Fast Canon lens

[KevinA]

Any one have any good experiences of a fast Canon lens used wide open, especially wide lenses. I'm thinking prime more than zoom.

Kevin.

[witz]

Any one have any good experiences of a fast Canon lens used wide open, especially wide lenses. I'm thinking prime more than zoom.

Kevin.

the 35mm f1.4 L is fantastic

[button]

the 35mm f1.4 L is fantastic

I'll second that.  The 85 1.8 is also quite good, and a real bargain.

John

[KevinA]

Is it fantastic fully open?

Thanks,

Kevin.

[button]

Is it fantastic fully open?

Thanks,

Kevin.

As far as I know, most lenses get sharper the more you stop them down, and so the word "fantastic" is obviously subjective.  I think that both of these lenses, especially the 35 1.4 (I have both) are sharp wide open and produce very pleasing bokeh.  For me, that's pretty darn good.  However, your definition of fantastic may take you into the Leica store with a high limit credit card (that is, if "fantastic" doesn't mind manual focus, etc).  What kinds of things do you like to shoot?

John

Edit Reason: meant "subjective", not "objective" ...woops!

[KevinA]

As far as I know, most lenses get sharper the more you stop them down, and so the word "fantastic" is obviously objective.  I think that both of these lenses, especially the 35 1.4 (I have both) are sharp wide open and produce very pleasing bokeh.  For me, that's pretty darn good.  However, your definition of fantastic may take you into the Leica store with a high limit credit card (that is, if "fantastic" doesn't mind manual focus, etc).  What kinds of things do you like to shoot?

John

Night scenes from a helicopter, I need all the f stop I can get. Bokeh is not a concern as everything is infinity. Manual focus is good I would tape it on infinity.

Cheers,

Kevin.

[kevinwilson]

Any one have any good experiences of a fast Canon lens used wide open, especially wide lenses. I'm thinking prime more than zoom.

Kevin.

I have the 50 mm 1.2 L, pleasantly pleased with it in comparison to my 24-70.
Kevin

[Geoff Wittig]

Is it fantastic fully open?

Thanks,

Kevin.

The Canon 85 mm f:1.8 is optically fantastic for such an inexpensive lens, but corners are definitely soft wide open. This scarcely matters for portraits, where the miniscule depth of field means that corners are just part of the nice bokeh. But if you're looking for razor sharp corners, you'll need to stop down to something around f:2.8 or even f:4. At this aperture it will be noticeably sharper than the über expensive 70-200 f:2.8 IS zoom.

The 135 mm f:2 is another option; it's extremely sharp even in the corners at f:2.8, and a very handy size for that focal length.

[budjames]

I suggest that you check out the lens reviews on www.bhphotovideo.com. Search for the lens you want and you'll find many different user reviews.

Bud James

[Jonathan H]

The Zeiss Distagon 21mm is widely regarded as the sharpest wide-angle ever produced.  Only goes to F2.8 though.  The Canon 35 F1.4L is generally considered to be spectacular - one of Canon's best. The 24 1.4L isn't quite as highly regarded, but still an excellent lens.

FYI - Infinity is not always infinity.  Taping a lens there may yield terribly out of focus results.

[KevinA]

The Zeiss Distagon 21mm is widely regarded as the sharpest wide-angle ever produced.  Only goes to F2.8 though.  The Canon 35 F1.4L is generally considered to be spectacular - one of Canon's best. The 24 1.4L isn't quite as highly regarded, but still an excellent lens.

FYI - Infinity is not always infinity.  Taping a lens there may yield terribly out of focus results.

Yes to the infinity. When I used Pentax 67 infinity seamed to be a constant, I could stick it and forget it. Now with Canon I'm not shure the camera always knows where infinity is. Looking back the other day at some images shot on colour neg, they look a lot sharper than any digital I have (various Canon and Kodak), despite slower shutter speeds. So much so I've just bought a colour processor and intend to mix in a bit more film. I looked at some Reala images applied a hint of noise Ninja and grain became a non issue, if I look at Provia grain IS a non issue. I've just ordered some 800Z Fuji, I'm going to see if it's extra latitude means it can handle under exposer better than shooting the Canon at 1600 -3200iso. It's OK shooting digital in a studio at 1600iso and saying look no noise, it all falls apart when you shoot under Street lights.
I think the 35mm f1.4 might be an answer, it might not be the only answer, I'm also going to test a new Nikon against my Canons and 67 film, just waiting for my Makina 67 to come back from a full expensive service and the film to turn up. Watch this space!

Kevin.

[button]

Night scenes from a helicopter, I need all the f stop I can get. Bokeh is not a concern as everything is infinity. Manual focus is good I would tape it on infinity.

Cheers,

Kevin.

Hey Kevin,  

I think that you should consider either the Canon 50mm 1.2 or the 85mm 1.2, if your budget will allow.  You might read reports of focus changes at smaller apertures with these lenses, but I suspect you'll be shooting wide open.  Also, consider the new 5D mark 2 body, as its high ISO capability is quite strong.  I just got mine, and ISO 3200 looks superb.  You could probably get away with ISO 6400 with some extra work in post (noise ninja, selective masking, etc).  A 5d mark 2 paired with f1.2 would be pretty much like night vision.

John

[SeanFS]

Any one have any good experiences of a fast Canon lens used wide open, especially wide lenses. I'm thinking prime more than zoom.

Kevin.

I have the 85 1.2 and it is excellent at 1.2 , for f1.2 ,  and slightly better stopped down to 1.8 or f2, by f2.8 - 4 it is really excellent with my 1ds2 or 3. I haven't used it for helicopter work though ( usually a  24 - 105mm and haven't really looked too much at the corners). I have used it in very low light and it does work very well wide open ( why else would I own it?) The auto focus is slow moving all that glass around but a must as the DOF is tiny . I also use a Nikon 50mm 1.4 on an adaptor that works very well.