I got multiple leads on this one – it doesn’t make sense to me why Nikon would introduce a DX prime lens, but here it is with a grain of salt:
“Nikon is about to present a new lens on Monday the 16th; Nikon AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G DX (yes, a DX lens, not FX …!).”
Does anyone see any reason for a prime DX lens besides price advantage? Maybe somebody is playing a bad joke with us, but then again why would they say it’s DX – this just makes this rumor less believable and reduces the chance of me posting it – he/she could just say a new 35mm lens will be released in a week. Does it make sense to announce a new lens before PMA?
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Multiple leads? Can they all be from the same source, ie. someone posted a rumor on dpreview and then it got reported to you several times?
IF this is true, then a D40 + this thing is coming my way. Whee!
doesn’t make any sense…
pros couldn’t any a 35 mm faster than a d40 user…
unless nikon wants to fail
I’m pretty sure It would be an FX lens. Why would Nikon now start making DX prime lenses. It has to be a simple typo. Anyway cool news.
Let’s hope it’s a typo, and real
i am still so happy with my 35mm AF-D f/2.
So am I, but what fun it would be if it were just a bit smaller, and able to AF on a pretty little thing, like the D40/60. Or even a smaller, upcoming camera. Who knows?
Yes, but a new version would drive the old one’s cost down, so I could get a cheaper one
Nikon’s introduction of 50mm AF-S f/1.4G hasn’t contributed to lower priced 50mm AF-D f/1.4 yet. So don’t count on it.
i saw some press material for this today , its real
r u serious? Send me a copy? Please?
it will be FX and it will be f/1.4G.
The only reason it would make sense is for the budget d40/60 owners left in the cold due to the lack of AFFORDABLE primes. Their only choice being the pricy 50mm G type.
if it’s a f/1,4G FX, it won’t be affordable at all!
I agree – especially after the price increase maybe $899-$999 at least.
DX f1.8 now, (lighter, smaller, cheaper and if it is truly optimised for dx it’ll still perform well)
FX 1.4 in due course.
Why not ? D40/60 users will be very pleased with a cheap light quality prime and there are lots of them so it’ll sell well.
FX users will want an f1.4 and won’t mind the extra cost and weight.
So it does seem possible to me.
don’t forget also the financial aspect – maybe they (Nikon) calculated that they can make more money by selling a DX lens to the masses instead of FX to the pros – critical times require drastical measures…
Yep, and if Nikon has a D60 replacement for PMA (D60 with LV, movies and D90 sensor) then it’d make sense to announce this lens just before PMA.
I’ve heard rumours that the next lens would be a 35mm f1.8 (from a rep at Photokina) so this is looking like a real possibility.
I guess we’ll find out in a week or so…
This is the ultimate photojournalist’s lens if it’s an FX lens. So the price will be commensurate with the performance. (That is, high on both counts!)
I will buy this lens. Without a single doubt. This will be my workhorse lens.
Why is this the ultimate “photojournalist’s lens?” It’s not 1962. Have you noticed what photojournalists actually carry? They do not use primes. They use a zoom wide on one camera, like a 14-24mm and a zoom telephoto like a 70-200mm F2.8 VR on the other. Half of them carry DV cams also.
Scout Tufankjian is a photojournalist who wasn’t even born in 1962, and uses a “set of battered, but fast, prime lenses.”
Different photojournalists use different equipment under different circumstances. Schlepping a giant and comparatively slow ultrawide zoom and a giant and comparatively slow telephoto zoom is hardly the way to go all the time (or even most of the time).
Heh, where do get these stats? “They do not use primes”, “half of them carry DV cams also”. Could you provide source to these statistics, please?
What they use depends mostly on what they are covering. News situations, you´ll bet they use zooms and fast camera bodies, Wide and tele. Sports, same story.
But then there are other areas in photo journalism, such as features, reportages, enviromental portraits… In these situations, fast primes are very popular (to what extent, that I can´t prove, don´t have the statistics here…).
If you don´t understand how a fast aperture combined with a wider angle of view can help you to tell a story… Well then you just don´t.
its DX im telling you !
I can confirm one thing – the above person (Anonymous) has a different geo location than the previous sources – and he is pretty consistent that it would be a DX lens. Can Nikon really start a DX lenses line? Sgima has one.
