Canon 35mm f/2 is the second best wide-angle prime lens, says DxOMark

DxOMark has finally reviewed Canon’s latest 35mm lens, which is said to be a fast wide-angle prime lens designed for the 21st century.

Canon has decided to focus on lenses in 2012, as the company released three wide-angle prime optics for its range of cameras. All three lenses came packed with IS and USM support and relatively fast apertures. Beside the f/2.8 24mm and 28mm optics, the company also unleashed the 35mm f/2 prime lens to the masses.

The latter is the latest lens reviewed by DxOMark and it features an Ultrasonic autofocus motor, f/2 aperture and a 35mm wide-angle focal length. According to Canon, the lens is aimed at landscape and architecture photographers.

DxOMark says that the Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM is a “sharp and bright” wide-angle prime lens.

DxOMark gives its ratings for the new 35mm f/2 lens

Its best scores came when tested on the 5D Mark II. The overall score is 29, thanks to an average sharpness of 17 megapixels, 2Tstop transmission, 0.4% distortion, -1.8EV vignetting, and a 6μm chromatic aberration.

This means that the EF 35mm f/2 lens is the fourth best overall lens, behind the more powerful Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM, Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM, and Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM. However, in the wide-angle prime category, it is the second best lens after the aforementioned Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM.

Although the Sigma 35mm lens is more expensive than Canon’s glass, it does not have image stabilization technology. This can be a major downside for some photographers, but most of them are using tripods and they prefer the faster f/1.4 aperture.

DxOMark’s take on the Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM

Having an EF mount, the Canon 35mm f/2 lens is intended for full frame DSLRs, like the 5D Mark II, the camera on which the lens achieved the highest rating. It can still be mounted on EF-S cameras, if the x1.6 crop factor does not bother the photographers. Professionals will see this as an advantage for APS-C cameras as the 56mm equivalent is decent when it comes to portrait photography.

Anyway, the so-called “industry standard” for measuring camera and lens quality, DxOMark, confirmed that this is a sharp lens for its category and that it is capable of handling 4-stops of “anti-shake performance”, living up to the 21st century expectations for a wide-angle prime lens.