wide-angle macro lens Canon RF 35mm F1.8 Macro – Review

Construction, design, management

The lens is perceived as compact, only slightly protruding beyond the bayonet. Canon RF 35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM does not apply to the L-series, but this does not affect the quality of the design, only the colors used.

	The front lens itself occupies only a small part of the diameter of the lens.
	There are two control rings on the body: an electronic one for focusing and a second programmable one for controlling the parameter assigned to it, for example, ISO. The rings are comfortable, despite not being too wide, the stroke is smooth and pleasant.
	There are also two levers: one is responsible for changing the type of focusing, the second for stabilizer operation.
	The bayonet mount is metal, with asymmetric protrusions, which makes it difficult to put on the lens cap – it fits into the grooves only in a strictly defined position.
	Canon RF 35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM with Canon EOS R, top view
	Canon RF 35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM with Canon EOS R side view

Lab test

Now send the lens to the laboratory for accurate measurements. Still, for a macro lens, sharpness indicators are not the last value.

The lens has a smooth schedule. The resolution is kept at the same level starting from f / 1.8 and ending with f / 16, only for the center of the frame can higher values ​​be noted in the f / 8 region. Absolute numbers can be assessed as “very good” for the center of the frame and as “good” for the periphery.

Resolution		Chromatic aberration
frame center	frame edge	frame center	frame edge
In all screenshots, the top row: f / 1.8 – f / 2.8 – f / 4.0, the bottom row: f / 5.6 – f / 8 – f / 16

Chromatic aberrations are very weakly expressed, hardly noticeable, they are present only from the edge of the frame and on the most open apertures.

The stabilizer test showed slightly lower efficiency than stated by the manufacturer – about half the stage.

Laboratory Test Results

In the laboratory, the lens did not disappoint, demonstrating the expected image quality good for fixation. Reality diverged slightly from expectations during the stabilizer test, but still not too much.

Practical shooting

Let’s take a look at Canon RF 35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM in real life, try to evaluate in practice its applicability to shooting various scenes in different conditions.

Sharpness

With a subjective assessment of image quality, the center of the frame at f / 1.8 seems sharp enough to solve any problems. The edge on the open aperture is imperfect, the situation is aligned only to f / 5.6. In this case, the image is characterized by a high microcontrast, due to which all objects are perceived separately, and the details are well isolated.

Vignetting

Canon RF 35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM is characterized by a noticeable, but not excessive vignetting on the most open aperture. After covering the relative aperture on the stage, vignetting becomes very weak, and on f / 4 it disappears completely.

Distortion

Without correction on the pictures taken by Canon RF 35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM, a significant “barrel” is visible.

Blur

The nature of the blur can be attributed to the clear advantages of this lens. Boke is very round even on covered diaphragms, uniform, without borders. From f / 2.8, the bokeh retains a perfectly round shape even at the very edge of the frame.

Back light

The lens copes with the light sources in the frame. There are practically no flares, no drop in contrast is observed. On closed diaphragms, you can get beautiful and clear multi-beam stars due to the odd number of aperture blades.

Stabilizer

To test the stabilizer on this lens, we decided to choose a small focusing distance that would justify the prefix “macro” in the lens name. It is worth considering that in such a situation, the angular vibrations of the camera earlier will lead to a noticeable effect. Under these conditions, the lens compensates for 2 shutter speeds, after which the result becomes largely random. At four steps the result is better than at three, but you cannot call it excellent.

findings

The Canon RF 35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM is a great all-rounder. Let “under the microscope” you can find signs of imperfection, this is a wonderful lens for the money, which can be your most profitable acquisition. In one case, you get a tool for macro photography and street photography at one of the most versatile focal lengths and with high aperture, which allows you to shoot in adverse conditions and carry out selective focusing. An important property is the small size of the lens – with it the camera is really compact and light.

Gallery

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