Bought this lens as a 'standard' prime lens for my Digital Rebel XT. What I found was that it was a fast, sharp, and lightweight lens that made the camera great for long walks. This would be the perfect lens to take to an amusement park, hiking, or biking where size and weight are a concern.

I've also used this lens for macro photography and portraits where it shines. The F2 Bokeh is wonderful and center sharpness is superb even at F2, much better at F4 which is what I use most of the time.

On the negative side, autofocus is noisy. To compare, it's like a drug-crazed wasp trapped in a matchbox. Maybe a mosquito buzzing close to your ear. It's not louder than the shutter, though. If this were a film camera and I was trying to take candid shots, I'd complain more, but it's a 56mm equivelant lens.

Another negative is build quality. They really should make the body of this lens out of thicker plastic. No reason to skimp there as the 'feel' of the lens certainly gives you much more confidence for very little weight penalty. Make it feel solid.

I've got a 52-55mm step-up ring on it as I've got a slew of 55mm filters. This also helps in that the lens cap is further from the body of the lens and easier to remove and replace.

If Canon had made a faster lens in 28mm at the same price point, I would have gone that way. For my tastes, it would have been preferable to have that extra field of view assuming the quality was as good.

Super lightweight, sharp wide open, short minimum focus distance, fast AF. Decent bokeh. Ability to take pictures in very low light , Super cheap when compared to it's 35mm f1.4 L $1000+ brother and at 1.6 on digital its a normal lens
see some shots: http://www.pbase.com/2bruce/gilling

I didn't think it would be, but this lens winds up on my Rebel XT most of the time. The lens is compact and performs well indoors in low light - best to use autofocus set to center point only. 35mm focal length is a nice general purpose focal length on a 1.6 crop DSLR.

This lens is sharp at f2.0 and really sharp by f2.5-f2.8. I have a lot of experience and test my lenses with tripod/mirror lockup, I'm not just saying sharp at f2.0 - it IS sharp. I considered the 24mm f2.8, but f2.8 is a pretty slow prime at wider focal lengths - loses a lot of the low light advantage.

I am impressed with the colors I have been getting from this lens, wasn't really expecting the colors to be so good at such a low price point - doesn't have the L lens coatings, but Canon did the colors right.

The autofocus speed is pretty good - not as fast as ring USM lenses - and it is a little noisy/buzzy.

I currently own 7 Canon lenses (2 Ls) including 4 primes - this 35mm is definitely a top bang-for-the-buck lens. (another is the 28-105 f3.5-4.5 USM zoom - and I don't even like zooms)

Looking for a low-light prime? For 240 bucks at Amazon - just do it!

I love this lens! The images are nice and clear, manual focusing is simple and with an aperature of f/2 low light images are so easy to take! The drawback is the noise the lens makes on auto focus. I don't use AF very often because I'd rather do it myself, but if you are into AF this sounds like a bee or a hornet trapped in a box. That's the only negative about this lens.

If you've got the $1k+ for the "other" Canon 35mm, go for it. Otherwise, this product is the ticket. Thirty-five mm is the equivalent of 50mm (the natural view) considering a form factor of 1.6. Get the hood. Its an expensive piece of plastic, but worth it. You'll protect your cheap plastic lens and look like a pro.
bd

i used this lens for over a year now.
used it mainly with the Kodak DCS SLR/c.
great lens for group shot with full frame camera.
for group shot, i usually shoot between F5.6 to F8.
if lighting bad, we have a portable strobe to get the lighting within this F range.

great lens for the money.
buy buy buy!! :-)

This is my lens of choice for indoor and campfire scenes were the ambient light is low and flash can not always be used. Similar high-end L lenses are too expensive for me, and below-$600 zooms are too slow for these situations. 50mm primes are good for portraits, but you have to step too far back to capture more of the scene, to 28-35mm seems to be the best on 1.6x cropped sensor cameras like Digital Rebel.
At $240, this lens provides great bang for the buck, but you get what you pay for, so there are a number of issues to consider:
1. No USM. Auto-focus is slow and noisy. Often hunts for focus, esp. in low light.
2. No manual override of auto-focus. Switching to MF is required to do manual focus adjustments.
3. Cannot be used with any filters. I've wanted to use a warming filter with the flash, and all the filters I've tried (including the very expensive multi-coated ones from Hoya & Heliopen) cause ghost images and flares around any light source (like a candle or a table lamp) or a shiny object (especially if it's off to the edge of the frame). The situation is exactly the same with UV and polarization filters.

...this is the traditional "wide normal" lens.

In 35mm format, I don't think I've ever been without a 35mm focal length lens. It's highly practical and many times it is a more useful lens than a 50mm "normal". It's possible to use a 35mm in close without worrying about the perspective distortion often seen in 28mm and 24mm lenses. Sometimes it's just the right lens and nothing else will do.

