The Nikon 35mm f1.4 Ai-S is an interesting lens. It’s a very fast wide angle lens that focuses to just 30cm away. Sounds all good, but the older design results in lower than expected contrast at f1.4 and quite an unusual - if not a little disturbing - out of focus blur, or bokeh.
In the last year three different 35mm f1.4 lenses for Nikon have been released on the market. There’s the very expensive Nikon 35mm f1.4 AF-S, the also very expensive manual focus Carl Zeiss 35mm f1.4 Biogon T*; and interestingly the Korean made Samyang 35mm f1.4 manual focus. PhotoZone gave the Samyang an excellent review, and at around $500 it’s one quarter the price of the AF-S Nikon and Zeiss, and only slightly more than the ageing Nikon 35mm f2 AF-D. Better start saving – a comparison is in order.
I had this lens for a while, but never really liked it. Of so many 35mm lenses I have had, I liked this one the least. It just didn't jive with me.
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