'd expect. With focus shift, the colour swap-over plane would move with any change of focus on stopping down.

 

However, focus shift is a very real issue with many f/1.4 lenses, but looking for it where it doesn't exist isn't helpful though.

Edited November 11, 2017 by rodeo_joe|1

I'll second the weighty Sigma 24-35mm f2. Fully usable wide open.

 

I'm a bit lazy and just leave it on f4 @ 1/125 with Auto ISO unless I want a specific shallow or deep DoF.

 

It's not a huge zoom range, but does cover 3 in the usual prime sequence, as mentioned before.

 

Negligible fringing on normal contrast subjects. AutoCorrect does away with the pretty bad vignetting.