I might add that this is a Pre-AI lens. Because it has the rubber focus ring, that would make it a "F" series lens which are differentiated by the rubber focus ring that sets them apart from the normally scalloped focus ring.
My vote goes to the Carl Zeiss (West German design, made in Japan) Distagon 35mm f2.8 for Contax / Yashica. The Nikkor is great, but the build quality of the Distagon is better. A big surprise to me was the Minolta MD W. Rokkor 35mm f2.8 which is super sharp, small and light.
I have the 3.5 cm f 2.8 manufactured around 1961. It has low contrast and saturation, giving the images a very attractive subdued look. To me this is far more attractive than many modern lenses. Pop can be increased in post if necessary.
Great video, Nigel! The Nikkor 35mm f2 is very nice, the Canon FD 35mm f2 slightly nicer, I think, not cheap, though. Budget alternatives: Minolta Rokkor 35mm f2.8 and Canon FL 35mm f2.5.
Dear Nigel, many many thanks for this upload! I like the 35mm more than the 50mm for all-day-photography. The Canon EF 2.0/35mm IS USM lens is also very decent, capable and affordable these days and I'm very happy with it. Canon EF lenses have come down in price because of the mirrorless counterparts. Have fun with the Nikkor! Nikkor lenses are renowned for their image quality. I'm a little surprised that the Olympus doesn't perform that well. Best wishes, Ralf
Allegedly, later versions of Olympus Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 are sharper and of overall better IQ. Unfortunately, till now I hadn't a chance to try one out...
I have the Nikkor 35mm f2 AFD which is manual focus only on my Z5 and adapter. With Nikon's own FTZ adapter, you do get a focus confirm box around your chosen focus point ( it turns from red to green when your in focus, so you don't need to zoom in to get fine focus.)
I agree with you about the Nikkor f/2.8. I love that lens; but I think I prefer the 35mm f/2. My favorite 35mm, however, is a Zeiss f/2. That is possibly my favorite lens....period.
I have the predecessor of that Nikon lens in cm form, before they labelled them in mm. I'd not say it's the sharpest, but it's got a character to it I quite like.
Your Nikon lens is the 6 element version, which is thought to be more desirable than the 5 element f2.8 version. Worth mentioning if you’re in the market for the Nikon lens.
Thanks Nigel. Think I’ll stick with my Super Takumar f3.5 & Prinzflex f2.8 versions which were considerably cheaper (especially the latter, albeit renders colours on the warm side).
Have you gone the EXAKTA route? Like the earlier VX IIa body, or the lenses thereof? Thought it would be a good show if you did. But maybe in warmer weather when cranky cameras do better...
Your copy looks like a pre-AI version. It has the older solid indexing "rabbit ears", plus it doesn't have the additional aperture scale. Of course, none of this matters when adapting to digital.
Given the history of Nikon and other optical companies following the end of WW2, they all got busy and started producing cameras. They first copies Leica and you can see that with the Nikon S camera. Noted by Leica users, in an interesting article, the Nikon S and even lenses were better than the Leica brand. Goes to show the Japanese optical companies were well versed in producing great optics. It's no surprise the Nikkor lenses fair well against their German counterparts. Of course, due to the American occupation of Japan following the war, Japanese cameras sold like hotcakes.
Hi, I love your content and woud like to lend you some stuff so that you can review it (pretty sure you'll love it and you havent specifically talked about it yet). Is these any way to get some contact info to talk about it? Cheers Lionel. France.
I have the 35 f2.5 Series E. It's pretty good too. I actually like all the E's for their low element count. They have great 3D pop and a nice charm to them. I collected the whole prime set of 5, then I got curious of the 3 zooms so I got them too. Even they were pleasant surprise. My favorite is the 135 2.8. I ran it against 2 nikkor copies and it smoked them both. The 100 is just behind it, because that one doesn't catch up in sharpness until 5.6. After that, it's like looking at the exact same photo, only different focal length.
