what is the sharpest f stop for 35mm lens

[kgreen]

Hi, I was just wondering what you have found to be the sharpest f stop for the Nikon 35mm 1.8G lens? I have been asked to take photos at my work of the employee's & their families for Christmas. I work in a long term care nursing facility, & they are asking for donations for taking the photo's. They will get a cd, so they can choose the photo's & print the sizes they want. The donations will go for the Resident's Christmas. I am a bit nervous, I am not professional by any means. I made sure that was know before I agreed to take the portraits. I have only taken my own families photo's & I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I am worried about making everyone happy. I have come a long way with my photography, so I guess it's time to make it or break it!

 

[wbeem]

Generally speaking, it's about 3 stops down from wide-open.

 

[ukcatfan]

With the shallow DOF of that lens, make sure you get enough DOF for the shot before worrying if it is the sharpest.

 

[Marlton Mom]

With the shallow DOF of that lens, make sure you get enough DOF for the shot before worrying if it is the sharpest.

+ 1

If you have a smart phone you can download a depth of field calculator. I find it essential when using this lens. I use Allen Zhong's Depth of field calculator for photographers version 1.2.1


~Marlton Mom

 

[photo_chick]

+1 for making sure you have enough DoF and +1 for the DoF calculator. And if you don't have a smartphone, you can just make a scale for your lens.
http://www.dofmaster.com/custom.html

 

[HPS3]

I agree, worry about your DOF. I find the 35 sharp even wide open so sharpness is not an issue.

 

[kgreen]

Okay, Thanks! I'm sure I'll do fine. Thanks for the link, that will come in handy.

 

[thomas998]

While you might be tempted to stop down to increase the DOF... I might suggest you go wide open to decrease the DOF. If you are talking about shooting photos of people while they are at work I would try to blur the backgrounds as much as possible simply because you want people to focus on the person and not the myriad of things hanging on the walls or setting on the desks behind them. But that's just my view, I'm sure others would want things as sharp as possible throughout the shot... you might try doing a few shots both ways and see what you prefer... but I wouldn't worry about sharpness... as long as what you want in the shot is focused properly it will be sharp enough regardless of the stop you pick.