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Canon EF 35mm f/2

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Reviews Views Date of last review
133 392837 Jan 16, 2022
Recommended By Average Price
92% of reviewers $402.11
Build Quality Rating Price Rating Overall Rating
7.57
9.07
8.8
ef35mmf2_1_

Specifications:
Fast 35mm wide-angle lens. With a minimum focusing distance of only 0.8 ft. (25cm), you can approach the subject closer and still obtain a more natural wide-angle effect. You can even obtain good background blur for portraits.


 


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dpsaiz
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Registered: May 8, 2020
Location: United States
Posts: 64
Review Date: Jan 16, 2022 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $500.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Size, focus speed, wide angle
Cons:
None so far

I bought mine from an online reseller at a very reasonable price, LNIB and included the EOM retail packaging, Canon soft lens case and a B+W UV filter.

I bought this not long after I bought an EOS 5D MkII from a forum member. My wife and I went downtown for street photography. She took her Canon refurbished RP and I with the 5D MkII and this 35mm lens.

The images that I took in monochrome are some of the best I've taken. Of course I have to give credit to the equipment as my style and skills are ever improving. The combo camera and lens has rendered some amazing black and white images of our city scape. I usually shoot aperture priority and use a Sekonic meter for shutter speed. Wow!

This lens has become a permanent fixture on my 5D MkII. I cannot imagine using anything else.


Jan 16, 2022
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jjauclair
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Registered: Aug 19, 2020
Location: United States
Posts: 1
Review Date: Apr 21, 2021 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $280.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: easy size for travel, sharp, lightweight
Cons:
not as hardy of plastic build, noisy AF

Absolutely my favorite lens for unique portraiture and tight spaces. Especially with a macro filter screwed on! I personally am a little cheap and use polaroid's screw on macro filters, but it creates a really special bokeh and portrait!

Apr 21, 2021
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peterstrong
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Registered: Dec 21, 2016
Location: United States
Posts: 0
Review Date: Dec 21, 2016 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Very handy small size, impressive IQ.
Cons:
AF is a little noisy, build quality is average

Bougth this for my canon 5D and... travel. Perfect on it. This two can make a real walk around dream kit. On my 5D it's wide enough for most of the indoor subjects with low ligth and NO FLASH because of it's F2.0 aperture. I have the "canons most sacred secret" EF 50 F1.8 wich i love and i was a bit ceptic about the quality difference of this 35 F2.0 but soon as i started comparing both i was surprised! It's even sharper at F4 than my 50 F1.8 !!

Dec 21, 2016
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titi_67207
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Registered: May 14, 2008
Location: France
Posts: 0
Review Date: Apr 7, 2014 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $200.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Sharpness, lightweight & compact, minimum focus distance, low distorsion
Cons:
For the price, nothing

This little lens (I have the f/2 without IS) is a little gem, underrated. I use it on my full frames 5D Mark II and EOS film body (for black & white photography)

Optically, the results are great (sharp enough at f/2!), and at small distance and wide apertures the bokeh is very good.

What I really like is its light weight while it's a large aperture and very sharp lens. And 35mm focal length is very useful for me.

I had some months ago the 40mm STM pancake which is a more modern lens, but the f/2.8 aperture and the too short barrel (for steady shots when light is poor) disappointed me.

The build quality & autofocus are correct, though not stellar. Try to find a good sample in 2nd hand, you will appreciate if you need a light but great 35mm!


Apr 7, 2014
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oldshutterhand
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Registered: Jan 24, 2012
Location: Hungary
Posts: 0
Review Date: Sep 13, 2013 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Compact, small and light, sharp at f2.8 very sharp at f4
Cons:
non usm focus, price little high


This is a very compact lens with great picture quality. At f4 sharp and clear everywhere.
Built quality is much better than the 50/1.8

See in more detail at
http://oldshutterhand.com/equipment-reviews/canon-35mm-f2-review/


Sep 13, 2013
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sv2dgi
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Registered: Apr 2, 2013
Location: Greece
Posts: 0
Review Date: Apr 2, 2013 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Sharp even wide open, mechanically stable, tight manual focusing ring (maybe too tight)
Cons:
No lens hood. Strong coma aberration giving trouble with strong lights during night time photography.

I have mixed feelings with this lens. In short it was a pleasant surprise during daytime photography but not a very good performer in night photography.

During daytime, everything comes out sharp. Even the corners of the 5D MkII frame are sharp and without significant chromatic aberration.

Vignetting at f/2 is strong and up to now there is no profile for EOS Utility/DPP/Adobe Raw Converter to upload into the camera to correct this.

