CANON EF 35MM F2 IS USM

IT’S THE SLOWEST LENS IN THE GROUP IN TERMS OF APERTURE RATING BUT BOASTS FAST AUTOFOCUS AND GOOD STABILISATION

FOR THE ULTIMATE IN PROFESSIONAL-GRADE CANON 35MM PRIME LENSES, THE PREMIUM OWN-BRAND CHOICE IS THE THOROUGHLY EXCELLENT EF 35MM F1.4L II USM. IT HAS SUPERB OPTICAL QUALITIES, A FAST F1.4 APERTURE RATING AND IS BUILT LIKE A TANK. HOWEVER, IT’S ALSO TANK-LIKE IN THAT IT’S BIG AND HEAVY, SO NOT IDEALLY SUITED TO STREET PHOTOGRAPHY.

THIS 35MM F2 IS USM LENS IS MUCH SMALLER AND LESS THAN HALF THE WEIGHT, MAKING IT MORE INCONSPICUOUS AND EASIER TO CARRY AROUND WHEN TRUDGING THE STREETS. ITS F2 APERTURE IS THE SLOWEST IN THIS GROUP, BUT SHOULD STILL PROVE FAST ENOUGH FOR STREET SHOOTING, EVEN AT THE DIMMING OF THE DAY.

THE RING-TYPE ULTRASONIC AUTOFOCUS SYSTEM IS VERY QUICK AND QUIET. UNLIKE WITH CANON’S GROWING NUMBER OF LENSES WITH STM (STEPPING MOTOR) SYSTEMS, MANUAL OVERRIDE AND FULLY MANUAL FOCUSING CAN BE APPLIED AT ANY TIME, THANKS TO A MECHANICAL RATHER THAN ELECTRONIC LINKAGE. THE FOCUS RING ITSELF IS FAIRLY SMALL BUT OPERATES SMOOTHLY AND HAS A SUFFICIENTLY LONG TRAVEL TO ENABLE PRECISE MANUAL FOCUSING. FOR A MECHANICAL AID, THERE’S A FOCUS DISTANCE SCALE WITH DEPTH OF FIELD MARKERS FOR F11 AND F22. NATURALLY, ELECTRONIC ASSISTANCE IS ALSO AVAILABLE COURTESY OF THE FOCUS CONFIRMATION LAMP IN THE CAMERA’S VIEWFINDER.

A BIG BONUS, GIVEN THAT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY ALMOST ALWAYS RELIES ON HANDHELD SHOOTING, IS THAT THE LENS FEATURES A HIGHLY EFFECTIVE FOUR-STOP IMAGE STABILISER. THE ONLY OTHER LENS ON TEST TO HAVE STABILISATION IS THE TAMRON, AS IT’S NOT FEATURED IN THE NIKON AND SIGMA LENSES.

DURING EXTENSIVE TESTING, WE FOUND THIS LENS TO BE PRETTY MUCH AS SHARP AS THE TOP-GRADE CANON 35MM F1.4, WITH SIMILARLY NEGLIGIBLE COLOUR FRINGING. THERE’S A TOUCH MORE BARREL DISTORTION BUT NOT ENOUGH TO GENERALLY BE NOTICEABLE.