Want to buy my first prime

I know this has been covered a bunch. I am looking to purchase a prime lens. I have my eye on the Nikon 35mm f1.8. I have a question in regards to stabilization. Are these types of lenses fast enough to not require image stabilization? I want to add this to my "walk around" list and don't want to buy this if it is a lens better suited for tripod only. I also intend to use it for video.

Great choice! I think you will enjoy this lens on a DX body. It is not just the speed of the glass as much as the the focal length of the lens. A slight movement of a camera with a 35mm lens may become a soft image where a slight movement of a camera with a 300mm lens represents a lot of distance and is greatly magnified and looks terribly blurred. Hope that helps.

WJYPhoto said:

Great choice! I think you will enjoy this lens on a DX body. It is not just the speed of the glass as much as the the focal length of the lens. A slight movement of a camera with a 35mm lens may become a soft image where a slight movement of a camera with a 300mm lens represents a lot of distance and is greatly magnified and looks terribly blurred. Hope that helps.

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Yes that helps. When I had Canon equipment, I borrowed a friends 70-200 "L" lens that did not have OS and most of the images I shot were unusable. Most of the shots were at the long end so I know exactly what you mean. Thanks for replying.

I bought 2 primes and a macro this year. The 35mm/1.2D, 50mm/1.8D and the 85mm/3.5G. I love all 3 lenses. But I get more use from the 35mm. With the 50mm you have to step back more sometimes for a shot. Here is a shot with each lens. Mind you niether of these are good shots, just depth of field comparison. I was about 4 feet away.
35mm 50mm

newbshooter said:

I bought 2 primes and a macro this year. The 35mm/1.2D, 50mm/1.8D and the 85mm/3.5G. I love all 3 lenses. But I get more use from the 35mm. With the 50mm you have to step back more for a good shot. Here are a shot with each lens.
35mmView attachment 1462950mmView attachment 14630

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That's a big difference on coverage area. I would have to step out of the room to use the 50mm effectively. Lol thanks for the photo comparison. The 35mm 1.4 I definitely cannot afford.

I would give the new 40mm micro a look also, I've owned both and found the 40 to be sharper and great for getting closer. Of course, you loose 5mm, but if you have other lenses for the wide end you are covered (35mm on dx is not very wide either).

Dooku77 said:

That's a big difference on coverage area. I would have to step out of the room to use the 50mm effectively. Lol thanks for the photo comparison. The 35mm 1.4 I definitely cannot afford.

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That is exactly my issue with my 50mm, just not wide enough for most of my indoor shots which seem to be groups etc, my 28mm is to wide and like in the three bears the 35mm is just right!

WJYPhoto said:

That is exactly my issue with my 50mm, just not wide enough for most of my indoor shots which seem to be groups etc, my 28mm is to wide and like in the three bears the 35mm is just right!

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My first instinct was to get the 50mm but I believe the 35mm is a nice right in the middle option. I definitely want a prime lens for the holidays.

If I were in the market for a prime and multi use were a consideration for me. I would take a long hard look at the 60mm Micro Nikkor. It would make a good portrait lens plus you would have the ability to do 1:1 work and it's not to long that it's not a normal lens. If I were wanting a prime for street photography I would rather have the 28 then the 35 over the 50. JMTC

when you buy Primes, well then you are moving to the "lens" collecting mode. Zooms are popular just because they provided the multi lens in one package option,,

But,,, once you start down the prime path,, well, expect to buy more than one lens, it is impossible to recommend one lenght over the other,, because it all depends on the shot and the look you are trying to get.

Hence, Pick one,, and then have regrets,, buy another... grins.. and another,, and eventually you will have a bag full of primes, and then put on a zoom!

but if you want lowest cost, best quality, hard to beat primes, but darn inconvenient.

Primes are funny animals in that every photographer has "their" focal lengths that they are most comfortable with. An example is some street shooters like a really wide angle like the 24. Others do better with 35mm and others do better with 28mm. Then some of them only shoot 50mm.

It is really one of them deals were you have to use a few different lenses to figure out what works best with your eyes and style and dynamic.

Good primes are not cheap and good primes will always outperform zooms at their respective focal length although nowadays some of the higher end zooms are getting very darn good but not necessarily so great across the whole zoom range.

For ME personally the ideal prime kit on my full frame is 28, 50, 85, 105 and I would use only two of them for the vast majority of stuff I do.