So, why bother with an old design EF lens of a focal length covered by several of the current and past Canon EF zooms, including the optically excellent L-series zooms? First of all, it has a maximum aperture of f/2 and that's a stop faster than the fastest of the L-series zooms. Second of all, it's a good deal smaller than the zooms covering this focal length. And, while it doesn't have Ultrasonic autofocus, it's fast enough, accurate enough and not too noisy. It also has very, very good optical performance.

Okay. This lens is certainly not the sexiest lens out there. The design is rather old. And the build quality seems a little chintzy and almost toy-like. Image stabilization? Forget it! But that is where the negatives of this lens end. The positives certainly outweigh the negatives by a WIDE margin. For instance, resolution is GREAT. In fact, it is practically on a par with the excellent 50mm f/1.4 (which does not have the best focal length for a cropped sensor DSLR). We are talking about the kind of sharpness here that even an L-series zoom would be hard-pressed to match. And needless to say, a consumer-grade zoom will not even come close. In fact, the optical performance of even the 35mm f/1.4L is little to no better (and even worse in some areas). See for yourself on photozone.de. This lens is also a great performer in terms of contrast and color saturation - two areas where zooms tend to fall short. And let's not forget that this lens is a whole stop faster than even a good L-series zoom (and about TWO stops faster than a typical consumer zoom). Perhaps best of all? You can pick it up for a song - little more than the crappy kit zoom.

So if you want a good standard-view lens for a cropped sensor DSLR, want excellent optical performance, but don't have much cash to spend, it just doesn't get much better than this. This lens just might also make you a little less bitter about the fact that the crop factor makes the 50mm f/1.4 less useful than you would like. It really IS that good.

This lens is a good value if you're looking for a 50mm equivalent (actually 56) for your 1.6 crop-factor dSLR (30D, 20D, XT, XTi).

The design is a bit dated, and it suffers from slow and noisy autofocus, and pretty bad ghosting. But, this is the lens that lives on my camera the most.

Especially great for low-light conditions!

I bought this lens thinking I could match, or surpass the sharpness resolution and contrast range that I get with my 50mm 1.8. Unfortunately I was not as surprised with this lens as I was with the $80.00 50mm. Although this lens is extremely sharp, it is by no means sharper than the 50mm. What really dissapointed me is the contrast. Using my canon 30D, I had to turn up the contrast a few notches just so my pictures would not come out with that pastel look. Even then, allot of my scenic shots were not as saturated as I had hoped even with a lens-hood and polarizer, although these last two items did help a little. For close up indoor/outdoor shots, this is were this lens outshined some of my more expensive lenses. Pictures came out, sharp, crisp and yes well saturated. For an everyday walk-around lens which gives you true 50mm perspective with todays 1.6X cropping factors, this lens is not bad for the money. However, I would not recomend it for "scenic" shots unless you like working with Photoshop.

This is a great lens. Every photographer should have this lens in their kit. I've spent the last few days shooting pictures of almost everything I see and I am blown away by the quality of the pictures - sharp with excellent colors. The lens is very fast and can take pictures in low light conditions that give even Canon's IS lens difficulty - certainly when you consider the cheap price of this lens versus some of the other Canon offerings.

The few inconsequential negatives is the focusing mechanism is slow and noisy (old style) but strangely charming. It certainly *sounds* like an SLR lens unlike the newer USM models that are very quiet. And sometimes it has trouble focusing but in my experience it does well the vast majority of the time. Finally, you cannot manually focus while autofocus is engaged.

I am pretty sure this will be my standard walk around lens for the majority of the time.

Crisp clear pictures and small and compact. She bought a zoom lens she had been drooling over for months. I got her this because she wanted it too. and she liked it better.

I purchased this lens because if a bid i placed for a photography job that required me to do group shots. This was a winner.. the images it produced were clear and beautiful. My customer was so happy i got the contract for their event next year.. thanks canon..

Canon EF 35mm f/2 Wide Angle Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

I bought this lens to use on my backup camera (Rebel XT) to give me a specific field of view and a wide angle F2 aperture. This lens works so well for me that I carry it in the bag at all times, to use on my 40D.

IQ is very sharp with great color rendition. AF speed is average for a non 'L' lens but it does make a small amount of noise when it focuses. (Nothing even close to the amount of noise a Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 makes and I'd know as I used to own one.)

If you need a 35mm prime and cannot afford the 'L' version then this is a great alternative. I highly recommend it.

Lens is small and light and gives you a classic 50mm type of view. It is VERY sharp at wide open.