“Can Nikon really start a DX lenses line? ”
they already have a DX line of lenses..12-24,17-55,18-70 etc , etc !!!
I mean a line of DX prime lenses
ok , I think they have to if they want to stop Sigma from taking there customers
No, NIkon would never make a professionally-oriented lens DX. Period. It doesn’t make any sense at all. Now, if it’s a 1.8 lens, then maybe it is DX. But if it’s f/1.4, there is no doubt it will be an FX lens.
Just how many times did Nikon do things that made sense!?
when nikon takes dx it makes 35mm f2 go away with 35mm 1,8
sounds good to me, if the 35/f1.8 price is right, i’m so buying it just for the AFS auto focus performance upgrade over the AFD version.
don’t get too excited, AFS on the 50G is sloooooooooooow
I’ll second that comment.
50 f1.4G AF = molasses
Slow? It is slightly faster and doesn’t hunt and seldom misses, especially in low light….that’s huge!
I have had no problems with speed of the AF-S. I use it on my D300 and it seems just as fast as my AF-S 24-70mm but maybe a fraction slower than my AF-S 14-24mm.
If it’s DX, then im pretty excited…well either way. I dont have a FX camera. The 50 1.8 is just tight for me. I want a wider, faster lens…like the sigma 30 F/1.4. Yeah it wont be as wide as the 30 or quite as fast (not a huge difference), but it will have the nikon build and performance. No need to order a sigma and hope its a good copy.
Im just hoping the price is decent.
I had a Sigma 30mm f1.4 – it smeared oof areas instead of blurring them, overexposed and front focused. So your comments match my thoughts and experience exactly. I hope the rumour is true and I hope the glass is good !
Yes, only the Sigma’s must try-it-out-in-person for a good copy, and my lack of any real money was the reason I never went for the 30mm f1.4
I’ve seen what Ryan Brenizer does with this thing on his D3 [5:4 mode]. It looks EXCELLENT! The fact that the corners are unacceptably messy adds to the effect!
As a D90 user if this lens is real I will buy it, unless it is way overpriced compared to the Sigma..
I have owned the Sigma in Olympus and it was OK, very sharp center not so corners, what worried me is it had bad exposure consistancy when used with a flash on my Oly E3…
It does make sense to me for Nikon to make a 50mm equivelent FOV lens for the DX users and try and keep the price down as much as possible for mass appeal, even if that means only 1.8 and not FF..
As one of a number of folks who have looked at the Sigma 30mm for a D40 walk around rig, I would buy a Nikon 35DX prime in a second, if it were small. The Sigma weights about as much as the D40. While I would not mind a nice fast prime for my D700, it is such a brick that the 17-35 does not add that much extra weight.
Imagine if this were to be a tessar design, [not sure about the spelling], just like the 45mm Pancake!
That’d be AWESOME!
If this comes from various sources I feel this is real
if someone tried to fake something I don’t guess he would call it “DX” prime…
Almost nobody was expecting something like this.
And a DX prime lens seems something interesting for a DX D400 coming up
Announcing it before PMA seems to me that Nkon want to get some attention, and then announce something more at PMA (D400, and hopefully more stuff)
Canon is going to announce something on feb 17-18th (but maybe only compact cameras)
I hope there are more good Nikon announcements, but related to FX…
Hmm. 35mm. So that means around 52mm ~ 55mm when the DX angle-of-view is taken into account right?
I’m sure there’ll be a ready market for these (not a huge market though).
There’d be the market for a cheap f1.8 lens. We D40/x guys never had any primes. This could be immense if it’s less than $200.
< 200$? dream on
Apparently, dreams come true!
I think it could be a typo as the ‘D’ is right next to the ‘F’ on a keyboard (so FX instead of DX). Perhaps we will see a f1.8 version of the 35mm prime.
You have a good point here – very possible.
I think they’re going to announce an F400 at PMA. Sweet, sweet film, baby.
Good God. Go to the Nikon site and press release. It`s there.
It still sounds strange to me. After introducing fine FX cameras like D3X there is not much sense in re-constructing a classical standard prime solely for DX. An AF-S 1,8/35 FX would fit into the new line they have started with AF-S 1,4/50 G: pricey but not cheap lenses with a resolution superior to analogue designs like 2,0/35. My AF-S 1,4/50 G works noticeably well and the results with D700 are sharp and crispy.
