I tried a few 35mm 1.8's at the store on my D90... Unfortunately they all front-focused on my D90 (which I suspect has a little front-focus). It is very sharp though at 1.8 (within the focal plane). Really amazing. Sharper than the AF-S 50mm 1.4 @ 1.8. Unfortunately, at 1.8 it shows some heavy red/green CA's/fringes. I wasn't impressed by the built quality either. Too much plastic. It did remind me a bit of the 50 1.8 in that regard. AF speed was slower than the AF-D 35 f/2 on my D90. The 35mm f/2 is also heavier and better built. FWIW
TWoK wrote:
It is $200 and awesome. Why would you expect it to be any more than it is?
If it wasn't front focusing (on my D90) I would have bought one... It is amazing value. Just sharing my observations. Maybe it can be of use to somebody else
BTW Where I come from the 35 f/2 is only 50 euros more expensive than the DX 35 1.8.
I have to agree with Daan B about the 35mm f/1.8G - got mine this afternoon and I'm already thinking of taking it back. Pretty nasty bokeh - busy, lots of CA. It is indeed fairly sharp and pretty contrasty (possibly more so than the 50G), but the images just don't look good to me. I'll probably use it through the weekend, but if it doesn't knock my socks of I'll be returning it.
Daan B wrote:
I tried a few 35mm 1.8's at the store on my D90... Unfortunately they all front-focused on my D90 (which I suspect has a little front-focus). It is very sharp though at 1.8 (within the focal plane). Really amazing. Sharper than the AF-S 50mm 1.4 @ 1.8. Unfortunately, at 1.8 it shows some heavy red/green CA's/fringes. I wasn't impressed by the built quality either. Too much plastic. It did remind me a bit of the 50 1.8 in that regard. AF speed was slower than the AF-D 35 f/2 on my D90. The 35mm f/2 is also heavier and better built. FWIW ...Show more →
Daan-
Just curious how you can state with confidence from quick in-store tests how the lenses were front focusing? How were you testing? I'd like to know a quick and reliable way to test for front or back focussing, but am not sure how without test charts etc.
Avi B wrote:
Sam, is that CA present wide open? How is it stopped down?
Seems to go down when you stop down. To be clear this is bokeh CA, not the birefringence you see with virtually any lens wide open. I've done a bit more testing and I'm not sure it's a really big problem with this lens, but the bokeh in general is not very pleasing if you're dealing with a lot of stuff going on in the background compared to the 50G, not to mention the Sigma 50.
Erik Moore wrote:
Daan-
Just curious how you can state with confidence from quick in-store tests how the lenses were front focusing? How were you testing? I'd like to know a quick and reliable way to test for front or back focussing, but am not sure how without test charts etc.
I don't do any tests... I just shoot a few shots and check if the focus corresponds with where I aimed it at. Maybe it is just experience, but it doesn't take me long to see wether a certain lens/body combination is out of calibration. The new high rez LCD's are perfect for that. Before that I took my laptop with me for evaluation.
What you can do: place an object with good contrast (like a lenscap or something smaller) on the counter/table. Place a newspaper page or folder a bit to the side of it. Use your center AF point and wide open aperture and aim for the contrasty object. Take a shot at (roughly) 45 degrees and see on the newspaper page or folder where the focus ends up. It may not be very precise, but it will give you a pretty good idea if a particular lens/body combination is out of calibration or not.
Anyone notice a little play in the focusing elements? I've noticed that when doing fine manual focus the image "shifts" a little when going back/forth. A little disconcerting.
Well my local store just got two more, so a quick call to Hidden_Markov and both copies are gone. I'll hopefully post about my FX mod to this later today.
When I got the gear that qualifies me to post in this forum, I thought I would be getting away from the tendency of Canon shooters to complain about new Canon products.
Guess not.
I did pick this lens up locally for my new-to-me D300 today. It's fast, sharp and light. I like the build - it's a $200 dollar lens. My 35 f/2D is heavier, but I missed the part where the weight of the lens shows up in my images.
