ASPH35/1.4 and EF35/1.4L comparable?

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i'm using the ASPH35/1.4 to do environmental portraits and still-life. i usually shoot at eye level at ~2m for half-body or <1m for still-life at f1.4 to delibrately let a big portion of the background go out-of-focus. ASPH35/1.4 is amazing at f1.4 but how about the EF35/1.4L?

i'd like to take photos of babies and toddles at play. But they are just too quick for me to focus and recompose with my M6TTL. i always like to place my subject/object in the imaginary quarter of a frame. So i'm considering the easy way out, ie. to AF with selectable AF points. USM and motorised film advance make things easier too. In daylight, i may need faster shutter speed even with ASA100 film.

-- y.shawee (shawee@pacific.net.sg), March 01, 2002

Answers

I sold my 35/1.4L late last year and currently have the 35/1.4-M ASPH. Optically there is nothing to choose between them. Side by side, however, I know which one I'd rather lug around all day ;)

Seriously though, the 35/1.4L is in my experience one of Canon's top optical achievements. The only reason why it isn't more popular is because it's so huge. It takes 72mm filters, just to give you some idea of its size. USM focusing is very silent and quick (quite unlike the molasses-like speed of the 85/1.2L).

-- Anon Terry (anonht@yahoo.com), March 01, 2002.


Anon - I don't suppose you have any picture comparison you could post? Bit of a cheek me asking when I don't even have a scanner but still, it would be very interesting, especially as, per photodo.com the L lens is better (maybe that they're referring to old 35 summilux tho' they hav it marked as the latest on the site)

-- Steve Jones (stephenjjones@btopenworld.com), March 01, 2002.

I am also completely unable to capture moving children with a Leica M set to a wide aperture with shallow DOF, even centered in the RF patch let alone off-center. So it doesn't matter how the 35/1.4L stacks up to the Leica ASPH in absolute terms, because you need the EF to get the shots you need. You might also consider the EF 35/2 which is not a USM lens but focuses relatively quickly, and is much lighter and less expensive than the 1.4.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), March 01, 2002.

The EF35/1.4L might be big, but so is my 17-35/2.8L (77mm filters!) and it's a big muddy wide open. For the type of work I do, the EF35/1.4L is a "soon-to-buy" lens.

Cheers,

-- David Carson (dave@davidcarson.com), March 01, 2002.


Focussing on moving toddlers is a rather grim task with an M. You get some good shots, but it is not much fun. I think you may even find the EOS will have difficulty too, but you could also always use manual focussing if needs be. I encourage you in thinking that the 35mm 1.4L might fit the bill for you. Certainly I prefer to use my 35-50-80 combination on my R6.2 rather than the M when taking shots of my toddler.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), March 01, 2002.


Well both lenses are fabulous. I would say that the Leic a has the slight edge with it's design, coupled to a rangefinder. The lenses is closer to the film plane and is free from cams, automatic iris shutdown at exposure, etc. Both these lenses have one advantage over the other.

Canon- On a Canon body, such as a 1V, you are able to shoot at f/1.4 virtually at any time you like, as the you are not limited by the 1/1000 shutter on the M6. You can shoot up to 1/8000, making environmental portraits at f/1.4 a breeze.

Leica- On the M body, you have no mirror causing vibration at the moment of exposure, being 100% better in low light, with and without the use of a tripod. Add Tom Abrahamsson's soft release and you're set!

End result...there is not one perfect camera, but a Canon and Leica together come close to it. Good luck

-- kristian (leicashot@hotmail.com), March 01, 2002.


Y. Shawee,

I should clarify my answer a bit...the EF17-35/2.8L is a bit muddy wide open. I'm assuming the EF35/1.4L is not (as others have noted).

Cheers,

-- David Carson (dave@davidcarson.com), March 01, 2002.


I won't dispute that working with kids can be a challenge, but more practice may be what you need in order to use your M6 TTL successfully.

Think of it this way - kids tend to play within a fairly confined area. Thus, it is easy to determine the close and far points of focus. Then, practice follow-focus within that range, training your focus hand where the limits fall. I'm also assuming here that you are sitting on the floor with the kids, so your point is fixed. If you move around, the range of focus is always changing, making the "training" much more difficult.

The zen of this sort of approach is also more effective if you sit in a lotus position, of course. ;-)

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), March 02, 2002.


RE: Shooting Kids with M6, Yes, manual capture of squirming children is a daunting task. A few tricks used by photojournalist could help. Always re-set your focus to infinity. The throw from infinity to most subjects is almost always very short. plus, you always are moving the focus ring the same way instead of "hunting" back and forth. You'll know every time which way to focus. With a little practice this is often as fast as AF. Always focus on the eyes in time-challenging situations( unless you want a creative use of soft focus). Outdoors, in brighter light, try Hyper Focal Distance focusing, which is an easy task with all Leica lenses, especially wide angles. This technique is actually faster than AF! M-practice, practice,practice!...and you can use the Canon 35/1.4 as the excellent paper weight that it is. All the best, --Marc Williams

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), March 03, 2002.

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