Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM Lens Review

Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM Handling and features

This lens is designed similarly to Canon's latest high end consumer grade lenses, with the barrel being constructed from high quality plastics, accented with a silver ring and finished with a metal lens mount. The lens feels very well put together whilst the plastics help to keep the weight below 340g. The lens balances well on the Canon EOS 6D used for testing, making a reasonably compact and lightweight combination.

Autofocus is powered by an Ultrasonic motor, which moves lens elements quickly, resulting in fast autofocus. Manual focus adjustments can be made at any time, whether the lens is set to AF or MF. The focusing ring has a smooth action and is heavily dampened. As a result, a reasonable amount of force is required to move the focusing ring when applying adjustments, which may hamper doing this.

As focusing is performed internally, the 67mm filter ring doesn't rotate. This is ideal for use with graduated and polarising filters. Closest focus is 24cm, which is great for shooting in cramped environments and even for the occasional close up.

Canon claim that the image stabilisation system this lens is equipped with will allow sharp images to be taken hand held at shutter speeds up to four stops slower than would be possible without. With care, sharp hand held images are possible around half the time with shutter speeds as low as 1/5sec, which is around three stops slower than the usual rule of thumb would allow.

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