Canon just announced the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II. It features new “Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics” designed to reduce chromatic aberration. It’s available now for pre-order at a price of $1799 (B&H, Adorama, Amazon), much more than the Old 35mm f/1.4L (street price: $1179 AR) and the Sigma Art 35mm f/1.4 (street price: $779). As with many of the latest generation Canon lenses though, the MTF charts look fantastic, we’re eagerly awaiting real-world performance reports.
In other news, Canon USA is also making available the Canon EOS M3 in the USA. It will be available for an introductory price of $679 (Adorama). Also available are the EF-M 11-22mm and EF-M 55-200mm.
Shane Palus
Is Canon intentionally ruining their business? Sure seems like it at this point.
$1799 is better than I expected! Sure, could always be less but given Canon’s history of crazy increases its pretty “fair”.
The Canon online store has a $100 discount on the M3 body and lens kits preorder with a ship date of 10/4/15. Adorama and B&H are both listing at full price.
Ruining their business? That lens is going to sell like hotcakes. Great demand for it.
Hotcakes back in the day maybe. The have competition now on the lens front. They are not the big dog anymore.
Who? Sigma? Maybe for the hobbyist front but on the pro front people need a lens that focuses reliably.
This lens will do great for Canon. It is another optical masterpiece from Canon. And over time, like all lenses, it will get a bit lower in price.
But as someone noted on another forum: I’m not concerned about the original price. Prices go down over time; quality does not.
And this lens has the quality.
Sigma all day
IS on a 35? What kind of shutter speed are ya shooting at? If you can’t handhold a 35mm even 1/3rd of a second exposures you might need to invest in a tripod 🙂