Good colour and contrast and fast focus. And it's really bright wide open. Shallow depth of field was great for isolating subject from background and quality of background blur beats anything else I have used. 35mm on APS-C (Eos 90D) is perfect for people shots. Really good results with flash (580EX) too. It's basically awesome.Cons? Need to be careful with focus with such a shallow depth of field and it's surprisingly heavy like a lot of pro kit And it's too expensive for me to justify buying one to keep :-(

A remarkable piece of glass, and still worth the investment!

I wanted to follow up from a review I posted a few years ago. Once again, this is a remarkable lens. As many have stated, this lens is sharp wide open with great AF performance. “It’s built like a tank where it counts; on the inside.” ...Roger Cicala. And the Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics element is not a marketing hype. The Canon 35mm II has an incredible image quality that sets itself apart from many other L lenses that I’ve used on my 5DS R. Not only do I love using the lens wide open, but I’m constantly using the lens stopped down for nature landscapes and blue hour cityscapes. With GREAT micro contrast and sharpness, this lens delivers minute details that just pop out across the entire frame. From the available 1.4 aperture to stopped down, the incredible ... MoreI wanted to follow up from a review I posted a few years ago. Once again, this is a remarkable lens. As many have stated, this lens is sharp wide open with great AF performance. “It’s built like a tank where it counts; on the inside.” ...Roger Cicala. And the Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics element is not a marketing hype. The Canon 35mm II has an incredible image quality that sets itself apart from many other L lenses that I’ve used on my 5DS R. Not only do I love using the lens wide open, but I’m constantly using the lens stopped down for nature landscapes and blue hour cityscapes. With GREAT micro contrast and sharpness, this lens delivers minute details that just pop out across the entire frame. From the available 1.4 aperture to stopped down, the incredible image quality, and the versatile focal length, the Canon 35mm II has proven to be a remarkable piece of glass and a staple in my photography... well worth the investment.

Don't walk, RUN!

After much deliberation on which lens to purchase next, I took the plunge with this EF 35mm lens for my portrait journey, and OH MY does it makes a huge difference to my work! The quality is phenomenal, and my images have the gorgeous, creamy depth I was craving with the 1.4 aperture. The speed is great for continuous shots, and it's a compact must-have for any portrait shoot, including weddings! You won't take it off your camera... (Except for a review like this!)

Exceptional lens!

I've had my new Canon 35mm f/14.II lens now for about 3 weeks and it's amazing! Of course, you'd expect it to be really good - given that it's from Canon, it's an L-series lens & it's expensive. Before purchasing, I read every review & watched every YouTube video I could find about this new lens, as well as the reviews on the Canon 35mm f/1.4L and the Sigma 35mm Art lenses. This was a big investment for me and was really concerned about parting with the extra cash....but ultimately came to my own conclusion that it was the right lens for me. Here are some of the key points that led to my rationale: Canon has better resale value than Sigma; I don't like the idea of having to purchase a seperate calibration tool for the Sigma lens and having to adjust it away from ... MoreI've had my new Canon 35mm f/14.II lens now for about 3 weeks and it's amazing! Of course, you'd expect it to be really good - given that it's from Canon, it's an L-series lens & it's expensive. Before purchasing, I read every review & watched every YouTube video I could find about this new lens, as well as the reviews on the Canon 35mm f/1.4L and the Sigma 35mm Art lenses. This was a big investment for me and was really concerned about parting with the extra cash....but ultimately came to my own conclusion that it was the right lens for me. Here are some of the key points that led to my rationale: Canon has better resale value than Sigma; I don't like the idea of having to purchase a seperate calibration tool for the Sigma lens and having to adjust it away from factory settings (I read that many Sigma owners were having to do this to address focusing issues and it didn't always fix their issues); I didn't think Canon would create a version II of this L-series lens unless they were able to offer some meaningful improvements. All that said, I didn't take time to play with those other lenses myself. After ordering the lens, I was still a bit restless over my decision to spend so much money on this lens. However, I can now share with confidence that I'd do it again (putting into perspective that this is clearly a luxury item and takes a back seat to taking care of my family first). I've used it indoors in place of my 50L to address tight spaces and I just completed a family photo shoot this week. I changed to more of a lifestyle type photography approach for this shoot and these are some of the best pictures I've ever taken. In fact, the family told me the same. I've taken pictures for their kids and entire family before, but they noticed a difference with this latest shoot. The lens resolution & color are amazing. Even unedited raw images are quite impressive. Working with a 35mm on a full-frame, like my 5D mark III is a great experience.

Great Lens and Experience

Lens Rentals has always taken the time to accomodate my needs. This particular lens is spectacular in quality, but not for beginners. The depth of field is so small that it is great and not great all at the same time. Overall, LOVE this lens.

Hello, I was very excited

Hello, I was very excited to utilize this lens; however, the lens would not focus. I googled, called photog friends etc. We were unable to figure this out. I do believe I should receive some kind of refund as I was unable to use this piece of equipment. I did send an email regarding this and they only said they would contact me at a later date.

Loved Loved LOVED the canon

Loved Loved LOVED the canon 35mm f/1.4L II lens!!!!! I rented them to take my cousins anniversary photos along with my birthday shoot and all I can say is I wish I owned them myself! The quality of the photos came out GREAT! Will definitely be renting and exploring with more lenses through lensrentals in the future!

