Not diggin' the 35L...

I'm finding that I'm not all that fond of the 35L. Don't get me wrong - this lens kicks ass in most respects. IQ is very, very good (not superb, but I'm used to 85L quality), focusing speed is great, bokeh is great...but I'm just not diggin' the focal length. It's too friggin' wide on the 5D, and just kind of weird on the MKIIN.

Am I insane? Within one day of use, the 85L and 400L had me hooked. I've wanted a 35L for ages now, but now that I have it (and it's been almost a week), I just feel kind of awkward every time I pick it up to use it because the focal length feels so funny. I thought it would be perfect, half way between my beloved 50mm and the slightly too wide 28mm, but it's not.

So now I'm considering exchanging it for a 50L (still have the time to do that). Am I utterly insane for wanting that? Should I give the 35L more time? Pick up a 50 1.4? The one thing this lens has done is really remind me of how much I miss having an autofocus 50mm lens.

I want to love this lens, I really do, but I don't know if the focal length is for me, especially at this price - if I'm paying this much for a lens, I want to like it as much as I like my 85 and 400. What's particularly weird is that I had my 17-40 set on 35mm and shot with that for a while to make sure I liked the FL, and I thought I did but now I'm just not feelin' this lens.

If you're not going to use it, then by all means get the shifty fifty. Now you have me worried as you talked me out of getting the 50 1.2 damn it

I find that interesting. I use my 24-70mm f/2.8L for probably 90% of my shots, 50% of which are at 24mm. That would mean the 35 is kind of my 24-70 boiled down into one lens (at least how I use it). I realize this gives you no help, just sayin'...

It's personal preference as far as focal length is concerned. I think I would get along fine with a 35L. I also didn't expect to like the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye but after using it for a few hours I discovered that the way it curves boring, straight lines is rather cool.

Problem is, I do like carrying just the 35 + 85 around, it's a good combo, and I remember 50 + 85 not being as sweet together. But when carrying one lens around, I really do like the 50mm, more so than the 35 I think - and for the extra money I'd pay for exchanging it with a 50L, I could pretty much just buy a used 50 1.4 (but I had some beef with that lens too, despite liking it very much - I liked the focal length, but it didn't have all the other qualities of the 35L like focusing, build, IQ wide open etc, basically being an L ).

Perry, I agree if you dont LOVE that lens I would get something else. I would not pay that much for a lens I didnt want to use all the time. You should get a 50L. Should be a great walk around lens on your 5D.

TaDa wrote in post #7066618
If you're not going to use it, then by all means get the shifty fifty. Now you have me worried as you talked me out of getting the 50 1.2 damn it

Haha dude don't base your lens decisions on my opinions alone, most 5D owners absolutely love their 35Ls, so you'll probably adore yours too (especially since you don't have an 85L to make it look bad) and who knows, I might grow to love the focal length. It really is a great lens, and no focus shift too, it's just the focal length...

L1TTLEgreenMAN wrote in post #7066664
Perry, I agree if you dont LOVE that lens I would get something else. I would not pay that much for a lens I didnt want to use all the time. You should get a 50L. Should be a great walk around lens on your 5D.

Thing is, I do like it when I'm also carrying the 85L, but as a single lens, I miss the AF 50mm, and part of why I got the 35L was for it to be that one lens I would slap onto the 5D when I wanted to go light with one piece of glass. I've also never even seen a 50L in person, so I don't know how much I'd like the size/weight/IQ wide open/focus speed/accuracy etc.

Ummmm... 35 x 1.3 crop = 45.5 mm. How is that an odd focal length? And how is 35mm too wide on a 5D?

You're weirder than I thought.

Well, most of my shooting would be in the 50mm's danger zone for the shift, so we'll see how the 35 behaves. I didn't just take your word for it

I took my 24-70 and checked all 3 focal lengths, and shot around 50 frames at 24, 35 and 50. 24 was flat out too wide on my 5D. The 50 was too long, considering how much I love my 85mm. The 50 and 85 weren't that far apart for me as far as focal length. 35mm was perfect FL for me out of the 150 shots. My living room is pretty small, so it allowed me to get in a decent amount of what I wanted to shoot. And where it was too wide, cropping it down a little bit was fine as the 35mm doesn't seem to be a FL as prone to distortion when shooting close to the subject. I'm sure it's worse if you're a foot from the subject, but for 4 or 5 feet away, the 35mm shots looked perfectly rectalinear.

perryge wrote in post #7066656
I do like carrying just the 35 + 85 around, it's a good combo

For me, this is a "go anywhere, do anything" combo. But if you just don't love the focal length, then it just might not be for you.

For whatever reason, 35mm seems to be the FL that I can "judge" the easiest--before raising my camera up to my eye, I feel like I know exactly how the photo will be framed with the 35. By comparison, I have a hard time of judging the 50mm FL; it's one of those FL's that I'm not quite as proficient in knowing how a scene will be framed with it. As I use the lens more, I'm getting better with it, but it was a challenge at first.

TheHoff wrote in post #7066703
Ummmm... 35 x 1.3 crop = 45.5 mm. How is that an odd focal length? And how is 35mm too wide on a 5D?

You're weirder than I thought.

You're right, I shouldn't have said weird on the MKIIN - it's nicer for sure, but IIN is big and heavy, and most of the time the 400L is gonna be attached to it, when I travel light I'm grabbing 5D + 1 lens, and I just don't know if this is that one lens. You have a point though that by having two bodies with different crop factors, 50 AND 85 might be a tad redundant. And it really is too wide for me for general use on the 5D.

Although the 50L is weather sealed...

TheHoff wrote in post #7066703
Ummmm... 35 x 1.3 crop = 45.5 mm. How is that an odd focal length? And how is 35mm too wide on a 5D?

You're weirder than I thought.

I already knew he was that weird.

So if you're out shooting a model, how are you going to choose between the 50L and 85L? Maybe use the 50 except in the places where it would screw up, then you use the 85?

Man up, love 35mm. It is an excellent focal length on the 5D, so I'd have to say, your opinion is incorrect :P

timnosenzo wrote in post #7066711
For me, this is a "go anywhere, do anything" combo. But if you just don't love the focal length, then it just might not be for you.

For whatever reason, 35mm seems to be the FL that I can "judge" the easiest--before raising my camera up to my eye, I feel like I know exactly how the photo will be framed with the 35. By comparison, I have a hard time of judging the 50mm FL; it's one of those FL's that I'm not quite as proficient in knowing how a scene will be framed with it. As I use the lens more, I'm getting better with it, but it was a challenge at first.

So you use your 35L more than the 50L? How do the two lenses compare? For general use, I've defaulted back to my beloved 85L - I thought the 35L would take over as my general use lens, but the 85 still rules the waves. At least for now.

cdifoto wrote in post #7066755
I already knew he was that weird.

Thanks.

TheHoff wrote in post #7066774
So if you're out shooting a model, how are you going to choose between the 50L and 85L? Maybe use the 50 except in the places where it would screw up, then you use the 85?

Man up, love 35mm. It is an excellent focal length on the 5D, so I'd have to say, your opinion is incorrect :P

Yeah that's why I got the 35L, the 50 and 85 were very different, but still close enough that it didn't make a huge amount of difference in studio. I guess I could always slap the 35L on the MKIIN when I wanted a tighter FOV but still wider than 85...

I personally think the 35L is one of the best primes for a FF body.
Its a perfect focal length (for me at least) although I shoot alot of wide angle.

If your not feeling it though, get something you would like better.
I gotta say though... 35L and 85L sounds like a much better and far better covering set than 50L and 85L.