I am a novice photographer and have been using a variety of lenses.

From an older (non VR) 70-300

telephoto to a 10.5mm fisheye. Over the past three years I have also used the "nifty 50" Nikkor 50mm
1.8D. This lens has been amazing for portraits, some casual shooting, and the occasional indoor kid's
sporting events. One problem I came across time and time again, because I shoot on a cropped sensor
camera (D90), is that the 50mm 1.8D (taking into consideration the 1.5x crop factor) actually shoots
more like a 75mm equivalent. Time and time again I would find myself only being able to keep one
subject in frame, or wishing I had more room behind me to back up farther in order to get more in the
frame. Often times I would switch lenses and use an older kit lens (18-70mm 3.5ED) in order to shoot
wider, but that of course came at the cost of loss of sharpness and the dramatic depth of field effect
that can be achieved with prime lenses like the 50mm 1.8D.

Also, a professional photographer friend of mine was using a 50mm on her Canon 5D Mark III and after
looking at the pictures I wondered how she was able to fit so much into the frame while not having to
back away dramatically. This was before I knew anything about crop sensor cameras, crop factors, full
frame cameras, etc. The fact is that a 50mm lens on a full frame camera and the same lens on a crop
sensor camera do not shoot the same way.

After some reading and investigating, I decided to pull the trigger and purchase this 35mm 1.8G lens. I
got it, popped on the bayonet style lens good and started shooting. On a cropped sensor camera like the
D90 (as well as the newer D7200, D7000, D3300, D3200, D5500, etc.) this lens shoots (with the 1.5x crop
factor multiplier) works close to a 53mm equivalent. The results were immediate, I shoot in close
quarters with kids, pets, bands and the ability to fit more in the frame was - liberating. I did not feel
hampered by what I could or could not fit into the frame.

Pros:

- Feels well built

- Comes packaged with carrying case, good cap, bayonet style lens hood

- Can fit more in the frame

- Fast

- Captures crisp images with lots of detail

- Great in low light, maybe even better than the now older 50mm 1.8D (which by the way does not
autofocus unless you have a camera with a focus motor built in)

- If I had a camera that did not have a focus motor built in, no problem, this lens has a focus motor built
into it

- Focusing is SILENT - unlike the 50mm 1.8D, which hunts for focus and is noisy as hell
- Manual focus override: a switch on the side of the lens allows you to either manually focus the lens, or
to allow for M/A, manual and autofocus. This comes in handy if you want to fine tune your focusing or
when shooting video and do not want to rely on the focus motors to handle how and what you focus on
as you pan through a scene

Cons:

- The bokeh on the 35mm does not really compare to what I've been used to from the 50mm 1.8D. The
Bokeh (quality of blurriness in the background when shooting wide open) simply does not look as good,
but this is a relatively minor issue. That said, I may use this lens more as a street photo / on the go / all
around lens and keep the 50mm 1.8D for portrait work or product shots exclusively

- There is some barrel distortion with this lens (which is when there is slight curve to the image from the
center point to all edges) the effect is very slight and can very easily be corrected in photo editing
software

Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase. The lens came packaged very well, arrived exactly on time
and in perfect condition. The images I have attached compare the older 50mm 1.8D alongside this lens,
as well as the test shots. The shots are to show how much can fit in the frame using the 50mm lens (on a
cropped sensor camera) in comparison to this 35mm 1.8G. I love the 50mm lens, I really do, but I
needed more versatility and this 35mm lens gives me just that, the freedom to have a quasi-portrait lens
as well as a great, fast, and sharp all around shooter. I look forward to what I will be able to do with this
lens as I continue to hone my skills as a photographer.

Comparison images: If the object looks closer I took it with the 50mm lens. Same conditions used for
every photo.