D3200 "Lighting is Poor; Flash Recommended" with 35mm f1.8DX lens on Manual

Yesterday I took my D3200 out with a 35mm f1.8 and 70-300 f4-5.6 lens for some fall shots at a park. I pulled my camera out of the bag, mounted the 35, switched to manual, lined up my shot, and then…

…nothing. It wouldn’t take a picture. The camera complained about poor lighting, even though it was a bright, sunny day. The camera AF’d fine and the metering in the viewfinder was fine as well. It just refused to take a picture. I pointed it down at the ground and it fired a few times. There was no flash mounted.

Frustrated, because the camera was set to manual and should therefore not care about the lighting, I tried the 70-300 which worked perfectly. I swapped back to the 35 and it worked for a few shots before stopping again with the same error. Reseating the lens seemed to get one or two shots out of it.

I spent the afternoon with the 70-300, switching back to the 35mm towards the evening which now worked fine. There was nothing wrong with the shots in post.

I inspected the lens and there was no visible damage to the glass or aperture mechanism. The only cause I can think of was that it was unusually cold, but still above freezing.

What’s the cause of this problem and how can I solve it?