Looks like distance is the primary culprit here. A similiar composition (although different perspective) can be obtained using higher focal lengths with greater depth of field. This is probably why you haven't seen the same problems with a 50mm/85mm.
The point of using the 35/1.4 or any wider angle/larger aperture lens, in my opinion, is for low light photos where you need a wider angle, or for simply any photo where you need to include more in the photo. For your photo above, which is a closeup candid portrait, I would have reached for my 85/1.8 or 70-200 f/2.8L IS and probably shot at around f/2.8 or f/4 and not have to step as close. This would ensure that the subject is entirely in focus, while the background still has a nice creamy bokeh effect.
few months ago when i'm about to upgrade my camera to 5D, i wrote in the forum complaining that its very hard to make bokeh with 1.6x camera even with 50 1.4. Then someone pointed to me that few FF shooter have same sh*t at different location. They keep wishing it has more DOF.
Luckily i dint upgrade to FF so i can shoot 2 person at night with fast aperture (of course with enough DOF)
retrofocus wrote:
Congrats, finally somebody is realizing that is is a simple user issue to handle this shallow DoF correctly! I only use MF every time I take photos at f1.4 with my Canon 50 mm f1.4 lens. AF ist too unreliable at such wide open apertures, especially with amateur DSLR cameras.
Yakim Peled wrote:
With that tiny APS screen? I envy you.
Happy shooting,
Yakim.
Maybe my eyes are still young enough ....I never had issues with MF and the smaller APC-S camera viewfinder. I use MF always for macro photographies and for shooting with wide open apertures.
this lens drove me nuts for about a year until i got it right...its about 90% user talent. The good thing was that when i got it right, it set me up nicely to learn the 85L that much faster
retrofocus wrote:
Fully agree. I made the same experience with this combination (Rebel XT+50 f1.4). Stopped down at f>2.0 AF works very reliable. The combination of locking the AF at open apertures and then tweaking with MF works, too.
Just wanted to say that Canon (and more or less all other) SLRs focus with the aperture wide open. So even if you have it set to f/8, the camera is focusing at the largest aperture of the lens. You guys must be experiencing something else...
Spyglass writes, "You might think of your 35 1.4 as a parachute if you were a pilot. I wouldn't fly an SR 71 at 3,000 mph without one. Even so, I would hope to fly well enough that I would never need to bailout.
High speed lenses give you the advantage of letting your camera see better. If you have to, you can continue shooting as the sun goes down but as Shane suggests there are other apertures. Give some thought to the DOF preview button before you commit."
I know what you're saying (sorta F8 and be there to put it crudely) but that's not why many buy large aperture optics. Many of these creatures tote these massive apertures for crazy smooth bokeh and, hence, mainly shoot wide open. Paper thin DOF is merely a price they pay for such cravings.
Incidentally, most primes do still have DOF markings. Just not as extensive as yesteryear's optics.
Geez guys, I don't understand what the fuss is about.
I think the 35L has ample DoF wide open. What would you say if you'd shoot
the 50 f/1.0 wide open at say 3 ft distance......the DoF is 1/3 of what the 35L would have.
kidtexas wrote:
Just wanted to say that Canon (and more or less all other) SLRs focus with the aperture wide open. So even if you have it set to f/8, the camera is focusing at the largest aperture of the lens. You guys must be experiencing something else...
Thank you for the reminder but I don't think it's necessary. It's a well known fact.
With my 2 f/1.2 lenses, I really had to rethink how I use auto focus. It forces my brain to think in a plane that I didn't use before. Sometimes it's where you put the focus, sometimes it's simply taking more shots, focusing on a new point for each shot. Sometimes it's spraying images while gently rocking back and forth, racking where the focal plane hits your subject (I'm not using this one much, but some photogs do.)
kidtexas wrote:
Just wanted to say that Canon (and more or less all other) SLRs focus with the aperture wide open. So even if you have it set to f/8, the camera is focusing at the largest aperture of the lens. You guys must be experiencing something else...
Yeah, I had to rethink what I posted. It's possibly that such a larger aperture is showing some slight backfocusing/frontfocusing issues that I'm not seeing when stopped down.
bluetsunami wrote:
Yeah, I had to rethink what I posted. It's possibly that such a larger aperture is showing some slight backfocusing/frontfocusing issues that I'm not seeing when stopped down.
Quite possible. I've been reading about the phenomena known as focus shift which is an inherent 'feature' of some designs. I'm not aware of which Canon lenses exhibit this trait other than the 50/1.2 L.
But, I would think that with the way Canon SLRs focus and stop down, they shouldn't exhibit focus shift wide open...
Just read this was an old thread and the 35mm is no longer in your stable.