Sharpness is exceptional. During daytime at f/4 - f/8 it easily outperforms both the 17-40 and the 24-105. The 24-105 output seems heavily blurred compared to this lens. I really love all photos (even flower "macro" photos) I take with this lens during daytime.

During night time, you can go easily down to 1/8 seconds and still get stable photos. The IS is working fine helping you a lot. However do not put any strong lights far from the center of the image. The closer to the edge a strong light is, the more it resembles a gull-wing, typical coma pattern. This also affects dark areas close to much lighter areas, spreading a "halo" around the lighter areas. To see this you have to have some clipped values (flashing areas) inside the lights/light areas. As a result it is a great indoor lens for night-time photography but a mediocre-at-best landscape night-time photography. During the twilight even the moon in the corner of the full-frame gets gull-wing shaped.

The coma shapes are fairly symmetrical around the center so I do not believe that any element is knocked out of alignment.

It is totally useless for wide-area astrophotography (Milky way, Orion belt etc...), as its distortions and mainly the coma destroy the shape of the stars.

I had no problems with flaring with this lens, even if I cannot still find the hood here in Greece.

Finally the Image Stabilizer of this lens is clearly audible inside any video I recorded. Similar to the noise I get from the IS of the 24-105.


Apr 2, 2013
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Gunzorro
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Registered: Aug 27, 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 14584
Review Date: Sep 26, 2012 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Very handy small size, impressive IQ.
Cons:
Older EF lens design, small focus ring.

I bought this lens second (or third hand) after seeing comparison against more expensive lenses, including the 35/1.4L. The IQ is extremely good from f/4 on, and has pleasing OOF areas more wide open -- it is a handy AF lens to shoot at f/2 -- completely usable. Small and light weight with a terrific price -- what's not to like?

Sep 26, 2012
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Prasann Patel
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Registered: Mar 20, 2007
Location: Canada
Posts: 3
Review Date: Jul 13, 2012 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $300.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Compact size, sharp, light, good bokeh for wide lens
Cons:
AF is a little noisy, build quality is average

The 35mm f/2 is a neat little lens. The focus ring for the one I use isn't as tight and is a bit noisy under AF, but the image it produces is quite impressive, especially for not being an L-series. I haven't tried using the L f/1.4 version of this lens, and I'm sure there are differences, but for around $300-400 range, this lens is quite good.

Jul 13, 2012
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jgonzo
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Registered: Dec 17, 2005
Location: Germany
Posts: 0
Review Date: Mar 2, 2012 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: sharp, lightweight, cheap,
Cons:
AF a bit noisy,

The lens is able to produce nice images.
The image quality is good, sharp across the frame even at f2.
Regarding the price it is unbeatable.


Mar 2, 2012
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acfchin
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Registered: Feb 14, 2009
Location: N/A
Posts: 1
Review Date: Jan 18, 2012 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: IQ, compact
Cons:
build quality and motor noise

I have quite a few L lenses (with a 5D body) but do not use them as often nowadays after turning myself to Leica and Zeiss prime lenses. I bought the EF 35mm f2 today as I want to use it as a back up lens to the non auto focus primes when I travel. After having a few test shots, I found the quality of this lens is truly stunning in particularly it cost so little in comparison to the Canon Ls and Leica (second hands)/Zeiss prime lenses. Highly recommended.

Jan 18, 2012
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--Lucio--
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Registered: Feb 22, 2008
Location: France
Posts: 0
Review Date: Nov 1, 2011 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: light, small, cheap, reasonably sharp
Cons:
purple fringing at wide apertures, soft wide open; lens hood does not come with the lens (and arrived broken)

Here is a sharpness test on my 40D showing the lens is best usable from f/2.5 to f/9 (and maybe f/11): http://skidemontagne.free.fr/tests/canon35f2_on_40d.jpg

Nov 1, 2011
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h00ligan
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Registered: Jan 3, 2010
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2275
Review Date: Mar 26, 2011 Recommend? no | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 5 

 
Pros: Light, cheap, locks focus faster and better build than 50/1.8
Cons:
Corner blur, buzzy af, Not very sharp

Don't do it on ff. It's as bad as it's made out to be. On crop, probably would be just fine.

Mar 26, 2011
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iomega
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Registered: May 11, 2009
Location: Belgium
Posts: 0
Review Date: Jul 4, 2010 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Small, fast, Sharp, quiet.
Cons:
Not too wide in x1.6. Not Weather sealed.