This is one of the rare occasions when your review does not match my experience at all. I was searching for a MF 35 mm Nikkor for quite a long time and owned the 2.8 as well as the 2.0, in various copies. All were a complete disappointment. I think the 35 mm is the worst lens in the MF Nikkor lineup. None of my copies were able to control direct light and all showcased a great amount of CAs. The corners only get somehow sharp at f 5.6, but not really. I gave up on them. The CZJ is imho a totally other league, it is much sharper over the whole frame and does not bleed the lights out. It is my workhorse right now. The R Summicron 35 tops the CZJ by quite a margin, but it is pretty heavy (and expensive) for everyday use.
From his photos he appears to live in a similar sort of London suburb to me, and there was a bit of light fog recently but nothing weird that made people sick. Just plain ordinary fog.
I had the f/2 version but it got stolen or lost somewhere. They're OK, but not remarkable IMO, nasty wide open and murky colours. A cheaper, much smaller AF Viltrox 40mm gets me a hell of a lot more keepers and is better in every way. At these 2025 prices, old lenses aren't really worth the faff, with only a few exceptions eg Helios 44, Nikkor 105mm f/2.5
I might add that this is a Pre-AI lens. Because it has the rubber focus ring, that would make it a "F" series lens which are differentiated by the rubber focus ring that sets them apart from the normally scalloped focus ring.
My vote goes to the Carl Zeiss (West German design, made in Japan) Distagon 35mm f2.8 for Contax / Yashica. The Nikkor is great, but the build quality of the Distagon is better. A big surprise to me was the Minolta MD W. Rokkor 35mm f2.8 which is super sharp, small and light.
Thank you. Great video again. I vote for the “Flek” One of the best 35mm Lenses ever made. 🙏
I have the 3.5 cm f 2.8 manufactured around 1961. It has low contrast and saturation, giving the images a very attractive subdued look. To me this is far more attractive than many modern lenses. Pop can be increased in post if necessary.
I just simply wanted to say thank you for another great video!
Great video, Nigel! The Nikkor 35mm f2 is very nice, the Canon FD 35mm f2 slightly nicer, I think, not cheap, though.
Budget alternatives: Minolta Rokkor 35mm f2.8 and Canon FL 35mm f2.5.
Dear Nigel, many many thanks for this upload! I like the 35mm more than the 50mm for all-day-photography. The Canon EF 2.0/35mm IS USM lens is also very decent, capable and affordable these days and I'm very happy with it. Canon EF lenses have come down in price because of the mirrorless counterparts. Have fun with the Nikkor! Nikkor lenses are renowned for their image quality. I'm a little surprised that the Olympus doesn't perform that well. Best wishes, Ralf
Allegedly, later versions of Olympus Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 are sharper and of overall better IQ. Unfortunately, till now I hadn't a chance to try one out...
another insightful viewing...❤
I have the Nikkor 35mm f2 AFD which is manual focus only on my Z5 and adapter. With Nikon's own FTZ adapter, you do get a focus confirm box around your chosen focus point ( it turns from red to green when your in focus, so you don't need to zoom in to get fine focus.)
I agree with you about the Nikkor f/2.8. I love that lens; but I think I prefer the 35mm f/2. My favorite 35mm, however, is a Zeiss f/2. That is possibly my favorite lens....period.
I have the predecessor of that Nikon lens in cm form, before they labelled them in mm.
I'd not say it's the sharpest, but it's got a character to it I quite like.
Your Nikon lens is the 6 element version, which is thought to be more desirable than the 5 element f2.8 version. Worth mentioning if you’re in the market for the Nikon lens.
nice! i have the earlier S model with the 7 elements. it seems to have less contrast, and different shaped bokeh
Thanks Nigel. Think I’ll stick with my Super Takumar f3.5 & Prinzflex f2.8 versions which were considerably cheaper (especially the latter, albeit renders colours on the warm side).
I used this lens for a majority of the pictures I took with Nikons, and is the only Nikkor I still own, with a Nikkormat EL.
Great! I have the 35 F/2 the 20 and the 24 Nikon vintage.
