I think subject pop depends a lot on lighting but with this lens, stopping down to f/2 or f/2.5 under the right conditions does create a nice effect, although it's also nice wide open at center. Most compact 35mm f/1.4 lenses I have tried have high optical vignetting which deepens DOF towards the corners. I don't see this iff-effect with the 35 FLE as rendering is more even across the frame.