Hire Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM

Our thoughts

'Canon has knocked it out the park with the EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM. Photographers and videographers who lean towards a natural, reportage-style approach to their work will be blown away by its performance that records beautifully blurred backgrounds at wide apertures. It’s phenomenally sharp when it’s stopped down between f/2.8 and f/4 and resolves a gorgeous look to images wide-open at f/1.4. Execution of a blue spectrum refractive optic sees it control chromatic aberrations extremely well and vignetting towards the edge of the frame is tasteful too. All in all, it’s an extraordinarily impressive 35mm lens that can’t be praised highly enough.'  

The details

• A wide-angle view with a natural perspective

• Superb low-light performance and depth of field control

• Sets new standards in image quality

• Focuses quickly and discreetly

• Keep shooting even in tough conditions

Offers a wide-angle view with a natural perspective

The Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM has a classic, slightly wide-angle 35mm focal length, loved by documentary photographers for its ability to capture a subject within its environment without distorting perspective.

Superb low-light performance

A large f/1.4 maximum aperture lets in two stops more light than an f/2.8 zoom lens, making this an ideal lens for hand-held photography in low-light conditions.

Shooting at wide apertures allows photographers to limit depth of field. Creating such shallow-focus effects is one way that a subject can be made to stand out against a background, and is particularly effective when combined with the lens’s wide-angle field of view.

The lens’s nine-bladed aperture renders out-of-focus areas smoothly and naturally.

Sets new standards in image quality

Blue Spectrum Refractive optics, made from an organic optical material developed by Canon, tackle colour fringing by correcting chromatic aberrations to a degree not previously possible.

Ultra Low-Dispersion (UD) optics and two aspherical lens elements provide incredible sharpness right across the frame – even when the lens is used wide open.

Subwavelength structure coating boosts contrast and guards against flare and ghosting when shooting into the light.

Focuses quickly and discreetly, letting you capture the unexpected

Ring-type USM autofocus establishes accurate focus quickly and in near silence, letting you work without disturbing the scene.

Full-time manual focusing allows focus adjustments without changing focus mode or removing the camera from your eye.

Keep shooting even in tough conditions

Canon’s legendary L-series build-quality inspires confidence and adds durability. Weather sealing guards against dust and moisture, while a fluorine coating protects the lens’s front and rear element from grease and dirt, and also makes it easier to clean.

Blue Spectrum Refractive optics

Canon developed Blue Spectrum Refractive (BR) optics to tackle coloured fringing in large-diameter lenses. This bespoke organic optical material is more effective at correcting such fringing than other technologies, like fluorite, Ultra Low-Dispersion (UD) or Super UD glass. Coloured fringing is caused by chromatic aberration – a phenomenon where light of different colours is focused at different points. Using BR optical material in the EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM minimises this effect. Other elements in the lens can then be optimised to give superb sharpness, contrast and resistance to flare.