Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide Angle Lens for Canon SLR Cameras 

I am going start by saying that I rate this lens as five stars _except_ for vignetting on full frame digital sensors at wide open apertures. I use this lens as my standard lens on a 5d. I find this angle of view to be perfect for general all around photography where I will "step in" to the subject to get the shot. This lens requires more interaction with the subject, but I think it results in more dynamic pictures. This lens is razor sharp, visibly sharper than my mainstay 24-70 f2.8 L zoom. On the 5d, I can shoot at f1.4 ISO 400 indoors without a flash which is pretty cool.

Now the downside. All wide angles at wide open aperture have light falloff and even this lens demonstrates this tendency. You may not even notice this on many shots, but under some conditions it is very obvious and this condition is more noticeable on digital than film. You can fix this using the distortion filter in PhotoshopCS. If you shoot at f4 or better, the light falloff is not noticeable even under the worse of conditions. The falloff is not visible when you use this lens on an APS digital sensor like the 20d where it has a "normal" angle of view.

It is as expensive as a 24-70L, and costs 4 times more than a 35/2. It is fixed length and "only" 2 stops faster. It is not noticably sharper at f4 and higher.

But I find I fall in love with it. I used a 85/1.8 and 135/2L for portrait. I also have a 24-70L, 50/1.8II and a 18-55 kit lens. But I found that I need a wide and FAST lens to shoot my kid/baby. I prefer to shoot with natural indoor light. I read reviews and browsed pictures and decided that 35/1.4L is the one I need. Based on reviews and my experience with 50/1.8II, 35/2 is NOT usable untill you stop it to f4. That is too slow.

I made the right decision. At f/1.4 it is soft, but at f2.0, picture is pretty sharp. And most importantly, it maintains very good and natural color saturation which you won't get from Photoshop, as well good contrast ratio. It is not very shart at f2.0, but color and contrast make pictures beautiful. Set ISO200 and 1/40th shutter speed, I can shoot without flash at f2.0. Wider angle also means you can shoot in about 4~5 feet away so you can have eye contact with your kids or babies. You won't worry they are not looking at you/lens. This is priceless to me.

Originally I thought this would be a indoor lens as I have a 24-70L. But now I also find it is a very good outdoor portrait/landscape lens. It captures very good details and color for shadow area and takes very nice portrait pictures even with back light. After a trip with this lens, I decide to use 24-70L for indoor studio light shoot only (with flexible zoom/frame).

It is not a great anti-flare performer, but still better than most other lenses. Bokeh is very good with no sign of distraction at all. It may not be as beautiful as a 135/2L but much better than I expected.

It is expensive, but it is a prime L. I cannot say it worth more than a grand, but if you need a fast lens, with good color and saturation at wide open, wide angle and still with beautiful bokeh. It is the one for you. It also provides good shadow details with no sign of wash out. No need to say DOV control. If you have the money, I highly recommend this lens.

Body used: Canon Rebel.
Lenses used: 18-55mm, 24-70L, 50/1.8II, 85/1.8, 135/2L.

Cons:
Expensive. Cost as much as a 16-35L, a 24-70L or a 70-200/2.8L.
Back focus for 0.5 inch at f/1.4 with Rebel/300D boday but I can live with it.
Anti-flare is not the best.

Pros:
FAST with very usable f2.
Very shallow DOV.
Very beautiful bokeh.
Very good color saturation and good contrast even at wide open.
Good shadow detail with good color/contrast (good for back light).
Beautiful L color.
Fast focus speed as expected from a L lens with Ring USM.
L build quality.

The 35mm f/1.4L lens has slight back focus at the beginning so I sent it to Canon Factory Service for focus calibration. After that, the lens is just perfect! Sharpness, saturation, contrast are brilliant and in line with other Canon L-class prime lens. Even at f/1.4, image quality is far better than the 16-35mm at f/2.8. At f/2.8, image quality is way better than the 16-35mm at f/2.8. This lens is thus one of the legendary lens from Canon, besides the 85mm f/1.2L and 135mm f/2L. Even though I alredy have the 16-35mm f/2.8L, I'm very happy to purchase the 35mm f/1.4L.

Highly recommended lens, espcially for 1.6X crop body (such as 20D, 30D, 350D, 400D).

:)

Some of you may know about the 35mm Leica lens that was dubbed the "Bokeh King" for the wonderfully pleasant quality of bokeh that it created. This lens very much reminds me of it. Achieving bokeh is done with many lenses. Achieving that special "wow" bokeh is only achieved with an elite few. I believe this lens is a member of that elite few. It is professional looking and artistic looking at once. Easily controllable; automatically just the right amount and character in every shot. Just purely brilliant bokeh. I also own the 135mm f/2L which also receives high praise for its bokeh but in my opinion it is not as good as this lens. More bokeh doesn't necessarily mean best bokeh. It is the quality of the bokeh. This lens truly possesses that special quality. Alright, enough about the bokeh.

Sharpness? Of course it is razor sharp. It better be for this price. I just expected that. If your's isn't then you need to return it for another one.

Low-light performance? The best I have experienced from any Canon lens, and I have owned several professional and/or low-light Canon lenses.

I sold my awesome 24-70mm lens to get this lens and I took a leap of faith in doing so. It looks as if I made a good decision. I do so because the 24-70 is too heavy and unwieldy and the f/2.8 of the lens is not good for indoors without a flash. Plus, 35mm was the focal length I was using most. Again I am very happy I did so. This lens was everything I hoped it would be and more. I don't see it coming off the 5D for a long while.

This is one of the best kept secrets in Canon "L" lenses. I can't understand why this lens gets so little attention. I guess it is because everyone favors the convenience of Zoom lenses. This is bar none the best Canon lens I have ever owned. I can't wait for it's first wedding which is in a few weeks.

I have been switching between a Canon 17-40 f/4 and a 50 f/1.4 for the everyday lens on my EOS 40D and I couldn't seem to find the sweet spot. The 50mm which is an effective 80mm on this body is always too limiting in interior situations such as birthday parties or small groups where its narrow field of view forces me to back away or take tighter crops than I would like. The 17-40 f/4 isn't fast enough for low light.
After procrastinating over the price of the 35mm f/1.4L for some time, I finally took the leap. I am not disappointed - I now have a real standard lens and a fast one at that. It has a pleasant heft and is built with solid materials and a quality finish. It seems to focus much faster than the 50 f/1.4 and early test results are fantastic. It produces lovely warm colors, the bokeh is very pleasing and images have excellent sharpness. I have had the 35mm f/2 and that lens just is not in the same league though it is a good value choice. If you can afford this lens (even at the cost of dumping some of your others) and want a standard focal length on a non-full frame body, I strongly recommend it.