The product is great and at a very good price! Canon XTi is one great camera and the lens makes it even better! Delivery was prompt and I couldn't ask for more from Amazon.com except perhaps a discount on my next purchase?

I've been wanting a prime lens for my Canon Rebel XTi that is "normal" - similar to a 50mm on old SLRs - and this is it. I love the color, sharpness and contrast. Taking photos of average scenes makes them pop out. I can't wait to use it more. And it's lightweight as well.

I returned this lens after comparing it to my Canon 24-105.
It wasn't as good, in the center or the corners.

While this lens is not perfect, it is lightweight and does a fairly good job. Using it on a Canon 5D, it takes good landscape and architectural images. Its size is amazing in its compactness and lightness. It is fairly sharp from edge to edge and has distance indicators meaning one can set the lens to manual and use it with preset hyperfocal distance. The lens itself is noisy and without USM, it is not as smooth in focusing as a more expensive lens. But for the price, it is highly recommended for those days when carrying a heavier lens just is not an option.

This is a great low priced prime lens. While it lacks any zoom, it has a great DOF and crisp clear image. It is a bit noisy, but more than makes up for it with quality and small size. Highly recommended entry level lens for quick easy photos, and that old 35mm experience and shot.

I find myself using this lens more and more. I love using an F2 aperture. It opens up a whole new world of creativity. You can make ordinary scenes become extraordinary. You can blur out backgrounds and make your subject pop off the screen/print. But, be warned, you will need fast shutter speeds so your pics will not be overexposed. I was shooting wide open in daylight today and sometimes the camera had to choose a shutter speed of 8000! That is my 40d's maximum shutter speed. So, if you have a Rebel (Max. shutter speed of 4000), you may have to use a slightly smaller aperture or screw on an ND filter/polarize to ensure your pics aren't over exposed.

I have tried taking pics at F2 through F22 and this lens is pretty sharp at all apertures. Like most lenses it is slightly sharper when stopped down a bit but F2 is very useable!

About focusing...many people have mentioned how loud it is. This will not be an issue if you are shooting outside. You won't even notice the noise. But, inside, in a church, you will be getting some funny looks. But, there is always manual focus for more discrete situations. Just remember to flick the switch. You can't focus manually when you are on auto focus.

It has taken a little time for me to get used to using a fixed focal length lens. I, like most us , have been spoiled by zooms. But, it is nice to have almost no distortion and be able to take pics in available room light (while keeping a low iso like 200 or 400) This lens also gives you something no Canon zoom can give you. Apertures below 2.8.

This lens is so light you don't even feel it on your camera. Much better for your neck after an 8 hour day of walking around taking pics. For the first time in a long time I have gotten brave and left my 17-40 L and my 70-200 L at home. This lens can't do everything but it can do a lot of things so it makes a great walk around lens.

If I need to take a pic with something that is pretty far away I use my 40'd's live view and magnify the screen 10 times. This is an excellent way to tell if I am focused properly. Once the focus is set, I go back to looking though the viewfinder. Then, when I crop the image and zoom in the part I need, it is very sharp. You lose a little bit of file size but hey, that is a small price to pay to only have to carry around one very small and light lens.

I have only had this lens for about a week. So far I really like it. Having a sharp F2 was the main reason I chose this lens. I have a feeling this will stay on my camera more than my L lenses. It is nice to know I have a good lens to handle indoor situations. Sure, I can always crank up the ISO on my other L lenses but it is sooo nice to shoot indoors and never go above ISO 400. The pic quality is really great.

If you are used to zooms there will be a little bit of an adjustment period. You will feel limited at first and then you will adapt your technique to exploit the most from this lens. I love it and highly recommend it. The price is great and the image quality for the most part is impressive.

I also own the 50mm 1.8. I don't find that focal length very useful. (Because I don't do a lot of portraits) I always feel boxed in. 35mm is a lot better focal length for me.

great lens for working at a relatively wide angle with a large aperture, i use this along with the nifty 50 to get most things done, havent had any issues with it yet.

Just a short note... When I upgraded to a DSLR system from my old-school 35mm, I was used to a nice standard 50mm f1.8. Well, digital doesn't roll quite the same way since you convert all of your factors for us Rebel/40D users. After conversion, this lens offers 56mm measurement, a very close range to my older 35mm SLRs. When I bought this lens and the 50mm f1.4, I barely ever used that 50mm, designed for portraits, and an outstanding job it does. But the 35 is terrific for shooting outdoors or with family and friends, and takes a terrific photograph for a fair price. I highly suggest trying this lens out.

Great image quality, the only cons are focusing in low light, and noise(loud). I found the 50mm f1.8 is a little better at focusing in low light without the flash.

With that said, you can adapt to the slow focus the more you use it and still get great shots. Great color and contrast.