Canon 35mm f2 or 28mm f1.8

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danny842003

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Daniel
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So im going to sell my 50mm as i have a crop camera and I find it just un useable for the tasks I want of it normally. Although when I have used it i really like many of the images it produces.
I was planning on buying the 35mm f2 but have just sold a load of clutter from the spare room, so I was debating buying the 28mm f1.8 which is around the same amount off the 'magical 50mm' in the opposite direction as the 35mm.
I have seen very mixed reviews of the 28mm and some saying that apart from the USM and build quality the 35mm is actually a nicer lens.
I plan on using it for street photography (going to China in a month) and in low light situations.
 
How about neither :D and instead getting a Sigma 30mm f1.4. That was my choice on APS-C.
 
I have the Canon 35mm f/2, it's a stunning lens.

The Sigma is also very good, but more expensive.

The 28mm isn't as good as the 35mm IMO, and don't be too impressed by the fact it's USM, it's an older type and really on a prime, USM isn't so valuable. Still a nice lens, but the 35mm is better value.
 
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I'm a bit baffled by that Jim TBH.

I find USM to be a great feature if it allows full tlme manual focus adjustment.

Some of Canon's older lenses have a type of USM that doesn't allow this and that cuts down their appeal to me massively, but USM that allows manual focus adjustment is a great feature on a prime or any lens IMVHO.
 
woof woof said:
I'm a bit baffled by that Jim TBH.

I find USM to be a great feature if it allows full tlme manual focus adjustment.

Some of Canon's older lenses have a type of USM that doesn't allow this and that cuts down their appeal to me massively, but USM that allows manual focus adjustment is a great feature on a prime or any lens IMVHO.
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Yes I agree, I 'focus' (no pun intended!) on the speed of USM focusing rather than full time manual focusing. That is a useful feature.
 
Well thanks for the advice after this and reading reviews I have decided to go with the 35mm. The USM would be nice but is not essential for me. Seems like the 28mm is soft for more of its F range than the 35mm is. Plus it leaves me with some cash to invest in a new bag which is something I could really do with.
 
danny842003 said:
Well thanks for the advice after this and reading reviews I have decided to go with the 35mm. The USM would be nice but is not essential for me. Seems like the 28mm is soft for more of its F range than the 35mm is. Plus it leaves me with some cash to invest in a new bag which is something I could really do with.
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You won't be disappointed Danny.
 
Lens came today a lot heavier than I was expecting, in comparison to the 50mm.
Havent had a proper play with it yet as its illegal to take photos where i live but its very very noisy. Not that it will be an issue for what i use it for and I it was noted in every review i read but was still surprised by how loud it actually is.
 
You'll love it, even at f/2 is sharp and very useable. Don't worry about the noisy AF motor, you'll get used to it!
 
Until you try to photograph house pets and they get scared away by the AF noise.

I love my 35 f2, it's sharp wide open, which is all I wanted, otherwise I'd be using my 24-105 f4. But I really do wish the new 35 f2 IS USM isn't so expensive, if it's at £350, I'd have rather gone for that.
 
wuyanxu said:
Until you try to photograph house pets and they get scared away by the AF noise.

I love my 35 f2, it's sharp wide open, which is all I wanted, otherwise I'd be using my 24-105 f4. But I really do wish the new 35 f2 IS USM isn't so expensive, if it's at £350, I'd have rather gone for that.
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To be honest i would have as well but the price is just crazy for me as an amateur when i know most of the time i will have my 15-85mm fitted. No way can i justify shelling out that much for something I know I wont use all the time.
 
Will it be a point of wishing you had kept the 50mm after trying out the new lens?
 
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Well you could say that if you had bought the IS USM, would you be wishing you had got the L?
 
wuyanxu said:
Until you try to photograph house pets and they get scared away by the AF noise.

I love my 35 f2, it's sharp wide open, which is all I wanted, otherwise I'd be using my 24-105 f4. But I really do wish the new 35 f2 IS USM isn't so expensive, if it's at £350, I'd have rather gone for that.
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WTF?!? Is that comment serious?

If so, I can post up plenty of nice shots of my pets. They didn't get scared by the AF noise...
 
haha, not mine house pets, pets around friends houses' where they are already concious with me to begin with.

Nice shots of your pets, sure, no doubt about that.

Just saying: once you get used to USM lenses, this one will feel noisy.
 
wuyanxu said:
haha, not mine house pets, pets around friends houses' where they are already concious with me to begin with.
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If those pets are scared by AF noise, I can just imagine the first time the shutter fires ;) cats up the curtains, dogs barking and probably trying to bite you, deer running for the hills... :lol:
 
Raincloud said:
Looks soft to me. What point was you focussing on?
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I don't think "soft" is the right word, it looks to be shallow DoF and the point of focus looks to be towards the top edge of the nearest bank note.
 
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It's not soft, it's just a combination of the angle of the subject in relation to the lens combined with the very shallow DOF.

Try shooting an object "head on" with space in the frame for the background, that's when you see how sharp the 35mm is wide open.

Also make sure your shutter speed is fairly decent to eliminate shake!
 
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Thanks for the tips. To be honest I was just ****ing about trying to get a shallow depth of field to throw the other notes out of focus. Was just having a boring Saturday night in as I need to save for the trip.
 
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