| Year | 1971 |
| Lens Groups | 8 |
| Lens Element | 9 |
| Aperature Blades | 8 |
| Minimum Aperture | f/16 |
| Closest Focusing | 0.3 m |
| Max. Magnifcation | 1:5.2 (0.194x) |
| Filter Size | 55 mm |
| Diameter x Length | 64 x 60 mm |
| Weight | 420 gr (0.93 lb) |
| Hood | BW-55A |
The lens is sharp, but it's not impeccable wide open. I'd put it in the same class as the FD 50mm f/1.4. However, the 50mm has more characterful (busier, less creamy) bokeh. The 35mm will also flare slightly more. Radioactive which means yellowing over time, solved with a UV light. The out of focus area from this lens in the foreground when focused at infinity does have a slight swirl.
At f/4 and narrower the image quality will be unimpeachable.
It is a little expensive, but not too crazy. A little big and heavy.
One of the best lenses in the FD lineup, but not my absolute favorite.
Sharp, sharp, sharp...It hurts! Read alot of forums/users and finally can see why there's a cult following of this lens. Simply, the most sharpest FD lens ever. Even wide open at F2 it's remarkable. The detail on trees, fences, people portraits, landscapes, objects...Pretty much anything is in good crispy, contrasty goodness. This truly deserves the Canon "L" name if it did.
There's one issue though...
The yellow thoriated glass can is quite noticeable and some photographers leave it on for B/W photos. Others said to reduce the yellow tint with either weeks in the sunshine or the IKEA Jansjö LED lamp for a couple of days. There's a bit of an debate on which is "right" for this one special lens as the yellowing is a feature to some. I removed mine for primarily color photography but a small bit of that yellow radioactive character still remains. I don't mind a bit of warmer photos, not just yellow photos. It would eventually come back after a couple of decades anyway...due to the decay of Thorium.
Speaking of which, the Thorium element is reportedly safe as if you don't sleep next to it every night, give it to your pets/kids or smash it to pieces. The magic is in the radioactive element.
I have a Sony a6300 with a speedbooster, I can't say much that everyone else has already said. It's sharp, it's fun to use, it's been on my camera 100% of the time since I purchased it from ebay. The f2 aperture is amazing and has a very shallow depth of field. The bokeh is awesome and really makes the subject in the photo or the video pop. 10 out of 10 Highly Recommended !
It's so sharp , Excellent for video and photo, get this lens now! this is such a bargain lens for the price($250) as of 2018
Brilliant 35mm lens .. Sharpe and lovely image feel and look .. build quality is fantastic , the lens is a hefty for its size and comes with a yellow tinge to the images until you get to post .. tested on a 6d and Sony A7 ... the a7 produces some incredible images with it ... a true legend of a lense and getting rare really... get one if u can .. mine came from eBay UK for £270 April 2018 .. a classic in evey sense of the word ... images are on 500 px guy Butterworth .. if u want to see what it can do.
Note this review is for the thorium-coated chrome-nose version that stops down to f/16.
Extremely sharp, fast, heavy lens. Good contrast. Moderately prone to flare. Usually needs to be treated under UV light to remove the yellow cast (and loss in light transmission) caused by a radioactive coating. Versatile lens in that it's wide enough for some indoor use, fast enough for handheld night use, low-DOF enough for portraits, and sharp enough for landscape. Wide but not too wide - and fast.
If you know you are only going to use a 35mm for high-DOF, then consider the 35mm f/3.5. It is much cheaper and lighter. If handheld indoor photography or portraits are something you do, then you'll find this f/2.0 lens much more versatile.
Optical Test (using tripod, infinity focus):
Note: the following test was done on an APS-C sensor so corners are not considered.
At f/2.0: A little chromatic abberation. Good sharpness.
At f/2.8: Very good sharpness, at f/2.8 it's matching the 35mm f/3.5 at f/5.6. CA is completely gone.
At f/4.0: Extreme sharpness. No need to stop it down further unless more DOF is required. Equally sharp as the 50mm f/1.4 when both are at f/4.0. A bit sharper than the 35mm f/3.5 ever gets, and better contrast, too.
I have the chrome nose version with concave front element. Sharp! Great contrast! Build-in light yellow filter! (Which of course gives better results than a screwed-on filter.) A great lens for b&w.
Build quality slightly weaker than FDn "L" lenses and weaker than any Leitz or Zeiss. (In my opinion FD lenses can`t be rated any better than 9.5 for build quality - and that is only the top notch lenses).
This is the sharpest Canon FD lens I own. Stunning really at ALL apertures. This is the pre-SSC version with the concave front elelment and uses radioactive Thorium rare earth glass. These tend to yellow over time but can be brought back by exposure to the sun for a few weeks. It's fast, it's heavy and if you can find one, you will cherish it forever.