In designing a 35 for DX they willingly would make their prospective market smaller – on behalf of reducing size and weight just a little bit. IMHO not very clever…
greetz, Hans
I posted something that seems to have disappeared, but here’s the short version: Unless Nikon has completely lost their minds (or unless it’s really, really cheap), I cannot see them producing a DX prime at this point (with the possible exception of a LONG prime that is much physically smaller than an FX version.)
What’s the market for it? It is NOT D40/D60 users who already have that range covered by their kit lenses (albeit slower), but who do not, as a rule, buy additional lenses (and if they do, it’s a zoom). These are largely people who have upgraded from point-and-shoots most of whom probably don’t even understand primes or lens speed.
And I can’t see users of the higher-end bodies investing in a DX prime because they’re all thinking of upgrading to FX at some point. Furthermore, in a wide- to-normal prime, there’s not simply that much difference in size and weight between DX and FX.
In the first nine months of this fiscal year, Nikon sold an average of only 1.39 lenses per body (vs. an industry average of 1.59). That’s not a lot and those extra lenses are being bought as either a 2nd kit zoom (18-55 and 55-200, for example) or by pros and higher-end photogs.
So..a 35mm FX…absolutely, followed by the 85mm next. But a DX? I’m not believing it. But I’ve been wrong before.
sorry – probably it got lost when the site went down
Zoetmb, you present a conventional analysis where interest and ability is directly related to price paid. Let me tell you, its not that simple. There has been a resurgence of interest in primes, often by folks at the less costly end of the scale buying second hand MF primes for a song and using them on D40 etc. And there are plenty of folks with much money and little clue walking around with a D700 set to P mode permanently.
Short version – D40 users are not necessarily clueless. They just have less money. An AF-S normal prime would be a smart move.
It’s not even “less money.” A miniature (by modern standards) SLR and a small, fast, normal prime is a very appealing combination to a lot of people. Even rich people.
Right now, Nikon has nothing to offer somebody who wants that. Not at any price.
I believe we are seeing the beginning of a new line of Nikon lenses, split into two groups:
Low Cost – DX, designed for all Nikon DX camera, with AF-S. All plastic construction, made in China, with good optical performance, but aimed at the hobby crowd.
Pro – FX with faster glass, better coating and faster AF-S motors. I’m betting we’ll see a new 28, 35 and 85 very soon, hopefully f/1.4 or f/1.2.
I’ll bet Nikon offers this 35mm DX lens with a D40 as an entry-level kit at a really low price point. It would actually be a pretty darn good kit for indoor shooting. They have needed this lens for a long time, and I suspect you’ll see a pro-grade f/1.4 to follow.
I don’t really believe it either but, currently, the Sigma 30/1.4 DC has no direct competitor.
Nevertheless, besides me, I know personnally three photographers (and more met on forums) who use happily the D40/D40x + Sigma 30/1.4 combo as a light addition to their other gear. So there might be a market for such a lens.
The ‘dirty 30′ is also in my experience a very popular lens in all mounts, including Nikon.. as you say Nikon offers no competition to this lens and it makes a lot of sense to me to offer a 1.8 version if they can undercut the Sigma price then they will I believe halt the loss of sales to Sigma of Nikon DX users wanting a near normal FOV..
I want a 28 or 35 mm f/1.4 FX prime!
The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 is selling at about $400 and maintaining a $300 price used on eBay It’s exploiting a hole in Nikon’s lineup. Olympus has a very small 25mm prime for its 4/3 system (50mm efl). This almost-pancake lens came out perhaps six months ago. Remember it?
I think the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 will be physically pretty small and light and will make a nice package with a D40, D40x, D60 or D60 replacement (which I now think will be smaller and lighter than a D60). For those of us staying with DX (I’m keeping my D300, thank you), this lens is very interesting. It pairs well with my Nikkor 50mm D f/1.8 for street shooting and any situation where a limited DOF or making photos in limited light is desired. (Yes, I have a Nikkor 16-85mm DX VRII that both lenses overlap.)
