Canon makes two 35mm lenses. The 35mm F2 and the 35mm F1.4. The Canon 35mm F2 version has been a very popular lens for the EOS users. This is especially true for digital camera users with a 1.6x crop sensor, because 35mm is equivalent to about 50mm in a full frame camera. This lens receives high praises for it's optical excellence at an affordable price. On the other hand, the EF 35mm f1.4 is sort of a dream lens for most causual users due to it's high price and availability. This lens, and it's sister lens, the 24mm F1.4, represent Canon's best wide angle lens design and making.

The question most people ask is "How much better is the F1.4 than the F2, at the price reatio of $1750:$400 (Canadian $)" I have had the F1.4 version for about 3 months, but have not shot a lot of pictures with it yet, but am generally happy with the performance of the lens. Recently I had a chance to buy the F2 version at an attractive price so I decided to buy it and test it against the F1.4, and see if it's good enough for me to keep, and sell the F1.4 so that I can upgrade my camera.

Below is a not a very scientific or stringent test, but I think is good enough for me. Of course, this test does not have anything to do with the built quality, focusing speed and accuracy, and other aspects other than optical performance.

Please note that my Canon 10D is not known for focus accuracy, so the results may be better with a better body.

Setup:

The Canon 10D was used for this test. Cable release was also used, but I did not use mirror lock up. Camera and lens were placed on a Velbon Carbon Fiber tripod with a Gitzo 1276M ball head (it's an awesome combination!) Auto white balance was used. All shots were taken in highest JPEG mode at ISO 200. No sharpening was performed on any of the pictures, only 100% cropped from near the centre of the picture. I don't really care about the edge performance because I don't do landscapes.

I will add more real life pictures from both lenses when I get around to it.

One thing I noticed about the out of focus highlights for the F1.4 is that they have rings within the highlights. I have never seen this before and wonder if other copies has this "feature". I am not saying it's annoying, just different. In any case, the bokeh for the F1.4 is much better than F2 version, but in terms of colour, there really is not a lot of differences. Both lenses are a little soft wide open (this may be due to thin depth of field and focusing errors), but the F1.4 at F1.8 is already very sharp, and the F2 at F2.8 is also very sharp. So, stop down one stop, both lenses improve dramatically in terms of sharpness.

I will be keeping the F1.4 version. Not because the F2 version is bad, but the way I see it, a lens is used for a long time to come, and I really want to have the best available and don't have to think about it later on, could my pictures be better with the F1.4 version? If the pictures don't turn out well, it would be all my fault, and not the lens's. In real life usage, the differences is even less apperant. But, once you hold the F1.4L in your hands, and then the F2, which weighs next to nothing, it's hard NOT to want to keep the L.