Olympus E-P5, Nikkor 35mm f/2 Ai
Digital Moments, Nikkor 35mm F2 Ai
'Image samples with the manual focus Nikkor 35mm F2 Ai legacy lens mounted on the Olympus E-P5'Favored by both Nikon photo enthusiasts and used extensively by photojournalists as a standard prime, the Nikkor 35mm f/2's have been in production since 1965. The lens is a solid all metal and glass construction, with an excellent focus ring, and a long focus throw, excellent for a manually more accurate focus.
While retaining its 8 elements in 6 groups optical formula, the lens went through various cosmetic, mechanical, and updates through its long production run. The AI version was introduced in 1971, and the Ai-S version was in production from 1981 to 2005.
The Nikon Nikkor Ai-S 35mm f/2 came with strong credentials as well. Ken Rockwell used it as his normal lens on his Nikon cameras until he replaces it with the 35mm F1.4.
His main advocate, however, is that the lens should not be used for night photography with bright points and light sources, as the lens has a tendency to produce strong ghost effects.
Beyond that, other users give the lens their thumbs up as well. Image quality was the strong suit, sharp and contrasty even from f/2, sharpest at f/4, and good through f/11.
Shot wide open in 1:1 image aspect ratio on the 2x crop sensor E-P5, these images are not up for evaluation of edge or sweet spot sharpness, coma or comatic aberration which can be an advantage to some as much as it disadvantages others. A lot can be done while the image is post-processed aw well.
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Nikkor 35mm f/2 Ai, Olympus E-P5, Fotga Nikon M4/3 Manual Adapter |
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