Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S Lens Review

Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S is designed and built for Nikon DX-Format digital SLR camera. This lens is built with Nikon Super Integrated Coating (SIC) to enhance the light transmission efficiency and offers superior color consistency. Nikon built this lens with an exclusive Nikon Silent Wave Motor (SWM) which enables it for fast, accurate and quiet Autofocus on Nikon's entry-level DSLR camera like D40, D40x, D60 and D5000 which lacks the internal motor to use lens in Autofocus mode. One of the key element to get this lens is the price of the lens. It comes with less than half the price of many other DX format standard prime lenses currently in the market. At the time of writing this blog, it was selling on Amazon for $197.04. If you really want to try the lens but you don’t want to spend that much money, there are places from where you can rent the lens.

Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S Prime Lens

Along with all the promising features, the lens's performance is very impressive compared to it's price. It produces really sharp and finely detailed images in al aperture value. It focuses very quickly and accurately. It is very light weight and fits into a small package. If you are traveling a lot with your camera, this lens will be a huge advantage for you to carry around. It is almost 4 times cheaper than Nikon AF-S 18-200mm F3.5-5.6 DX VR II lens but produces much sharper images with close focusing up to 1 foot. It is very fast and f/1.8 aperture is perfect for the low-light condition.

The AF-S Nikkor 35mm F/1.8G has two focus modes, M/A (manual override Autofocus) and M (manual focus). The M/A mode enables instant manual switching during AF operation. The lens also features a rubber seal to minimize the moisture ingression around the mount and accepts 52mm filter attachments.

Nikon MC-DC2 Wired Remote Shutter Release Cord

Nikon MC-DC2 wired remote shutter release cord is primarily made for Nikon D90 and D5000 DSLR camera. MC-DC2 simulates the work of the shutter release button for the DSLR. When you press the shutter release button of your MC-DC2 halfway down, it will focus your subject (provided that your camera is in Autofocus mode) like it does when you press the shutter release button on the camera. It also has a lock feature to hold it down for a long exposure shooting while using the BULB mode. You will have more control over your camera using this cord vs Nikon ML-L3 Wireless Remote Control. MC-DC2 is 41" long and enough for you to move around your camera freely. When you want to shoot long exposure photographs like fireworks shooting or night scene, this cable works best to avoid any camera shake. MC-DC2 also works best when you want to shoot a macro. You can setup your camera on the tripod, check your cable connection and enjoy remote shooting. This unit is small, lightweight, and fits in your camera bag with ease. If you are looking for something to avoid camera shake while shooting, MC-DC2 can be your best friend.

How to use the remote shutter release cord?

Nikon MC-DC2

Using MC-DC2 wired remote shutter release cord is really simple. When you want to use the shutter release cord, you just have to turn your camera off (if your camera is on) and then plug-in the cable to your camera port (single port on the left side on Nikon D90). Next step would be to turn on your camera and the shutter release cable is ready to use. You don't have to change or adjust any settings on your camera to make this cable work. As soon as you plug the cable in, it starts working as a remote shutter release button.

I bought this cord for Nikon D90 couple of months ago to shoot fireworks. I paid around $35 and it does exactly what it says it does. I am very happy with the purchase.

Movie Settings Menu In Nikon D90

Nikon D90 is the world's first DSLR camera to record HDTV movie with sound. It gives you three different options of recording movies and today we are going to discuss the movie settings menu available in Nikon D90. When you press the menu button on the back of your camera, you will be given different choices of menu settings for your camera. But right now we are interested in a movie settings option and for that, lets go to the Shooting Menu option (camera Icon) and scroll all the way down to the Movie settings menu and click OK. Actually there are not much settings to be done to record a movie with D90 but you can adjust movie quality (frame size) using this menu option and enable or disable the sound recording option. Nikon D90 shoots all the movie clips at the same rate, 24 frames per second. Here are the few options you can set under this menu.

• 1. Quality

• 2. Sound (press OK to enable or disable sound recording option)

When you select Quality and enter OK, you will be presented with three framing size options.

Nikon D90 movie settings menu

1280x720 (16:9): This option will let you shoot in HDTV quality movies in the 16:9 aspect ratio. As this mode allows High Quality movie, it consumes more space in your memory card. Main disadvantage of this mode is, it allows you to shoot only 5 min of HDTV movie. But this framing size is best viewed on big screen TV.

640x424 (3:2) : This is the default option set to Nikon D90. This mode allows you to record non-HDTV video as of normal non-HDTV camcorders and best viewed on small size monitor. This setting allows you to record 20 minutes of video. Personally I use this setting to record video with my Nikon D90.

320x216 (3:2): This mode is used to produce compact framing movies and allows you to record 20 minutes long video.

After you set the framing size, click Live view (Lv) button on the back of your camera and press OK to start recording video and press OK again to stop the recording. Nikon made it very easy and simple enough to a record video with Nikon D90.