I just received a 35mm prime lens for Christmas (Nikkor 35mm f/1.8) and it is painfully slow to take pictures at times. Sometimes the shutter release is almost instantaneous, like with my other (kit and telephoto) lenses, but at other times it can take more than a full second to take the picture. It doesn't seem to be "searching" for focus, and I don't think it's a low light issue (as in, it behaves the same with low light and normal light...though I haven't taken outside shots with it yet). I'm wondering if the slow shutter release is a trade-off for the high aperture, or if I maybe got a defective lens that needs to be returned?

Oh, I have a D3000 (no internal motor for focusing) and it seems to do only slightly better when using an external flash.