Canon EF 35 mm f/1.4L USM review - Summary

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Canon EF 35 mm f/1.4L USM

29 May 2009

Arkadiusz Olech

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,

Cons:

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.

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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