Testing the Image Quality of the Yongnuo 35mm f/2 for Canon EF
Here’s a look at the optical quality of the Yongnuo 35mm f/2 for Canon EF. There’s only so much that can be tested at home without fancy gear (MTF charts and the like) so I did a few tests that gauge common aesthetic qualities, using techniques that are often recommended for testing at home.
Tests Used
- Sharpness (center, corner, edge)
- Flare (not a great test, I admit, but its something to consider)
- Bokeh (spoiler: the Yongnuo wins)
- Chromatic Aberration
All tests done with a Canon T5 to match the budget target audience of this lens.
Today’s tests aren’t anything fancy, and not the “hands-on, on set scenario” that I like, but they do give some input, so I thought I’d share. And I will go so far as to say the Yongnuo is aesthetically the better lens, though softer. For portrait use, street and such where pixel-level sharpness isn’t crucial it may be less of an issue. If you need sharpness, it may be a pass. Also, it may just be these copies.
Sharpness
All sharpness tests were shot at f/2 – f/4 – f/8.
Canon Center
Yongnuo Center
Fairly a tossup, with Canon winning out due to microcrontrast wide open contributing to a sharper image. f/4 and f/8 seem to match up nicely.
Canon Top Left Corner
Yongnuo Top Left Corner
Canon is the hands-down winner. This was shot in a studio environment, with zero ambient contribution, so I don’t know what the issue is with Canon’s f/8 being worse than f/4, and YN doing great at f/8 – this was repeatable though, I’d assume Canon would typically be better at f/8 than f/4, even with diffraction coming into play around there with an 18MP sensor.
Canon Center Right
Yongnuo Center Right
Again, Canon is the clear winner. If you’re looking for a super sharp wide prime, the Yongnuo seems to fail vs its Canon counterpart. All in all when it comes to sharpness, I think the Yongnuo is less than I had anticipated, considering the comparable sharpness of the 50mm comparison.
Flaring
I tried to test out flaring when shooting against open sun, but being as wide as it is, anything shot at f/2 in a situation where you’d expect flare when shot at f/2 ends up just being a general wash with no distinct difference between the two. Even stopped down to f/16 there’s little difference (please excuse the mess, I’m building a fire pit, this corner of the yard is messy).
Canon
Yongnuo
I think the Yongnuo gets washed out a little less (and that’s my experience with the wider apertures too, overall) – again, not a fancy test, it’s a wider lens, so flaring is expected when shooting in the general direction of the sun, I wanted to include a shot that shows the characteristics of sun flares for those who like to involve those in shots (as I am wont to do).
Bokeh
The Canon 50/1.8 II had some pretty harsh bokeh stopped down, with its 5 bladed aperture it was pretty ugly. The Canon 35/2 also has a 5 bladed aperture setup, does it suffer the same? (Again, these shots are f/2 – f/4 – f/8)
Canon
Pretty damn dreamy at f/2, nice and round from the center to the edge. But ouch, the pentagonal shape is harsh and pretty ugly, even as wide as f/4.
Yongnuo
Hands down the winner. Larger, rounder, smoother, prettier. Seven bladed aperture vs five really shows here.
Chromatic Aberration
Next up is chromatic aberration… something any budget-friendly fast prime will fight to control. I took a scenario that should cause some distinct CA, black on backlit white. Here’s what I got for f/2 and f/4 on both lenses.
Canon (f/2 on top, f/4 below)
Yongnuo
In both cases, CA is well controlled and not much of an issue in this scenario at f/4. The Yongnuo seems to be the better performer at f/2, though both lenses handle CA pretty darn well.
There are some distinct differences between the two… The Yongnuo (at least the two copies I have to test) are not as sharp as the Canon, especially outside of the center, though is a strong competitor in all other elements. I shoot portraits, so sharp enough in the center, and soft in the corners is a nonissue, this shouldn’t affect me much, if at all, softer, more bokeh’ed corners could be a good thing. You have to determine yourself if this impacts you. Read more reviews, see if future copies improve, etc.
All in all… it’s a good lens so far. Soft (badly) in the corners, but decent all around.
Editor’s note: We posted a different in-depth review of the Yongnuo 35mm f/2 earlier this week. Be sure to check that out to see more thoughts and discussion on this lens.
