The Best Focal Length Ever
There are so many thoughts I can share about the 35mm focal length that have been repeated by nearly every single enjoyer of wide-angle photography; so I'll spare you anything long winded about "near to eye but wide enough for environmental portraiture" waxing poetic about this perfect focal length and just get to the good stuff.
Let's Talk About Lens Baby
The AF-S Nikkor 35mmf/1.8G-ED
Sure it's a lens from 2014 and yes I adapt it to my mirrorless camera. I will save you the specs because everyone everywhere has run this lens to death, with the exception of a few things which I think are important if you wanted to pick one up yourself:
Aperture Range = f1.8 - f16 | Bokeh Circles @ f1.8, they get noticeably angular at f5.6
I got this lens for $125 USD pre-loved and I commonly see them for around $250-300 USD in 2026. I've owned this lens for a couple of years now and it's attached to my camera more often than not. It's fairly lightweight and while it isn't pocket sized, the lens makes for a very nice weather sealed travel companion provided you don't mind zooming in with your feet.
This Lens is Perfect For...
Everything. Nearly everything, anyway. Nature, Portraiture, Photobooth, Street - Stills and Video. Where this lens excels for me is in low-light Portraitures, particularly when the environment is also important. The 1.8 f-stop let's so much light in while keeping the center very sharp, the only negative is keeping focus in those situations - where I'm usually manual anyway. The depth of field is sliver-thin though so tread carefully.
This specific lens is always in the bag for a reason, even though I have similar focal lengths in my kit and usually a 24-70 for professional work. I love the way it realizes colors, the out of focus elements are painterly and beautiful, not to mention how fast it can lock onto your subject. Autofocus on this lens may have been slow on last-get DSLR cameras, but it is lightening fast on modern mirrorless.
When capturing video, I always have it on manual focus anyway - but I do notice that it hunts a lot in AFF mode.
The Zen of 35mm
A lens can be an extension of your eye - after creating as many photographs with one focal length as I have, you begin to see the world in 35mm: that's honestly where the practice of photography become more meditative as a mindfulness activity.
There is a moment where this art form just kind of *clicks* into places, for me that was in 2021 - shortly after I hosted my first photowalk in Downtown Seattle. I started this hobby with a 35mm equivalent lens (on a crop sensor, so approximately 35mm) and that focal length defined my growth as a photography for nearly two full years. Nowadays, I find myself reaching for other focal lengths for very specific purposes, but 35mm will always be my homeostasis.
It is the lens I know the most, inside and out. It is the width I am most familiar with - so when I'm outside walking the streets, on a mountain overlooking the trail I just walked, manning the photobooth at Fremont Fridays, or creating editorial content for a client: the 35mm likely starts the session off as the lens already attached to my camera.
and often times, it just stays on.
Got further questions about it? Please let me know in the comments!
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