Bougth this for my canon 5D and... travel. Perfect on it. This two can make a real walk around dream kit. On my 5D it's wide enough for most of the indoor subjects with low ligth and NO FLASH because of it's F2.0 aperture. I have the "canons most sacred secret" EF 50 F1.8 wich i love and i was a bit ceptic about the quality difference of this 35 F2.0 but soon as i started comparing both i was surprised! It's even sharper at F4 than my 50 F1.8 !!
Well sharp is not everything as we all know but now this leaves me with a major problem: I no longer use my L lenses anymore! This prime unexpensive lenses are perfect for eveything ( 50 F1.8 and 35 F2.0 ). Just don't use it in the rain or in dust envirments because they're are not weather sealed.


Jul 4, 2010
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petr vokurek
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Registered: Apr 16, 2007
Location: Czech Republic
Posts: 161
Review Date: May 24, 2010 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: small size, lightweight, sharpness, unobtrusiveness, price...
Cons:
none really

This is such a sweet little lens! I got it because I found the 35mm to be the perfect focal lenght for "snapshots" of all kinds- especially family shots and travel and all other situations where I want a camera with me but donīt want to lug around the heavy big f2,8 zooms (and donīt want to look like a photographer). Before I got this lens I often prefered not to take a camera with me at all because with the zooms it is just too big and heavy. This 35mm sweetie I have no problem to take wherever I go (in combination with a gripless 5d). The large aperture is also a very welcome bonus. Thanks to this the lens has a very pleasant bokeh, too. Funny thing is this: I never take this lens with me on commercial shoots (weddings, portrait sessions, etc.) and I rarely use other lenses for family snaps, even if I do take some with me:-) I find it strange because at weddings I couldnīt live without a 50mm f 1,2 glued to one of my bodies and other "serious" lenses at the ready on the other body or in the bag. But if I want to make "serious" pictures of my family it just doesnīt work and the 35mm f2 usually does the whole job, and very well too! I quess it just suits perfectly the kind of pictures I want to take...This reminds me of a very clever article by Mike Johnston (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/sm-03-07-13.shtml) about why we should not use zooms. Just read it, I find it spot on!

Summary- get this lens if you take the kind of pictures mentioned above and youīll be hapy, especially at the price:-))


May 24, 2010
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PJ Fish
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Registered: Nov 24, 2006
Location: Denmark
Posts: 18
Review Date: Feb 12, 2010 Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: What a great lens;Sharp sharp sharp .good colour,good contrast;alltogether on par with the L series,astonishing good value for money. Made in Japan optics; good sample quality.
Cons:
A little noisy from the motor,a little plasticky,a little too pricey.

For both FF and 1,6FV Canon DSLR this little pearl is a true bargain at the moment ..money can buy even compared to the L big brother f1,4.
The differ is not worth it at all,i tried it on my Canon 10D,7D and 5D2 and all seems to make remarkable good pictures with the Canon 35 mm F2,close to or even better than the L.
Pics were all sharp and contrasty even at F2.Im truly impressed, and think this must be a Canon Big hit secret especially in conjunction when you work with FF like Canon 5D2.
What i also like it is discrete and light as well,the noise from motor is not disturbing at all.

This Canon 35 mm F2 is even made in Japan ! so i cant be happier ,and im a lucky pro photog using this lens on daily assignments.


Feb 12, 2010
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NiharB
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Registered: Apr 16, 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 18
Review Date: Oct 12, 2009 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $280.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Sharp, Great colour, Affordable, Fast
Cons:
Annoying AF motor, No FTM

This lens is on my camera most of the time. Its sharp, its fast, and its cheap. This lens also give photos a certain feeling that I just love. Build quality is very good for a lens of this price. The FOV is very useful on a crop camera. Its minimum focus distance is very useful.

My nitpicks:

-the AF motor is noisy and 85% of the time its not a bother. The other 15% of the time, like when the lens hunts or if in a quiet environment then, yeah the AF noise is an issue.

-This didn't bother me until I did get a lens with full time manual focus, but FTM would be nice on this lens. But so would many other features that would just jack up the price. So, unless you use FTM all the time on your other lenses then this lens could be annoying to you because of the lack of it.

tl;dr summary: Great affordable lens, good bang for buck value. A must have in a poor photographers bag.


Oct 12, 2009
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Canon EF 35mm f/2

Buy from B&H Photo
Reviews Views Date of last review
133 392837 Jan 16, 2022
Recommended By Average Price
92% of reviewers $402.11
Build Quality Rating Price Rating Overall Rating
7.57
9.07
8.8
ef35mmf2_1_


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