Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II Review (long term review by D. Abbott)

Canon EF 35mm F/1.4L II Review
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Here is a Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II review.

Dustin Abbott posted his exhaustive review of the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II lens. He says:

One of the top lenses that I continue to feel is special is the Canon EF 35mm F1.4L II – a lens I labeled the best non-super-telephoto lens in Canon’s lineup at the time of my initial review at the end of 2015.  I also characterized it as essentially a “Zeiss Otus lens with autofocus”.  Do I still feel that strongly about it after over four years of use? Like the Canon 100L Macro, the EF 35LII still looks and operates like new, and has paid for itself many times over with product photography, food photography, weddings, events, portraits, and more.  It was so good that it made me eventually sell my 24-70mm F2.8 zoom.

Dustin Abbott’s review comes with a rich set of sample pictures, and as usual with the full review in video. Enjoy.

Key features:

  • EF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/1.4 to f/22
  • Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics Element
  • Two Aspherical Elements, One UD Element

More Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II review stuff is listed here.

Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

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Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8 RF Review (Canon EOS R mount)

Yasuhara Anthy 35mm F/1.8 RF Review
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Dustin Abbott posted his Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8 RF review, a third party RF mount lens for the Canon EOS R full frame mirrorless system.

The Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8 RF will not cost you a fortune, it’s priced at $299. And, according to the reviewer, it has a “beautiful classic build – much like classic Zeiss [lens]”.

Says Dustin Abbott in his conclusion:

For years I have chosen to pull out vintage lenses occasionally despite the fact that they have far more optical flaws than more corrected modern lenses.  Why?  Because often there is a unique character to them that I enjoy despite their flaws.  Images have a c ertain quality to them that I like.  I also sometimes enjoy the “analog” approach of manual focus and a more deliberate style of photography.  It is that part of my inner photographer that can appreciate the Yasuhara Anthy 35mm F1.8 despite some glaring flaws like poor flare resistance, warm color rendering, and the odd vignette effect.  Used in the right settings, the Anthy35 produces images with a rich color palette and nice bokeh falloff.  It has an artistic, retrograde feel that some photographers will love and others will hate.  I hope that this review and the images contained in it have helped you decide which you are.

Read the review…

Dustin’s Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8 RF review can also be watched as a video:

Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Review And Lab Test (capable of delivering high-quality results)

Canon RF 35mm F/1.8 Review Macro IS STM RF 70-400mm
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The lens experts at Optical Limits posted a Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 review.

The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 STM IS Macro is one of the less expensive lenses for the Canon EOS R full frame mirrorless system. At less than or around $500/€500 it is much more affordable than the so called “boutique lenses” for the EOS R.

From their conclusion:

The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 STM IS macro may not be the sexiest lens around but it is capable of delivering very high-quality results. Images are sharp in the center straight at f/1.8 and the corners are just marginally soft. There’s a substantial increase in quality at f/2.8 and the resolution is truly impressive medium aperture settings. Image distortions, as well as lateral CAs, are low. The same can’t be said about the native vignetting which is rather extreme at maximum aperture. However, auto-correction comes to the rescue so most users will probably just notice a slightly elevated light falloff at f/1.8. The bokeh is generally nicely rendered with a silky background blur and smooth out-of-focus highlights. The foreground blur is less ideal though. Bokeh fringing (LoCA) is present at large aperture settings but that’s hardly surprising. However, a more ugly effect are focus shifts when stopping down (RSA) which seems to have a negative impact on AF accuracy as well.

Read the review and lab test at Optical Limits.

An interesting lens at an affordable price. Here is more Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 review stuff.

Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 STM IS Macro: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

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Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 Review And Sample Gallery

Tamron SP 35mm F/1.4 Review
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The Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 is in Tamron’s own words “the finest lens in its history“. Well, that’s a statement.

In this Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 review (video below), Chris and Jordan from DPReview TV put the lens to test (on a Nikon Z 7) to see how it performs. For the pixel peepers there is a sample photo gallery to browse.

Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4:

America: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE

The Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8 Is A High-quality, Small But Fast Prime For The Canon EOS R

Yasuhara Anthy 35mm F/1.8
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Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8 at a glance:

  • Focal Length: 35mm
  • Aperture Blade: 9
  • Aperture: f1.8 – f16
  • Elements: 9 elements in 7 groups
  • Coatings: Multicoated
  • Weather-Sealed: No
  • Minimum Focus Distance: 0.4m
  • Filter Threads: 52mm
  • Weight: 15oz

More and more companies, be they small or big, are starting to invest in the Canon EOS R full frame mirrorless system, and build lenses for it.

Japanese company Yasuhara launched the Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8. Our friend Alik Griffin reviewed it.

  • Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8
  • Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8
  • Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8

From Alik’s conclusion:

If you’re looking for a lens for shooting at night or for black and white photography this lens is great, but for general use, it’s by no means perfect and it does have quite a few flaws. Whether those flaws are deal-breaking or not, you’ll have to decide that based on how you shoot.

Personally I’ve been using it way more than I thought I would be simply because of the small size. There just aren’t a lot of full-frame f1.8 lenses that can do what this lens does that are also this small and the build quality is fantastic.

For night shooting it performs really well since you don’t see the vignetting, and it doesn’t have any serious issues with astigmatism like the Canon RF 35mm f1.8.

It does have some sort of rear reflection thing going on that I showed in some test shots, but I haven’t seen it yet in real-world shooting.
The most annoying thing to me is that purple vignetting. It’s not easy to fix and requires quite a bit of noodling to completely remove. It’s best to just make a preset which is what I’ve done.

[…]

For those shooters that shoot both full-frame and APS-C, this lens could be an incredible option. Canon and Nikon haven’t released their APS-C cameras for their new mounts yet, but I could see this lens being a great lens for those cropped systems since you won’t see that purple vignetting when cropped and you will see an improvement in those corners.
In terms of color, contrast, sharpness, and bokeh, for a lens this size it’s really nice it’s but it is a little soft wide open. For $299 this could be a pretty fun lens to mess around with and once you learn to work with the strengths and avoid the weakness you can really make it work. But for the full-frame shooter that’s just starting out, it could be a bit of a challenge to work with.

For APS-C shooters you will see slightly better contrast and color to what Meike and 7Artisans are doing, but with the Anthy35 you get a dramatically superior build. Of course, the price reflects this.

Alik Griffin’s review of the Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8 touches every possible feature of the lens, and comes with a rich set of sample and test photos. Highly recommended review. If you prefer, you can read his first impression of the Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8. The Yasuhara Anthy 35mm f/1.8 will be available in Fall 2019, can be preordered at $299.

You can follow Alik Griffin on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and by visiting his website.

Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 Di USD (F045) Review (editor’s choice, ePHOTOzine)

Tamron SP 35mm F/1.4 Review
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Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 Di USD at a glance:

  • EF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/1.4 to f/16
  • Four Low Dispersion Elements
  • Three Aspherical Elements
  • BBAR-G2 and Fluorine Coatings
  • USD AF Motor and Dynamic Rolling Cam
  • Electromagnetic Diaphragm
  • Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm
  • Compatible with TAP-in Console

ePHOTOzine reviewed the Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 Di USD (F045) lens.

The SP 35mm f/1.4 Di USD (F045) is getting a lot of positive reviews, and this on is no exception. Tamron itself calls it the “finest lens” in their history.

From ePHOTOzine’s conclusion:

The performance is excellent, the handling is excellent and this puts the Tamron on a par with the best alternative 35mm f/1.4 lenses, and, it must be said, at an attractive price. Yes, it is still expensive, but that is the price we have to pay for such high quality.

The only question is whether or not the photographer finds 35mm to be the right focal length on full frame. For some it may fall between being truly wide angle and being long enough for more flattering portraits. For others it will be the perfect standard lens, perhaps especially for those involved with classic street photography or small group portraits.

If the specification is right though, then this lens hits the spot and yet again Tamron have that coveted accolade and another Editor’s Choice. Is this Tamron’s best ever lens? Frankly, there have been quite a few that could vie for that position, but one thing is certain, that the new Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 Di USD lens is right at the top of Tamron’s game.

Read the review…

Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 Di USD:

America: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE