Canon RF 35mm f1.4 VCM vs Sony 35mm F1.4 GM?

AlphaPhotography
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Canon RF 35mm f1.4 VCM vs Sony 35mm F1.4 GM?

I'm looking for a fast 35mm setup. I'm most interested in the rendering quality but also a lens that isn't overly massive and heavy (like the Sigma 35mm f1.2).

Has anyone seen a comparison between the RF and GM or owned both lenses?

Sep 13, 2024 at 12:15 PM

Photonadave
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Canon RF 35mm f1.4 VCM vs Sony 35mm F1.4 GM?

TDP test with links to their reviews:

https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1226&Camera=979&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=1537&CameraComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0

Wide open the Sony 35mm F1.4 GM looks like its a smidge sharper in the center however has very noticeable light fall off out towards the edges.

Sep 13, 2024 at 01:21 PM

RustyRus
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Canon RF 35mm f1.4 VCM vs Sony 35mm F1.4 GM?

The 35 1.4 is an awesome lens-

I 100% hated the Sony- To be fair though, I hated everything about Sony and the lenses didn't help with its focus on clinical perfection.

The Canon 35 1.4 is a really nice lens that is plenty sharp for any application I could use it for, a little bit of character and lighting fast focus. Its a winner IMO-

Sep 13, 2024 at 04:48 PM

AlphaPhotography
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Canon RF 35mm f1.4 VCM vs Sony 35mm F1.4 GM?

Thanks for the feedback

RustyRus wrote:
The 35 1.4 is an awesome lens-

I 100% hated the Sony- To be fair though, I hated everything about Sony and the lenses didn't help with its focus on clinical perfection.

The Canon 35 1.4 is a really nice lens that is plenty sharp for any application I could use it for, a little bit of character and lighting fast focus. Its a winner IMO-

Sep 13, 2024 at 04:50 PM

steamtrain
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Canon RF 35mm f1.4 VCM vs Sony 35mm F1.4 GM?

RustyRus wrote:
The 35 1.4 is an awesome lens-

I 100% hated the Sony- To be fair though, I hated everything about Sony and the lenses didn't help with its focus on clinical perfection.

It probably depends on the lens. I wouldn't call the 50mm f/1.2 GM clinical for instance. But I have to admit I'm a bit sceptical about the 85mm GM mk II.

RustyRus wrote:
The Canon 35 1.4 is a really nice lens that is plenty sharp for any application I could use it for, a little bit of character and lighting fast focus. Its a winner IMO-
I'm happy to see there's a second fast focusing RF prime. The 135mm was the first one, this is the second one. Unfortunately the RF f/1.2 lenses show the USM descriptor isn't a guarantee for fast AF.
Personally I would have liked the combination of f/1.4 and ILIS, but a lower weight has it's appeal as well of course.

Sep 14, 2024 at 06:08 AM

AlphaPhotography
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Canon RF 35mm f1.4 VCM vs Sony 35mm F1.4 GM?

I agree. As much as I love the optical designs of many of my Canon lenses (85mm f1.2, 28-70mm f2, etc) I was surprised by how slow and clunky the focus motors were compared to Sony. Every sony lens I owned was fast and silent focusing. Even the relatively cheap 85mm f1.8 which I still own and use adapted on my Nikon ZF. Canon's budget 85mm f2 is another of their slow clicky STM motors which I hate.

steamtrain wrote:
It probably depends on the lens. I wouldn't call the 50mm f/1.2 GM clinical for instance. But I have to admit I'm a bit sceptical about the 85mm GM mk II.

I'm happy to see there's a second fast focusing RF prime. The 135mm was the first one, this is the second one. Unfortunately the RF f/1.2 lenses show the USM descriptor isn't a guarantee for fast AF.
Personally I would have liked the combination of f/1.4 and ILIS, but a lower weight has it's appeal as well of course.

Sep 14, 2024 at 07:59 AM

Buckeye2604
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Canon RF 35mm f1.4 VCM vs Sony 35mm F1.4 GM?

Photonadave wrote:
TDP test with links to their reviews:

https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1226&Camera=979&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=1537&CameraComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0

Wide open the Sony 35mm F1.4 GM looks like its a smidge sharper in the center however has very noticeable light fall off out towards the edges.

The 35 VCM vignette is an abysmal -3.5 stops towards edge of frame. Yikes, if the Sony is worse than that.

Sep 14, 2024 at 10:54 AM

AlphaPhotography
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Canon RF 35mm f1.4 VCM vs Sony 35mm F1.4 GM?

The digital picture has a vignetting comparison tool that shows them fairly similar at ~2.6-2.9 stops towards the corners

Buckeye2604 wrote:
The 35 VCM vignette is an abysmal -3.5 stops towards edge of frame. Yikes, if the Sony is worse than that.

Sep 14, 2024 at 11:05 AM

Buckeye2604
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Canon RF 35mm f1.4 VCM vs Sony 35mm F1.4 GM?

AlphaPhotography wrote:
The digital picture has a vignetting comparison tool that shows them fairly similar at ~2.6-2.9 stops towards the corners

I referenced this site:
https://opticallimits.com/canon/canon-rf/canon-rf-35mm-f-1-4-l-vcm-review/

Thedigitalpicture states “Expect just over 3 stops of corner shading in f/1.4 images.”

Sep 14, 2024 at 09:47 PM

jjjwolf7722
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Canon RF 35mm f1.4 VCM vs Sony 35mm F1.4 GM?

While I currently own and use the RF Canon 35mm 1.4L lens I preferred my previous Sony 35mm 1.4 GM. They are both similar to focus speed, sharpness and clinically correctness. Liked how the Sony lens felt and did better with distortion, shooting towards the sun and feel of the lens. The Sony felt shorter and easier to manage to me. The Canon 35mm 1.4 does require some strong image correct which does not bother me but something to be said.

Edited on Sep 15, 2024 at 04:25 PM · View previous versions

Sep 15, 2024 at 12:35 PM

garyvot
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Canon RF 35mm f1.4 VCM vs Sony 35mm F1.4 GM?

Re. corner shading: given the dynamic range of modern sensors, noise is less of a problem when applying vignette correction for lenses like this. I think the positive tradeoff of reduced size/weight could be worth it for some.

Sep 15, 2024 at 02:06 PM


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