Nigel
I have the Takumar 35mm 3.5 M42 lens I use it on my Spotamatic SP11 film camera the lens is very sharp wide open at 3.5 it's my widest M42 lens
Akways wondered why there are quite a few 50mm F1.4, but with 35mm F2.8 commonly seems to be the widest aperture ?
Nikon made 35mm F2 (1965-2005) and 35mm F1.4 lenses (1970-today) also. Pre AI/AI and AIS (AF-S 1.4).
Have you gone the EXAKTA route? Like the earlier VX IIa body, or the lenses thereof? Thought it would be a good show if you did. But maybe in warmer weather when cranky cameras do better...
The first 35 2.8 was introduced in February 1962.
edit: the colour coding matches the depth of field scale.
The 3.5cm F2.8 was produced from October 1959.
We know, the color coding is not always exact but pretty.
Your copy looks like a pre-AI version. It has the older solid indexing "rabbit ears", plus it doesn't have the additional aperture scale. Of course, none of this matters when adapting to digital.
He has the Jun 1974 - 1978 pre-AI version with 6 elements in 6 groups and 7 blade aperture.
@andrewrothman7805 so why mention it. 🤣
Happy new year 🎉 uncle Zeno. What the heck happened to your hair. Did you dye it? I have a newer 35 mm nikon af. It's OK. I like the 40 mm very much.
i will go for the 20-35 2.8 d on my d700 or put it on the 300s for the roughly 30-60 :D
Given the history of Nikon and other optical companies following the end of WW2, they all got busy and started producing cameras. They first copies Leica and you can see that with the Nikon S camera. Noted by Leica users, in an interesting article, the Nikon S and even lenses were better than the Leica brand. Goes to show the Japanese optical companies were well versed in producing great optics. It's no surprise the Nikkor lenses fair well against their German counterparts. Of course, due to the American occupation of Japan following the war, Japanese cameras sold like hotcakes.
Hi, I love your content and woud like to lend you some stuff so that you can review it (pretty sure you'll love it and you havent specifically talked about it yet).
Is these any way to get some contact info to talk about it?
Cheers
Lionel.
France.
fill stop the nikkor 35mm F2.8 is my favorite lens
I have the 35 f2.5 Series E. It's pretty good too. I actually like all the E's for their low element count. They have great 3D pop and a nice charm to them. I collected the whole prime set of 5, then I got curious of the 3 zooms so I got them too. Even they were pleasant surprise. My favorite is the 135 2.8. I ran it against 2 nikkor copies and it smoked them both. The 100 is just behind it, because that one doesn't catch up in sharpness until 5.6. After that, it's like looking at the exact same photo, only different focal length.
This is one of the rare occasions when your review does not match my experience at all. I was searching for a MF 35 mm Nikkor for quite a long time and owned the 2.8 as well as the 2.0, in various copies. All were a complete disappointment. I think the 35 mm is the worst lens in the MF Nikkor lineup. None of my copies were able to control direct light and all showcased a great amount of CAs. The corners only get somehow sharp at f 5.6, but not really. I gave up on them. The CZJ is imho a totally other league, it is much sharper over the whole frame and does not bleed the lights out. It is my workhorse right now. The R Summicron 35 tops the CZJ by quite a margin, but it is pretty heavy (and expensive) for everyday use.
Are you getting any of this weird fog that people are talking about there. That's making people sick?
From his photos he appears to live in a similar sort of London suburb to me, and there was a bit of light fog recently but nothing weird that made people sick. Just plain ordinary fog.
@@caw25sha your lucky and me too so far. Drones spotted in Denmark now, so keep a eye on the smog
I had the f/2 version but it got stolen or lost somewhere. They're OK, but not remarkable IMO, nasty wide open and murky colours. A cheaper, much smaller AF Viltrox 40mm gets me a hell of a lot more keepers and is better in every way. At these 2025 prices, old lenses aren't really worth the faff, with only a few exceptions eg Helios 44, Nikkor 105mm f/2.5