Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Razor sharp and fast, but shows light falloff. January 29, 2006
JAL (Medford, OR United States)
49 out of 50 found this review helpful
I am going start by saying that I rate this lens as five stars _except_ for vignetting on full frame digital sensors at wide open apertures. I use this lens as my standard lens on a 5d. I find this angle of view to be perfect for general all around photography where I will "step in" to the subject to get the shot. This lens requires more interaction with the subject, but I think it results in more dynamic pictures. This lens is razor sharp, visibly sharper than my mainstay 24-70 f2.8 L zoom. On the 5d, I can shoot at f1.4 ISO 400 indoors without a flash which is pretty cool.
Now the downside. All wide angles at wide open aperture have light falloff and even this lens demonstrates this tendency. You may not even notice this on many shots, but under some conditions it is very obvious and this condition is more noticeable on digital than film. You can fix this using the distortion filter in PhotoshopCS. If you shoot at f4 or better, the light falloff is not noticeable even under the worse of conditions. The falloff is not visible when you use this lens on an APS digital sensor like the 20d where it has a "normal" angle of view.
 Good but not superior to zoom March 26, 2006
George (Salt Lake City, Utah)
42 out of 56 found this review helpful
I recently tried the 35mm f1.4 as a step up from by mainstay 28-70mm f2.8 zoom. I found some other primes superior to a zoom, especially the 135mm f2.0 compared to the 70-200mm f4.0, but I found no improvement with the 35mm. Both the 35mm and the 28-70mm zoom are excellent lenses at f2.8 and above. Detail and contrast in the 35mm were noticeably lower at f1.4, especially at the edges (I use a full frame 1Ds and this not be as noticeable on a less than full frame digital body). Those problems disappeared at f2.8 and higher but the image was only comparable to the zoom, not better, even at 100% magnification. The 35mm may be a more useful lens for anyone who needs to shoot in low light without flash. It is also lighter than the zoom and would be easier to haul around. Since the prices are about the same for the 35mm f1.4 and 24-70 f2.8 zoom (which replaced the 28-70), a buyer should consider what features would be most useful when choosing.
Canon 35mm f/1.4L November 9, 2006
K. Tran (San Jose, CA USA)
27 out of 29 found this review helpful
The 35mm f/1.4L lens has slight back focus at the beginning so I sent it to Canon Factory Service for focus calibration. After that, the lens is just perfect! Sharpness, saturation, contrast are brilliant and in line with other Canon L-class prime lens. Even at f/1.4, image quality is far better than the 16-35mm at f/2.8. At f/2.8, image quality is way better than the 16-35mm at f/2.8. This lens is thus one of the legendary lens from Canon, besides the 85mm f/1.2L and 135mm f/2L. Even though I alredy have the 16-35mm f/2.8L, I'm very happy to purchase the 35mm f/1.4L.
Highly recommended lens, espcially for 1.6X crop body (such as 20D, 30D, 350D, 400D).
:)
L primes rule! May 31, 2007
Roy (Folsom, CA United States)
25 out of 25 found this review helpful
It is as expensive as a 24-70L, and costs 4 times more than a 35/2. It is fixed length and "only" 2 stops faster. It is not noticably sharper at f4 and higher.
But I find I fall in love with it. I used a 85/1.8 and 135/2L for portrait. I also have a 24-70L, 50/1.8II and a 18-55 kit lens. But I found that I need a wide and FAST lens to shoot my kid/baby. I prefer to shoot with natural indoor light. I read reviews and browsed pictures and decided that 35/1.4L is the one I need. Based on reviews and my experience with 50/1.8II, 35/2 is NOT usable untill you stop it to f4. That is too slow.
I made the right decision. At f/1.4 it is soft, but at f2.0, picture is pretty sharp. And most importantly, it maintains very good and natural color saturation which you won't get from Photoshop, as well good contrast ratio. It is not very shart at f2.0, but color and contrast make pictures beautiful. Set ISO200 and 1/40th shutter speed, I can shoot without flash at f2.0. Wider angle also means you can shoot in about 4~5 feet away so you can have eye contact with your kids or babies. You won't worry they are not looking at you/lens. This is priceless to me.
Originally I thought this would be a indoor lens as I have a 24-70L. But now I also find it is a very good outdoor portrait/landscape lens. It captures very good details and color for shadow area and takes very nice portrait pictures even with back light. After a trip with this lens, I decide to use 24-70L for indoor studio light shoot only (with flexible zoom/frame).
It is not a great anti-flare performer, but still better than most other lenses. Bokeh is very good with no sign of distraction at all. It may not be as beautiful as a 135/2L but much better than I expected.
It is expensive, but it is a prime L. I cannot say it worth more than a grand, but if you need a fast lens, with good color and saturation at wide open, wide angle and still with beautiful bokeh. It is the one for you. It also provides good shadow details with no sign of wash out. No need to say DOV control. If you have the money, I highly recommend this lens.
Body used: Canon Rebel.
Lenses used: 18-55mm, 24-70L, 50/1.8II, 85/1.8, 135/2L.
Cons:
Expensive. Cost as much as a 16-35L, a 24-70L or a 70-200/2.8L.
Back focus for 0.5 inch at f/1.4 with Rebel/300D boday but I can live with it.
Anti-flare is not the best.
Pros:
FAST with very usable f2.
Very shallow DOV.
Very beautiful bokeh.
Very good color saturation and good contrast even at wide open.
Good shadow detail with good color/contrast (good for back light).
Beautiful L color.
Fast focus speed as expected from a L lens with Ring USM.
L build quality.
The Canon "Bokeh King" January 16, 2008
Mark Twain
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
Some of you may know about the 35mm Leica lens that was dubbed the "Bokeh King" for the wonderfully pleasant quality of bokeh that it created. This lens very much reminds me of it. Achieving bokeh is done with many lenses. Achieving that special "wow" bokeh is only achieved with an elite few. I believe this lens is a member of that elite few. It is professional looking and artistic looking at once. Easily controllable; automatically just the right amount and character in every shot. Just purely brilliant bokeh. I also own the 135mm f/2L which also receives high praise for its bokeh but in my opinion it is not as good as this lens. More bokeh doesn't necessarily mean best bokeh. It is the quality of the bokeh. This lens truly possesses that special quality. Alright, enough about the bokeh.
Sharpness? Of course it is razor sharp. It better be for this price. I just expected that. If your's isn't then you need to return it for another one.
Low-light performance? The best I have experienced from any Canon lens, and I have owned several professional and/or low-light Canon lenses.
I sold my awesome 24-70mm lens to get this lens and I took a leap of faith in doing so. It looks as if I made a good decision. I do so because the 24-70 is too heavy and unwieldy and the f/2.8 of the lens is not good for indoors without a flash. Plus, 35mm was the focal length I was using most. Again I am very happy I did so. This lens was everything I hoped it would be and more. I don't see it coming off the 5D for a long while.
This is one of the best kept secrets in Canon "L" lenses. I can't understand why this lens gets so little attention. I guess it is because everyone favors the convenience of Zoom lenses. This is bar none the best Canon lens I have ever owned. I can't wait for it's first wedding which is in a few weeks.
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