18-55mm vs 1.8 35mm

[gregtallica]

I have (access to) both, and my 35mm is way sharp. I just got the 35 about two weeks ago and took it on vacation, other than when I wanted the 200mm end of my 18-200 zoom, I had the 35 on my camera the whole time. I was loving the results. Sharp at low apertures, I really enjoyed the lens.

I say "access to" because my gf has the 18-55, and I've spent a good amount of time with it. It's a good lens, I haven't done any type of side by side comparison, but I think as I use all these lenses more and more and kind of develop my eye, I think it's got a better IQ than the 18-200 (which may be obvious), but in my ameture opinion, doesn't even come close to the 35mm.

Now, if you need to zoom...... that's a totally different battle. That's why you get them all!

 

[CaptainNapalm]

CaptainNapalm, you've probably already answered this but have you tried calibrating it (AF Fine Tune in the menu).

If you are still getting soft images when you manually focus then you have another issue, but it could be a quick and easy fix for your 35mm. My 50mm prime was a ways out and it is much better now that I have calibrated it.

I posted in captainnapalm's other post about this, but maybe he missed it.. it helped me for sure. Mine was way off on my D300.. I thought the lens was defective, but now it's one damned awesome lens after focus adjustment.

Sorry I did miss that. Thanks for the advice.

 

[PropilotBW]

I love my 35mm! The 18-55 just sits and collects dust. Now that I think about it, I don't believe I've put the 18-55 on my camera since I bought the 35mm 1.8, which has been almost a year.

 

[CaptainNapalm]

bc_steve & bhop: thanks for your input. Thanks to you I was able to get my 35mm lens to actually produce some consistent sharp pictures. To achieve that I needed to set the AF Fine tune to -10. I haven't taken the time to properly calibrate it but just lowering the numbers to that range made a huge difference. Conversely, going with the numbers above zero made matters worse. I'll calibrate it more accurately on the weekend but it's good to see that it's actually making a difference. Here is one of a few pics that came out consistently good under low light, hand held, f//1.8, shutter 1/20 or so, ISO 1600. Prior to the -10 setting this would be impossible with my lens under little light. This is a tiny version of the pic but it does look good.

 

[Rafterman]

This is a tiny version of the pic but it does look good.

A tiny version which is click-able to see a HUGE version. Very sharp shot! Glad you finally got it figured out!

 

[CaptainNapalm]

This is a tiny version of the pic but it does look good.

A tiny version which is click-able to see a HUGE version. Very sharp shot! Glad you finally got it figured out! :thumbup:

Thanks Rafterman, now I can say that I am starting to like the 35mm lens and if it does keep performing well over the next little while I would definitely recommend it.

 

[apvm]

Glad to see this turns out good because I am going to get the 35mm 1.8 soon and was wondering after reading your post.

 

[gregtallica]

This is a tiny version of the pic but it does look good.

A tiny version which is click-able to see a HUGE version. Very sharp shot! Glad you finally got it figured out! :thumbup:

Thanks Rafterman, now I can say that I am starting to like the 35mm lens and if it does keep performing well over the next little while I would definitely recommend it.

I love this post, knowing that it's working out for you. Congrats dude :thumbup:

 

[jrizal]

bc_steve & bhop: thanks for your input. Thanks to you I was able to get my 35mm lens to actually produce some consistent sharp pictures. To achieve that I needed to set the AF Fine tune to -10. I haven't taken the time to properly calibrate it but just lowering the numbers to that range made a huge difference. Conversely, going with the numbers above zero made matters worse. I'll calibrate it more accurately on the weekend but it's good to see that it's actually making a difference. Here is one of a few pics that came out consistently good under low light, hand held, f//1.8, shutter 1/20 or so, ISO 1600. Prior to the -10 setting this would be impossible with my lens under little light. This is a tiny version of the pic but it does look good.
View attachment 39251

Dunno which I like better, the picture or the bottle! Glad you had things worked out. Read your other posts and you were really frustrated and ranting. Trust all the reviews, that is one good lens especially given its price point.

