Canon EF 35mm f/2

Canon EF 35mm f/2 User Reviews

Fantastic all-around lens! | Rating:
“Just a short note… When I upgraded to a DSLR system from my old-school 35mm, I was used to a nice standard 50mm f1.8. Well, digital doesn’t roll quite the same way since you convert all of your factors for us Rebel/40D users. After conversion, this lens offers 56mm measurement, a very close range to my older 35mm SLRs. When I bought this lens and the 50mm f1.4, I barely ever used that 50mm, designed for portraits, and an outstanding job it does. But the 35 is terrific for shooting outdoors or with family and friends, and takes a terrific photograph for a fair price. I highly suggest trying this lens out. “ – by Peter C. Harris

Outstanding performer | Rating:
“I seldom post reviews but this lens deserves one so here goes. Over the years I have owned several good Canon lenses, including two L Series; and this lens is best of the lot. Based on my experience with this lens, some of the reviewers who are less than enthusiastic about it must have received a dud because this is a great little lens – as sharp as you could ever want and the colors it produces are vivid in the true meaning of the word. The added bonus from this little charmer is its weight. On my 30D it feels like there is a feather out there in front. If you’re looking for a sharp walkaround lens, you could hardly do better at twice the price!” – by J. R. Landers

Great lens for the price | Rating:
“Build quality is toward the low end of Canon’s scale; not as nice as the EF 28mm f/1.8, but not as cheap as the EF 50mm f/1.8 II. It does, at least, have a metal mount and a distance window. Since it doesn’t have USM, it is rather noisy when autofocusing compared to the 28, and full-time manual focus is not available. But at least the focus ring spins freely in auto-focus mode (unlike the 50 f/1.8 II), so you don’t have to worry about damaging the motor by turning it accidentally. Picture quality is quite good; wide open, the center is decently sharp, and the edges not too bad at all; stopped down to f/4, it’s even better. If you’re looking for a roughly standard-length lens for an APS-C Canon camera without paying the premium price of an L-series lens, and you need something faster than f/2.8, I think this is the one to get. “ – by Craig Dickson

Amazing “always-on” lens | Rating:
“I just got this lens today so my review is based on just a couple of hours usage. The lens performs great in low light conditions – both indoors and outdoors. Some people have complained that the bokeh is not smooth – I don’t agree – the bokeh is smooth enough for me and looks very pleasing. I’m stunned by the performance of this tiny beast. Only dislike is the build – the focus ring is not that smooth and has a very cheap feel. My Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM and Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM have a much better build. “ – by Arvind Kalyan

Good for the price, great compared to the kit lens | Rating:
“Good lens, sharp on a Canon 50D. When new, the manual focus ring was tight, after two months, it has noticably loosened. Compared to the kit lens, 28-105 IS, the improvement in image quality is extremely clear. Kit lens is now gathering dust. For landscape, the 35mm is quite good, sharp, and I have no problems with contrast or colors. For product photography, this lens shines. F8 to F16 produces fabulous results. Soft wide open, but what lens isn’t. At F18 and above, defraction occurs, I don’t shoot at F20 or above for the most part. I took this lens to a horse show and was amazed at the clarity, from approx. 40 feet away, you can see the individual hairs on the horse. I was impressed..” – by Kermit in New England

Good lens | Rating:
“This is a good lens. And take nice pictures. After testing it, this lens takes better pictures than the canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L. However as far as I am concerned it is still not wide enough (after 1.6x crop factor) for landscapes. It is also kinda noisy.” – by Ali Roustai

Small, sharp lens w/ poor low-light focusing | Rating:
“This lens is small and fast, producing crisp, pleasing images at most apertures, but focusing poorly in low-light, and being unusually noisy… The image quality seemed just as sharp as the more expensive Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM Wide Angle Lens for Canon SLR Cameras, producing slightly cooler colors than that lens. The USM motor of that 28mm lens is much quieter and faster than this 35mm… I really like this lens, it’s solid, small, lightweight, and a reasonably effective focal-length. Sadly, I was looking for a large aperture prime to use in clubs/restaurants, which makes the slow focus-hunting in low-light a deal breaker. For the price, this is a very nice lens. Recommended for daylight/outdoor use. “ – by Omar Siddique

My first dip into the “Prime” pool | Rating:
“This product has a good number of excellent reviews that give you a general idea of what is good about this lens… so I’ll be brief. Reasons I love it: Very quick to focus, Sharp, Useful in full body portraits to head-shots (on a 1.6x DSLR like a Rebel/450D), Great low-light lens (I use it all the time in clubs), Very light weight, Useful focus window (unlike the Rebel XSI/XS/T1i’s kit 18-55mm IS lens), “EF” (Useful on full frame, and “crop” frame sensor camera’s… so I’ll be keeping it as I upgrade), Solid build quality (metal lens mount, light, but has a good “solid” heft to it), About equivalent to a 50mm lens on a full frame sensor or 35mm format camera., Good “carry around” lens (Light, unobtrusive, small, good focal length, very useful aperature), Shallow depth of field at f/2, great for soft backgrounds “ – by Lrn2Go

Canon EF 35mm f/2 Sample Photos

- Canon EF 35mm f/2 Sample Photos @ Pbase.com
- Canon EF 35mm f/2 Sample Photos @ Pixel-peeper.com
- Canon EF 35mm f/2 Sample Photos @ Flickr.com
- Canon EF 35mm f/2 Sample Photos @ Photographyreview.com
- Canon EF 35mm f/2 Sample Photos @ The-digital-picture.com
- Canon EF 35mm f/2 Sample Photos @ Amazon.com

Canon EF 35mm f/2 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.

An affordable lens that’s ideal for tasks like group photos and other applications calling for excellent optical performance and moderately wide focal length. It’s compact and lightweight, and with f/2.0 speed, it’s a compelling alternative to a wide-angle zoom lens for low-light shooting.

Wide and Fast
If you need an ultra-wide angle and a large aperture, one of the following lenses will fit the bill. Ultra-wide-angle lenses can capture scenes beyond your natural field of vision. The EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye, the widest of them all, has a 180° angle of view. For more normal-looking wide-angle shots, there are longer wide-angle lenses up to 35mm with the maximum aperture you need.