My Instant Best Optical Friend

A long-term commissioned assignment spurred accelerated upgrading/rounding out of my prime lens arsenal with the purchase of this lens along with the Canon EF 24mm f1.4L II USM (reviewed elsewhere on the B&H site). My testing did show Sigma’s 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens to be a very capable optical package at about half the price, but the new Canon 35mm won my heart on several counts. Though both contenders yield blazingly sharp images with healthy contrast even in backlit situations, I find that Canon’s blue spectrum refractive optics makes a noticeable difference in conferring a little extra “snap” to images without compromising their natural feel; color/tonal gradations are simply gorgeous. Other deciding factors include weather sealing (absent in the Sigma lens) ... MoreA long-term commissioned assignment spurred accelerated upgrading/rounding out of my prime lens arsenal with the purchase of this lens along with the Canon EF 24mm f1.4L II USM (reviewed elsewhere on the B&H site). My testing did show Sigma’s 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens to be a very capable optical package at about half the price, but the new Canon 35mm won my heart on several counts. Though both contenders yield blazingly sharp images with healthy contrast even in backlit situations, I find that Canon’s blue spectrum refractive optics makes a noticeable difference in conferring a little extra “snap” to images without compromising their natural feel; color/tonal gradations are simply gorgeous. Other deciding factors include weather sealing (absent in the Sigma lens) plus an extra bit of aperture range down to f/22 for controlling depth of focus, as opposed to Sigma’s f/16. Beautiful bokeh! Comparatively iffy shooting situations are shrugged off by fast, quiet and reliable autofocusing. The Canon’s slightly greater bulk and length makes the lens feel more like an extension of myself relative to my experience with the Sigma 35mm, and I can easily dismiss paying a bit more for larger front filters as a minor annoyance. Having repeatedly proven its mettle, often under very demanding circumstances, this lens has become my best optical friend.

[Rewarded Review] I'm in love....

The 35/1.4L II is overbuilt, scary sharp corner to corner wide open, has nice snappy contrast, and lightning fast focus on my EOS R or EOS 5DmkIIIIt is also a bit large... and a bit weighty, but there's a price to pay for near perfection.The only thing that Canon could improve is to add image stabilization.When wide open, there is a small zone of nisen-bokeh (double line bokeh) that exists, depening on the focused distance, and the distance to the background. It appears when the lens is focused very close, and the background is also very close. It also diminishes to near zero when the lens is stopped down even to only f/2 or so. So, if you are the type of photographer that would shoot, say, a close up face, the out of focus hairs on the side of the head may ... MoreThe 35/1.4L II is overbuilt, scary sharp corner to corner wide open, has nice snappy contrast, and lightning fast focus on my EOS R or EOS 5DmkIIIIt is also a bit large... and a bit weighty, but there's a price to pay for near perfection.The only thing that Canon could improve is to add image stabilization.When wide open, there is a small zone of nisen-bokeh (double line bokeh) that exists, depening on the focused distance, and the distance to the background. It appears when the lens is focused very close, and the background is also very close. It also diminishes to near zero when the lens is stopped down even to only f/2 or so. So, if you are the type of photographer that would shoot, say, a close up face, the out of focus hairs on the side of the head may show a bit of double line nisen-bokeh. The work around is to stop down to f/2 or shoot bald heads.....At any sort of normal working distance, the wedding photographer will get pretty gosh darn good looking bokeh. Maybe not Leica pre-Asph 35 Summicron bokeh, but really nice.I find the EOS R lens corrections right on the money, but also except for corner light fall off at larger f/stops, the corrections do take away just a bit of the sharpness edge this lens has. Its native, non-corrected images are near perfect anyway, so you might want to experiment with correction settings to suit your expectations.Coupled with the 100mm f/2.8L II, you have a near perfect set of lenses that are absolutely sharp. If you can't get a sharp image with either of those, its your fault.

[Rewarded Review] Used for widefield Milky Way astrophotography-almost perfect

With the blue spectrum optical element chromatic aberrations are not a problem, even when pixel peeping. Using with a Canon EOS Ra on a Benro Polaris tracking mount. At F2.8 ISO1600 in Bortle 3 skies 30 second exposures show pinpoint stars in the center of the field. About the last 25% of the FOV around the edge there is very noticeable coma when pixel peeping. At 100% barely noticeable but still visible. Not unexpected due to no dedicated field flattener in the lens. Did some daytime shots using the lens with a Canon EOS R5 and the images were spectacular. Returned a Canon RF mount 15-35mm lens which I purchased originally after debating on which lens to get. The more expensive15-35mm RF lens, not having a blue spectrum element, showed severe chromatic aberration ... MoreWith the blue spectrum optical element chromatic aberrations are not a problem, even when pixel peeping. Using with a Canon EOS Ra on a Benro Polaris tracking mount. At F2.8 ISO1600 in Bortle 3 skies 30 second exposures show pinpoint stars in the center of the field. About the last 25% of the FOV around the edge there is very noticeable coma when pixel peeping. At 100% barely noticeable but still visible. Not unexpected due to no dedicated field flattener in the lens. Did some daytime shots using the lens with a Canon EOS R5 and the images were spectacular. Returned a Canon RF mount 15-35mm lens which I purchased originally after debating on which lens to get. The more expensive15-35mm RF lens, not having a blue spectrum element, showed severe chromatic aberration across the entire field at 100% that I was unable to fully correct using Photoshop CC. So the 15-35mm lens is definitely not recommended for Milky Way photography. The 35mm prime is a keeper for my needs.