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The EF 35 mm lenses are three wide angle prime lenses with EF mount made by Canon Inc.
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Focal lengths at 35 mm or less are considered wide angle, so the focal length of these lenses are at the long end of the wide angle range. 35mm is most commonly used for group portraits, landscapes, and other general purposes. These lenses are the professional choice among many photo journalists as this focal length is very suitable for street photography. On the other hand, they are also popular for photographers who are new to wide angle photography, since this focal length does not distort as much as other wider offerings. 35mm prime lenses are commonly found in the kits of wedding photographers due to their large aperture and rather low distortion characteristics. Large aperture is good for dim light. Low distortion is good for group portraits.
Four EF 35 mm lenses have been developed. Two of these are L series lens. Two of the four lenses are currently available (the f/1.4L II USM and the f/2 IS USM).
Crop factor
When used with a Canon APS-C (1.6x crop) DSLR camera or APS-H (1.3x crop), the field of view of this lens is similar to a 56mm or 45.5mm on full frame camera. There will be an apparent magnification of approximately 1.6x in the final image (1.3x for an APS-H sensor), since the "cropped" image will fill up the sensor. This is due to the crop factor inherent with APS-C or APS-H (crop) sensor digital SLR cameras.
An example would be taking an image of a rock using two cameras with the same lens. The first camera a 18mp full frame and the second a 18mp APS-C, both shooting the same composition in a stationary position. The first image will be more "wide" while the second image will be more "magnified". After bringing the results into an image editing program and enlarging the first image so that the rock is the same size in both images, one will see that the enlarged image is approximately 160% (1.6x) of the original.
The major advantage to this extra "reach" would be the utilizing of the full sensor space for a cropped image rather than having to crop afterwards, thus utilizing parts of the sensor that would have otherwise been wasted. The major disadvantage would be the lack of change in perspective, since the focal length has not actually changed it will be like shooting with the field of view of a 56mm lens on a full frame sensor while having the perspective of 35mm lens. The resulting image will appear to have a less pleasing background blur and unlike using an actual 56mm lens on a full frame sensor.
EF 35 mm f/1.4L USM
The EF 35 mm f/1.4L USM is a professional L series lens. It is constructed with a plastic body and metal mount. The screw-on filter thread at the front is metal. Features of this lens are a wide rubber focus ring that is damped, and a distance window with infrared index. The maximum aperture of f/1.4 gives this lens the ability to create shallow depth of field and smooth bokeh effects. The optical construction of this lens contains 11 lens elements in 9 groups, including one ground and polished aspherical lens element. It uses a rear floating focusing system, powered by a ring type USM motor. Autofocus speed of this lens is very fast, and the front of the lens neither rotates nor extends when focusing.
EF 35 mm f/1.4L II USM
The EF 35 mm f/1.4L II USM is a successor of the EF 35 mm f/1.4L USM. It was announced at the 27th of August 2015 and is available since October same year. The EF 35 mm f/1.4L II USM lens is the first lens in Canon line up to use a Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics element (BR element) to reduce the chromatic aberration at the blue end of the spectrum. This results in a better optical quality. Further it has, according to Canon, an improved weather sealing. On other hand it is roughly 20 mm longer and 180 g heavier.
EF 35 mm f/2
The EF 35 mm f/2 is a prosumer level lens. It is constructed with a plastic body and a metal mount. This lens features a distance window with infrared index. The maximum aperture of f/2 gives this lens the ability to create depth of field effects, but not to the same shallowness of the EF 35 mm f/1.4L USM, while its five-blade diaphragm may produce background blur (bokeh). The optical construction of this lens contains seven lens elements, without any special lens elements. It uses a linear extension focusing system, powered by an AFD motor. Auto focus speed of this lens is moderately fast, but focusing does make some sound. The front of the lens does not rotate when focusing, but does extend.
EF 35 mm f/2 IS USM
The EF 35 mm f/2 is an enthusiast-level lens. Like the original version of the f/2 lens, it has a plastic body and a metal mount, but adds image stabilization. It also has an eight-blade diaphragm with rounded blades, as opposed to the eight non-rounded blades of the f/1.4L lens and the five non-rounded blades of the original f/2 model. This lens features a distance window with infrared index. The optical construction of this lens contains 10 elements in 8 groups, including one molded aspherical element. It uses a ring-type USM motor. The front of the lens neither rotates nor extends when focusing.