Sharpness

The sharpness tests for this review were carried out using a real-world subject rather than a test chart. The Nikkor 35mm f1.4 lens was attached to a Nikon D700 body, which in turn was mounted on a sturdy tripod. Exposure Delay Mode was activated. The lens was focused manually in order to eliminate the possibility of AF errors. Slight tonal changes are due to slight changes in natural light during the session. The 100% crops represent about 1/300th of the total frame area.

The full frame

The lens is impressively sharp wide open, both in the centre and along the edges. You will likely have more problems with vignetting than sharpness. From f/2 through f/11, sharpness is nothing short of first rate, and f/16 is only a notch worse. Simply excellent performance.

Aperture	Centre Crop	Edge Crop
f/1.4
f/2
f/2.8
f/4
f/5.6
f/8
f/11
f/16