The Nikon Nikkor 35 mm f/2.8 AI is a lens Nikon has been making for decades, compatible with the FX and DX lines of digital cameras as well as film cameras. On DX cameras, the Nikkor 35 mm f/2.8 will give an angle of view similar to what a 50 mm lens gives on an FX or 35 mm film camera. On FX cameras, the Nikon Nikkor 35 mm f/2.8 AI gives the expected angle of view. The optics in the Nikkor 35 mm AI consist of five elements in five groups, which are multicoated and of spherical design. A photographer can focus the Nikon Nikkor 35 mm f/2.8 AI down to about 0.3 metres using its metal-covered, waffle-pattern rubber focus ring. The lens offers a metal barrel, filter threads, aperture control ring, internals, and lens mount. The Nikkor 35 mm f/2.8 is free of distortion enough that a photographer can use the Nikkor 35 mm AI for graphics, architecture, and other subjects with straight lines that must remain straight in the image.