You bought a Nikon DX DSLR camera such as D5600, D3500, or D7500. Now you are looking for the best prime lens to pair with the camera. I have a great recommendation for you from my personal experience.
The best prime lens for a Nikon DX camera is AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G.
The reasons for my claim are:
- The lens is super sharp
- It has a wide aperture which is great for low light photography
- It is small and lightweight
- The lens is cheap to buy
- It gives you a normal field of view
- It is versatile, you can take portraits, landscapes, group photographs, etc.
- It is well built
- The lens has minimum distortion
- It is great for close up photography
The Nikon 35mm f/1.8G DX lens is super sharp.
The prime lens is one of the sharpest lenses Nikon ever made. Usually, lenses have their sharpest performance in the middle of their aperture range. For example, my Nikon 50mm f/1.8G lens gives sharper images at f5.6.
However, the 35mm DX lens gives sharper images even wide open. You are able to get sharp images at f1.8. This is the best property of the prime lens that I love the most.
You can take great portraits with nice bokeh when shooting with the lens at a wide-open aperture.
It is great in low light
The lens has a maximum aperture of f1.8. This wider aperture allows plenty of light to fall on the sensor of your camera. So, it is great for taking incredible images in low light situations.
I use this lens with my Nikon D7200 camera as a backup when photographing indoor events. Because of the wider aperture, I don’t need to crank up the ISO too much to get the photos.
The lens is small and lightweight
The Nikon 35mm DX lens is small that you can put it in your pocket. Its dimensions are approximately 70 x 52.5 mm and it weighs only 200g.
Because of its size and weight, it is great for street photography.
The Nikon 35mm f1.8 DX prime lens is affordable.
This is a great prime lens that you can buy a brand new under 200 USD. If you are in a tight budget, you can find a used one under a hundred dollars.
I would recommend buying a brand new lens. Unlike camera bodies, you don’t need to upgrade lenses. You can keep the lenses for many years. The 35mm lens is well built and will last for decades.
If you are going to upgrade your camera to an FX body, still you can use this lens. Yes, you can use this DX lens on a Nikon FX camera.
It gives a normal field of view.
The field of view of human eyes is roughly equal to seeing through a 50mm lens on a 35mm film or FX DSLR. Nikon DX cameras have a crop factor of 1.5. So, the field of view of a 35 mm lens on a DX camera is 35×1.5 = 52.5mm.
It is close to the normal field of view of the human eyes. When you photograph with a normal lens, you will get the images without noticeable distortion. So, the scene in the image will look natural.
It is great for close up photography.
The lens has a closest focusing distance of 30cm and a maximum reproduction ratio of 0.16X. That means the lens has the ability to focus at a close distance. Therefore, you can take close up images using this lens.
If you want to do true macro photography, you can pair the lens with a macro extension tube. That will give you one to one magnification.
About the author: Victor is a freelance photographer, technophile, and founder of vxanswers.com.