IMO, most people here are fixated on the FX world and forget the number of DX cameras both out there and still sold for every FX. body. Nikon will make this new lens because a lot of people will buy it It matches their pro image. I can see ads showing great photos with limited DOF taken with a smaller, cheaper DX Nikon, introducing younger, newer DSLR owners to primes.
I hope they don’t make a lens like the Olympus pancake.. Being both an ex Pentax and Olympus user, I think Pentax do pancakes much better… The Oly 25mm prime was optically worse in every way to the zoom I used 14-54mm….
Unless it’s 200 dls or less I wouldn’t get it.
A 35/1.8 DX prime would mean it’s a normal lens for the DX format. That’d mean a really cheap fast prime.
I personally would love to see some DX wides. 12/2.8, 15/2.8 18/2.8 for example. The longer lenses serve DX and FX just fine. It’s the 50mm and below range that DX is lacking.
The MSRP of this 35mm 1.8 DX AFS will be very important to its own success. I makes good sense for Nikon to put some R&D into DX lenses. It means that Nikon is still committing to the developing of APS-C cameras for a long time in the future. Unless full frame cameras like D700 drop to sub $1000 range, I really don’t see anyone would upgrade ever. This will be a sharp contrast to Canon’s strategy of using APS-C cameras as a teaser to entice people to upgrade to 5D and buy L glasses. I know several Canon users bought 24-105L with their digital rebel or 30/40D. But that lens is simply odd focus length on APS-C cameras.
Okay, what you just said is a honorable, noble thing to do, but doesn’t make sense [profit-wise] for a business. Nikon won’t do that.
I have no idea what you are talking about. Nikon won’t do what? If they set 35mm F1.8 AF-S DX lens at say $200, I’m sure it will be a big seller. Every D40/40x/60/60x user will want to buy one. It’s also relatively easier to design and manufacture DX lenses as I understand it. Imagine that Nikon stop making any meaningful/decent DX lenses from now on, what kind of message it’s going to send all the DX Nikon owners?
One thing I didn’t buy 40D or XSi(450D) is because I didn’t want to feel inferior and 2nd class in the Canon lens world.
is my picture shown?
yes, your picture is shown…. are you hungry?
Don’t forget about weight. The D40/D40x/D60 is really light. A fast, light, cheap lens + a D40 size body would be small, light, and cheap. And probably take great pictures.
What are you guys talking about?
If D400 is coming, and it is as we all know, and if it will be best DX camera ever, and it will be, than there is nothing surprising about new DX prime, and if it could also be used on D90, current DSLR best seller, and the new D60 replacement, next DSLR best seller, coming next month, there is nothing unexpected here.
“Does anyone see a reason for a (35mm) prime DX lens”.
Well, after introducing a normal prime for FX (50mm AF-S) introducing a normal prime for DX sounds like a reasonable plan, there are a lot of DX bodies out there after all. It might also compete with the Sigma 30mm f/1.4.
Interested to see if this one appears and how it performs. And how it compares to the existing 35mm f/2.
didnt nikon say they would stop producing DX lenses? if im not mistaken, you reported it Mr.NR.
why is evryone saying $200?
price it similar to the AF 50mm F1.8D or the AF-s 18-55 VR both lenses are similar price point and Nikon is making money from the sales of these lenses
the 35mm could have AF-s motor from the 18-55 and the f stop of the prime, it make an easy “sell up” lens for D40/60 sales
at $100-150 the’ll sell millions of them
It’s out…. the AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G
http://www.nikon.com/about/news/2009/0209_nikkor_01.htm
35mm F1.8 DX AF-S at $200 ….
Yeah, fun to read the comments in retrospect. So many people were so clueless.
This hits exactly the right notes for people with the kit zoom already: compact, light, clearly faster (F1.8 vs F3.5-5.6 for crying out loud!), standard lens eq., and … affordable. I think it will sell like hotcakes. Hopefully Nikon will followup with an 18mm wide and 80mm tele to complete the traditional three prime lens set.
Bet you feel like an idiot now!
could you send me any informetion sel nikon lence for Red?
Can’t find it yet…where can I buy this?
AS-F DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G DX – I just picked this up TODAY in Center City Philadelphia. This puppy compliments the two kit lenses I got with the D60 body. I was looking for a 50mm but saw this an glad I made the purchase. Extremely FAST Auto Focus and so quiet. Very important with indoor shooting!