Get the best from a fast 35mm prime

Nikon Team •Hot Shots •27 Jun 2024•3 min read

Try these techniques with the new NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 and see the world your way

Wide, medium or close – or all three

A lens like the NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 is perfect for all-day street photography, where you want a combination of angles and aspects to tell the story. Standing back to take a whole scene in, moving in to get a medium shot where your subject is seen in a surrounding environment to give context and getting in close are all in a day’s work for this lens. Try it out at a street scene where all three different shots work together to create a narrative around a subject.

Play with the aperture

With a lens as fast as the NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4, you could be tempted to keep it wide open all the time for that beautiful bokeh, but it’s not always the best solution for telling the story of a subject. Close down the aperture a little to get more of the background context in and your image might have more power.

Try these techniques with the new NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 and see the world your way

Wide, medium or close – or all three

Play with the aperture

Nikon Team

What’s in our kitbag?

NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4Street-smart classic

Make the built environment the star

When travelling on city streets, sometimes the interest is in the buildings rather than the people. A 35mm like the NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 is great for architecture as it has a human’s-eye view of the scene and no distortion. And with the f/1.4 aperture, those nighttime cityscapes will look amazing.

Food, glorious food

With a minimum focus distance of just 27cm, you can get up close to that amazing meal – no more awkward standing up in the middle of the restaurant! 35mm is a great focal length for food photography, and the wide aperture means you can concentrate on one detail on the table and have the rest fading back into beautiful bokeh.

Making movies

35mm is the go-to focal length for many of the greatest movie directors and cinematographers throughout history. And for good reason. The NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 is made for creating amazing footage. With its large aperture, the ability to get in close to a subject (perfect for filming in tight spaces) or go wide with that natural view, you can create all the shots you need to tell a compelling story. Try a one-lens session with a variety of angles and shots and see how they can come together. For more on creating video with prime lenses click here.

Ditch the flash

A fast prime lens like the NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 is a star in natural light, so use it to practise with window light for still lifes or indoor environmental portraits of people at work. Read our guide to light here.

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