If you bought an SLR before the Nineties it wouldn’t have come with a kit zoom, but a ‘standard’ lens of around 50mm with a fast maximum aperture of f1.8 or thereabouts instead. On a film camera, 50mm equates more or less to the angle of view seen by the human eye, so these were considered the ‘ideal’ focal length to start with.

Since then, we’ve all got used to the convenience of zoom lenses, but while they might be versatile, zooms have limitations too. At one time they were expected to be optically inferior to fixed focal length lenses, though modern designs and production techniques have meant that’s no longer a safe assumption. On top of that, though, zooms are bigger and heavier and have much smaller maximum apertures.

Nikon owners who hanker after the old days will be especially interested in the new 35mm f1.8. It’s designed specifically for Nikon’s DX-format SLRs (not the full-frame models), and it equates almost exactly to the old 50mm ‘standard’. With a maximum aperture of f1.8, it’s also around two stops faster than the average kit lens (perhaps nearer 2.5 stops at that particular

focal length).

But can a fixed focal length lens like this really stack up in the 21st Century? If you can get used to using your feet instead of a Zoom ring, a lens like this really isn’t as limiting as you might imagine. What’s more, this one is a good deal smaller and lighter than a kit zoom.

Perhaps most importantly, though, the wide maximum aperture offers shallow depth-of-field effects that ordinary zooms don’t. In theory, it should also allow you to shoot in much lower light levels, though its advantage is less clear in this respect because many Nikon zooms now incorporate VR (vibration reduction) systems, which can easily offset this lens’s maximum aperture advantage.

But for all its promise, this lens is somewhat underwhelming, for a number of reasons. First, if you’re expecting the weighty, metal build of old fixed focal length lenses, you’re going to be a little disappointed by this one’s lightweight, plasticky build. There’s nothing wrong with the way it’s put together at all, it’s just that the materials used today are not the same as those used in the past.

Worse than that, though, is the fact that this lens has neither a distance scale nor any depth-of-field markings. Now you might not expect a distance scale on a cheap kit zoom, but this lens is not cheap and it’s clearly aimed at keen and discerning photographers who will know a bit about focusing and depth of field and won’t always want to rely on the camera’s autofocus.

This ties in with the lack of a distance scale. Depth-of-field effects are one of this lens’s selling points, but without any means of estimating and manipulating it manually, it loses a lot of its appeal.

Finally, its optical performance proves vaguely disappointing too. It has a two-stop advantage over a typical zoom, to be sure, but you have to stop down to around f5.6 before it really delivers the bite it’s capable of, and even then it’s no sharper than a kit zoom. Surely, though, it will at least be distortion-free? You would like to think so, but sadly not. There’s a small and unexpected degree of barrel distortion and some noticeable colour fringing near the edges of the frame.

The average optical performance could be forgiven, and so could the lightweight build and lack of distance and depth-of-field scales. But having to accept all three in a fixed focal length lens that costs as much as a zoom is a bit much. Like most things that initially stir nostalgic excitement, this ‘blast from the past’ is somewhat of an anti-climax the second time around.

Final Verdict While the 35mm f1.8 is light, easy to use and delivers nice depth-of-field effects, its average optical performance and lack of focusing scale and depth-of-field markings are disappointing OVERALL

Our lens reviewer, and technical expert, Rod is a veritable photographic encyclopaedia. His illustrious CV has seen him write for many mags, websites and journals.