This lens was born in the late 1960’s and quickly became the photojournalist’s best friend. It’s sharp, fast, and allows you to get very close to your subject.

The combination of wide aperture, standard focal length, and close focusing ability the proper use can produce images with a look not possible by very many lenses.

Take these images I shot of my sister yesterday while testing this lens. The narrow depth of field and wide frame pops her out of the picture and blurs the background giving it a 3D look.

40 years later this lens still holds it’s value at over $1,000 brand new, a pretty penny for a manual focus lens from Nikon. It’s replacement the 35mm 1.4 G, which came out last year, sells for $1,800.

-Jesse White