I really want to add a fast prime in this range to my kit and really like the MFD and FL of this lens but I have read some reviews of this lens and body combination that seem to imply that this lens has auto-focus problems on the 1D3 and 1D4. Anyone have feedback based on actual time with the 1D3 and 35L combination?
I've heard of this on here as well...luckily for me that combo performs pretty damn good and might be my favorite. Like many fast wide primes it can be tricky to use at times, especially when using it close up at wide apertures.
My nephews were done using f/1.8 and the niece was at f/1.6. That said, I have zero hesitation to use this lens at f/1.4--it's still very sharp wide open.
Those are nice samples. I imagine most reported focus issues would be wide open since the area in focus is thin.
Just wonder if reported issues are communication between the camera body and lens, user error due to thin focus area @ 1.4, or lens copy variations. Looks like it works fine with your 1D3 MVers.
For the most part (as in 99% of the time) the combination works very well, but there have been a few times where I'll get 'wtf?' results--limited to a handful of occasions. I'm fairly certain the lighting and or low contrast conditions played a larger role than the actual lens+body combination in these instances.
I had a 1Ds3 that was total shit with the 35L. But it was total shit with any lens, except for f/4 lenses. Canon swapped this 1Ds3 for another one, that was excellent with the 1Ds3 if I stuck to the center AF point or stopped down when using the outer AF points. Still, I needed an MA value of +15.
I have a calibrated 35L and a calibrated 1D3. They have not been calibrated to each other.
Even though I have set MA to +20, the 1D3 front focuses especially in the following ways:
1 shot AF centre Point: 15% of shots OOF (85% in focus)
1 shot AF outer points: 30% of shots OOF (75% in focus)
AI Servo Good Light Centre Point: 33% of shots OOF (66% in focus)
AI Servo Low Light Centre Point: 95% of shots OOF (5% in focus)
My 35L worked fine on my 1DIII and 1DsIII, but not so well on the 1DIV that replaced the 1DIII. I sent the lens in for a standard servicing, and now it's just fine on the 1DIV and 1DsIII. All of my other fast L's are OK as-is. I don't know why the 35L seems fussy, and I don't care, as it's fixed.
i had the 1d3 for about a month. it was very good with every other lens EXCEPT my 35 (which worked perfectly on a 5d, 5d2, 1ds2, 5d2). it seemed that no matter how much i adjusted it, it was 'off'. since the 35 is my favorite lens, the 1d3 had to go. good luck!
Most people I have spoken with love the lens on the 5D2 but I no longer own that body.
Seems to be hit or miss on the Mark3 series. Makes me wonder if it has something to do with lens quality variations. Maybe I will put in for a CPS loaner copy and see how it behaves on my Mark3.
fotobean wrote:
... Makes me wonder if it has something to do with lens quality variations. Maybe I will put in for a CPS loaner copy and see how it behaves on my Mark3.
That won't help you, unless you plan to keep the loaner.
