Help me Choose a 35mm for an Canon RF Article

DavidClapp

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Canon 35mm f1.8
Canon 35mm f2
Voigtlander Color Skopar 35mm f2.5
Voigtlander 35mm f1.7

These are the choices I have narrowed it down to - what would you choose to match a Canon 50mm f1.2 LTM?

I regularly write for Amateur Photographer magazine here in the UK and after buying a Canon VT Deluxe and doing some research here on the RFF, I got myself a mint Canon 50mm f1.2 LTM. I am so glad I did, as its got so much character! The bokeh is wonderful but the I am struggling with a companion lens.

I got have a Canon 7s in the post from Japan. As soon as I saw from the huge viewfinder I just had to get one.
 

GregY

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I've used the Voigltander Cosina (VC) 35mm 2.5..... I'd go with the Canon 35mm f2.
I like the character of that period of lenses. I currently use the 28mm f2.8 LTM... here a recent photo wide open on Tri-X.
 
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DavidClapp

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Does VC mean the Voigtlander?
GregY said:
I've used the VC 35mm 2.5..... I'd go with the Canon 35mm f2.
I like the character of that period of lenses. I currently use the 28mm f2.8 LTM... here a recent photo wide open on Tri-X.
View attachment 393828
Click to expand...

Does VC mean Voigtlander?
The Canon 35mm f2 seems to be top of my list at the moment, the f1.8 seems to exhibit less quality wide open.
 

GregY

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DavidClapp said:
Does VC mean the Voigtlander?


Does VC mean Voigtlander?
The Canon 35mm f2 seems to be top of my list at the moment, the f1.8 seems to exhibit less quality wide open.
Click to expand...

Yes Voigtlander/Cosina
 

Paul Howell

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If the intent is to match a Canon 1.2 then I would go with a Canon 35 of the same age. Mixing and matching lens that are decades apart, Coating are much better, even lens from the 90s, 30 years younger will have better coating that a lens from the 50s or 60s.
 

Patrick Robert James

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The Canon 1.8 is basically the same as the 50 1.2. That would be the matching lens. The others are way more modern with the Canon f/2 being slightly more modern.

The copy of the 35 1.8 I had years ago was really nice. Never really thought it was unsharp wide open but it has been a long time. Wish I never sold it. Don't believe everything you read on the internet....


 
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DavidClapp

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Well it was a complex and slow process, with endless eBay viewings of Canon 35/1.8 and Canon 35/2, but in the end I went with a Voigtlander 35 f1.7 Ultron I found in mint condition. The thought process was that the Voiglander was going to provide me with better DOF subject separation and sharpness wide open. The Canon 35/1.8 seems rather hit and miss. There were so many quality issues with examples of the Canon 35/1.8 that in the end I thought (known haze issues aside with the Voigtlander), if I can get a good copy of the 35/1.7 then it would solve the problem.
 

beemermark

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I have the Canon 35mm/2 and I think it's a great lens. In the past I owned the VC lens and it just didn't impress me. You'll never know until you try all of them.
 
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DavidClapp

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I returned the Voigtlander! It had haze even though it was advertised with none. Pics had milky white shadows / low contrast. So back to square one
 
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