Yeah, use the 35 at a smaller aperture. You say you want to use it at 1.4 but you don't like the results (in this case). Stop down then and get a picture that you like *with* a DOF that you like too. Who cares if its 1.4 or 2.2?

joekraft wrote:
Yakim
Are you aware there are online resources that tell you the DOF you are working with given the shooting variables? : http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Expoimaging makes some pocket guides I picked up recently but haven't had a chance to use yet. They look a little complex, but I am hoping that after a few uses the DOF calculations get a little more reflexive for me.


Thanks for the DOF links, very useful for myself and explaining DOF to others...
Thanks again

Yakim
This is not ridiculous!
I understand you like no other. I bought a 35mm 1.4L and after getting it I was also less than thrilled (vis-a-vis my 17-55mm f2.8).
Jimmy Ho is right but nevertheless ...
I quit and I sold my 35mm. But may be I could have tried harder!
Yakim, just don't quit.
Happy shooting (with your 35mm)
Luis Pacheco

With your dedication to improve I'm sure you'll soon become comfortable
shooting fast lenses at or near WO. I always enjoy reading your posts and
your comment about "How on earth....." applies to all of us, even the best.
Congratulations, your 35L will serve you well.

Yakim, it's a 1.4 aperture lens, it takes a while to master it, just like the 85 f1.2, f1.8, the 50 f1.2, f1.4, & f1.0, you're playing with a lot of variables. Just have some fun experimenting with it.

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.

I shoot with a 50mm f/1.4 on a Rebel XT and yeah, even when the I focus on something that the camera should bang out easily, it'll hunt a bit or lock on but not correctly. Don't have this issue when stopped down.

Even on the Rebel XT, I'll try to eyeball it with AF lock on then tweak with with MF>

bluetsunami wrote:
I shoot with a 50mm f/1.4 on a Rebel XT and yeah, even when the I focus on something that the camera should bang out easily, it'll hunt a bit or lock on but not correctly. Don't have this issue when stopped down.

Even on the Rebel XT, I'll try to eyeball it with AF lock on then tweak with with MF>

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.

akovacsi wrote:

Excuse me here, but I too admitted a while ago that I started having erectile dysfunction problems (after finding out my imaginary Canon 1D Mark III has AF issues) and yet, no one came up to me and patted me on the back complementing me on how manly man I was...
Canon uses ED glass!!! :-)

And to Yakim, that's great that you are improving with your "familiarity" with then lens' features. I bought about three lenses in a very short time due to rebates last year, and truth be told sometimes I feel (still) like there might be an issue or two with them, for instance, MFD, but I don't use all of them enough to get familiar as quickly as I'd like.

It's good that you posted about it.

I've shot with a 5D and 35L for about two and half years now.

f/1.4 is downright amazing, no kidding. When you need all the available light, its good to have f/1.4 to fall back on.

But I've also come around to the fact that photos are more contrasty, sharper, and colorful if you stop it down a wee bit.. f/1.8 - f/2.2, and you don't lose too much DOF either. You also have a bigger margin of error when it comes to nailing focus.

So now when I have the light to spare, I'll stop it down to f/1.8 - 2.2.

I carry around a DOF calculator in the form of "photocalc" software (there are others as well), which I bought on the Apple Appstore and downloaded to my iPhone. It is a nice way to have it with me without bringing another gizmo. It tells me that your DOF was 2", i.e. some of your shot was going to be OOF. Now, I love my 35L, and shoot it at all apertures. Are you saying that a 24-105L is going to be exactly the same at 35mm and f:4.0 and above? Beause if that is the case, I need to revisit my monogamous relationship with primes...
And thanks for the thread!

Yakim, are you aware that you can stop down and use a smaller aperture? Okay, I am just trying to be funny here. But just because you CAN shoot at f1.4 does not mean that you HAVE to shoot at f1.4. I bought the 85L II and shoot at f2 most of the time .... as I usually need a little more DOF than what I can get with f1.2 and f1.4. Remember too that you normally get the best sharpness and resolution when you stop any lens down by about a couple of stops. And I like the fact that with f1.2 and f1.4 lenses you have a brighter/clearer VF so you can focus and compose better. And when you really need the speed, it's there for you. Shooting a little further away from your subject will give you more DOF - so that's a workaround.

Is anyone aware this is a very old thread brought back to life? I wonder how Yakim is doing with this lens now. Nice images and good points in this thread.

shrink1 wrote:
hey, that's nothing! try the 50mm 1.2, and then, to top it off the 85mm 1.2. DOF is so narrow, you have to focus on a single eyelash...

Starts to sound ridiculous when you think about it..surely the purpose of a camera lens is to make it possible to take good images..not set massive technical challenges?

I have the 50mm1.4 and I have stopped using it below 2.8..I’m not interested in the pin sharp single eyelash!!

lindabrowne wrote:
Is anyone aware this is a very old thread brought back to life? I wonder how Yakim is doing with this lens now. Nice images and good points in this thread.

Now that I've checked the date of the 1st post, you're right!!!

Dear Yakim and Friends,

This is my first post and I apologize if I offend. I come from a time when ISO 10 and 25 were the standards and an f/3.5 maximum was nearly biblical. Over the years I have tended to own the "fastest" lenses that money could buy - I still love my Noctolux 50mm f/1.0.

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.

The biggest weakness in digital photography is the absence of DOF markings on most of the lenses, focusing screens which are not much more advanced, i.e. bright, than 100 year old ground glass view cameras and the assumption of users that the camera is smarter than we are.

May I suggest that you consider a Katz focusing screen with the bright screen option. This screen allows even those of us using little sensors and small viewfinders the advantage of split image focusing centers surrounded by microprisms so we can see what autofocus is actually doing and be more selective as need be.

Jerry

Spyglass wrote:
May I suggest that you consider a Katz focusing screen with the bright screen option. This screen allows even those of us using little sensors and small viewfinders the advantage of split image focusing centers surrounded by microprisms so we can see what autofocus is actually doing and be more selective as need be.

I installed the EF-S screen. Very good.

Happy shooting,
Yakim.

kidtexas wrote:
Yeah, use the 35 at a smaller aperture. You say you want to use it at 1.4 but you don't like the results (in this case). Stop down then and get a picture that you like *with* a DOF that you like too. Who cares if its 1.4 or 2.2?

I do. As I said before, it's that damn 17-55/2.8 IS that bugs me. It's so good that I decided to keep an EF-S body just to be able to use it (and the 10-22). At 2.8 and onwards it's equally good as the 35/1.4, and it's a zoom, and it has IS….

It's just that I am far from being wealthy. I can not afford to keep expensive lenses which I don't use. This is an expensive hobby and I have Snowhite and the three dwarfs at home expecting me to perform like prince charming…..

Happy shooting,
Yakim.

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.

With that tiny APS screen? I envy you.

Happy shooting,
Yakim.

lindabrowne wrote:
Is anyone aware this is a very old thread brought back to life?

I guess it's too good to be forgotten.....

lindabrowne wrote:
I wonder how Yakim is doing with this lens now.

FWIW, I put it up for a sale/trade.

Happy shooting,
Yakim.