A good technician who charges its performance.

The Nikon 35 mm / f 1.8 G ED AF-S is the replacement of the aging 35mm f / 2 and AFD is for Nikon FX-format full boxes (D610, D800, D4, D4S). However, it can perfectly be used on APN have small DX sensors such as D7100, D5300 or D3300. Nevertheless, owners of these will turn more readily towards the NIKON 35mm f / 1.8 AF-S DX G much cheaper (about 180) and excellent performance. So be careful not to confuse these two models are very close in their commercial label.

That said, let's see what this 35 mm f / 1.8 G ED "in the belly".

Its aperture of f / 1.8 allows to provide good performance in low light, especially if the subject moves much and lon must choose fairly high speeds. The second advantage of an opening like this is to get a beautiful blurred background for portraits, though its focus a little short (35 mm) not the intended primarily for this purpose.
Let's face it, compared to its big brother Nikon AF-S 35mm f / 1.4 G which opens to f / 1.4 and appears around 1500, it is not boxing in the same category, or in terms of build quality nor - thankfully! - In terms of price.

It is built exclusively as polycarbonates, and metal bayonet has a welcome détanchéité seal to prevent the intrusion of dust and rain in difficult conditions.
The focus ring is very wide and allows manual focus provided to disengage auto focus. Note that this lens comes with its hood and protected by a thick cloth pouch. We prefer it protection a little more elaborate with frequent transport.
Side lens construction, it consists of eleven elements in eight groups, including one aspherical lens and an ED glass (Extra-low Dispersion) that enhances sharpness and color reproduction by minimizing chromatic aberration.
However, unlike the version f / 1.4 lens has no treatment "nanocrystal" Nikon, which is actually an anti-reflective coating eliminating internal lens reflections and flare of wide-angle lenses.

On the D800, in the particularly demanding sensor, the sharpness is excellent in the center at all apertures, but a little less at the edges and corners with large apertures (f / 1.8 to f / 4). For landscapes, so we prefer -without surprise- openings 8 or 11 if we really want to get an excellent sharpness on all areas of the image.
Vignette side, it is very marked at the lower opening, but it decreases significantly from f / 4.
The barrel distortion is high enough for a fixed focal length of this type and could be troublesome in landscape. Chromatic aberrations are generally well mastered.

Technically, this goal is a very good choice for lovers of fixed focal lengths, particularly that of 35mm, very versatile in report or when you want to travel "light". Damage, however, that its compactness is not better than previous models.
Moreover, its price positioning (549 per hour or I write this) is quite surprising in this range (especially when compared to the same aperture 50mm version), and will be surprised at the choice of this Nikon item. Two hundred euros more, it can reflect the choice of the Sigma 35mm DG HSM Art, remarkable performance and opens to f / 1.4.
So I gave 4 stars to this technically AF-S 35 mm f / 1.8 G ED, but it loses because of a frankly poor value for money. It will therefore monitor an eventual decline in prices in the coming months.

Have fun!