Lens review

Canon EF 35 mm f/1.4L USM

11. Summary

Pros:

• high body build quality,
• brilliant frame center picture quality at all apertures range,
• very good frame edge picture quality,
• low chromatic aberration on full frame,
• slight distortion,
• well-corrected astigmatism,
• autofocus is quick, silent and accurate,
• quite good against the light work,

• high vignetting on the APS-C sensor and simply monstrous on full frame,
• significant coma,
• the frame corner picture quality on full frame at the maximum relative aperture should have been better,
• an element defect which passed the factory quality control,
• an exorbitant price.

Only the fact, that the cons list for a standard prime instrument, which costs 1240$, is five position long, should make you think twice. Two of these faults are possible to omit. Firstly, you can chose a lens without a defect, secondly, we can wait for a price reduction or for a significant cash-back from Canon. There are still three positions that can’t be changed.

Can the advantages of this lens compensate the disadvantages? To tell you the truth, the advantages are significant – a fantastic, sometimes even record-breaking picture quality and a lens barrel fit for the most demanding atmospheric conditions. Something no professional can ignore.

Is the Canon lens worth as much as 1240$ zl? I’ve already made up my mind about it, I hope our test will help You to do the same.

Sample shots:

Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/2.0, exp. 1/800 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.2 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/1.4, exp. 1/2500 sec., ISO 400 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.7 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/1.4, exp. 1/1250 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.1 MB
Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/100 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.2 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 5.3 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/160 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.3 MB
Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/1.6, exp. 1/5000 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.4 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/400 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.4 MB	Camera: Canon 5D Parameters: 35 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/5000 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 4368x2912 pix, 3.7 MB
Camera: Canon 5D Parameters: 35 mm, f/1.4, exp. 1/8000 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 4368x2912 pix, 4.1 MB	Camera: Canon 5D Parameters: 35 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/500 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 4368x2912 pix, 4.4 MB	Camera: Canon 5D Parameters: 35 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/400 sec., ISO 400 File: JPG, 4368x2912 pix, 4.2 MB
Camera: Canon 5D Parameters: 35 mm, f/1.4, exp. 1/1600 sec., ISO 320 File: JPG, 4368x2912 pix, 4.1 MB	Camera: Canon 5D Parameters: 35 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/160 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 4368x2912 pix, 2.6 MB	Camera: Canon 5D Parameters: 35 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/200 sec., ISO 400 File: JPG, 4368x2912 pix, 4.7 MB