To the OP, like the others said the prime is a lot sharper but the 18-55mm is pretty decent. To sum it up:

18-55mm - more versatile due to its zoom capabilities
35mm - sharper and better in low light

Once you are more comfortable with your body and the capabilities of each lens (by actually trying them out), you will soon find out which lens is better suited for the occasion.

 

[bc_steve]

bc_steve & bhop: thanks for your input. Thanks to you I was able to get my 35mm lens to actually produce some consistent sharp pictures. To achieve that I needed to set the AF Fine tune to -10. I haven't taken the time to properly calibrate it but just lowering the numbers to that range made a huge difference. Conversely, going with the numbers above zero made matters worse. I'll calibrate it more accurately on the weekend but it's good to see that it's actually making a difference. Here is one of a few pics that came out consistently good under low light, hand held, f//1.8, shutter 1/20 or so, ISO 1600. Prior to the -10 setting this would be impossible with my lens under little light. This is a tiny version of the pic but it does look good.
View attachment 39251

That is awesome!! That pic looks nice and sharp. I'm glad the lens is working better for you and hopefully you end up liking it as much as I do!

 

[krice300]

WOW!! After reading this I fiddled around with the AF fine tune and now realize that I was having a similar problem and I wasn't aware. I thought everything was just fine.

 

[RoCoFF]

I have been thinking that my 50mm f/1.8 was just a touch fuzzy. I'm going home tonight and putting this to the test!

 

[Janetta]

Onera, I tried the 35 1.8 when I first started out with Nikon, because I'd just heard so many good things about this "freebie" and Canon didn't have any equivalents. So be honest, I didn't "totally" like it. It was OK - great even (as is obvious from some examples above) - but somehow I wasn't totally blown away - and especially if you are considering it vs the zoom lens that gives you the wider options, I confess that I often wished for something just a tad wider with the 35mm lens, especially having been used to shooting with in a 24-30mm range often.

That said, there was nothing to complain about per se and especially not about the price. I then tried the 17-55mm 2.8 fixed and somehow it got glued onto my camera even though I wasn't a zoom person per se. I just found it hard to remove that lens off my D7K The marriage was just TOO GOOD.
If you ever plan to get that lens, definitely more expensive but IF you do, I'd say forget the 35mm AND the kit lens and wait for it! But that said, for the weight and the price, the 35mm is a great lens

 

[Onera]

CaptainNapalm, you've probably already answered this but have you tried calibrating it (AF Fine Tune in the menu).

If you are still getting soft images when you manually focus then you have another issue, but it could be a quick and easy fix for your 35mm. My 50mm prime was a ways out and it is much better now that I have calibrated it.

I posted in captainnapalm's other post about this, but maybe he missed it.. it helped me for sure. Mine was way off on my D300.. I thought the lens was defective, but now it's one damned awesome lens after focus adjustment.

Hey, That's really nice, I already got the 35mm 1.8, but I'm with D5100 and I have no clue what is AF fine tune, neither google helped me. This "thing" should be calibrated always? Or I should take few tests for sharpness first? = )

Best Wishes

 

[Nikanon]

CaptainNapalm, you've probably already answered this but have you tried calibrating it (AF Fine Tune in the menu).

If you are still getting soft images when you manually focus then you have another issue, but it could be a quick and easy fix for your 35mm. My 50mm prime was a ways out and it is much better now that I have calibrated it.

Hey, That's really nice, I already got the 35mm 1.8, but I'm with D5100 and I have no clue what is AF fine tune, neither google helped me. This "thing" should be calibrated always? Or I should take few tests for sharpness first? = )

Best Wishes

AF Tune is only used on a lens that has front/back focusing issues. I have the AF Tune setting my D7000 not sure about the D5100?