Customer Ratings & Reviews

I’ve been using the Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM with my EOS R-series camera, and it’s quickly become one of my favorite lenses. The image quality is fantastic—sharp even wide open at f/1.8, with beautiful background blur that adds a professional look to everyday shots. The macro capability is a huge bonus. While it’s not a true 1:1 macro, the 0.5x magnification has been perfect for close-ups of flowers, textures, food, and small objects. It also handles portraits, street, and general photography really well. Autofocus is smooth and silent thanks to the STM motor, making it great for both photo and video. The built-in image stabilization works well, especially helpful in low-light situations or when shooting macro handheld. Build quality is solid but lightweight, so it’s easy to carry all day without feeling bulky. I do wish it were weather-sealed, but for the price and performance, it’s a terrific value. Overall, this lens punches way above its weight class. Highly recommend it if you're looking for a versatile, compact, and sharp RF prime lens.

This lens is not spectacular, but it's solid for its price point. Manage your expectations, and you're likely to be quite pleased. It's good, no doubt. It takes good photos, and lets in lots of light. But expect too much from it, and you'll probably be let down. This is the third lens I've bought from Canon since getting into photography, and the first one that didn't use the nano USM focusing motors. As such, I expected the autofocus to be a bit slower, but I didn't anticipate that it would be so clearly audible as well. There is definitely a performance difference there, but how much that affects you will depend on what you use your lenses for. It's noisy, but it's not loud. It's also not weather-sealed like my other lenses are, so you have to be a bit more careful in monitoring your environment. Overall, it takes good quality pictures, and has a nice wide aperture which makes it great for low-light or creating a very narrow depth-of-field, but just make sure you know what you're getting. This is a pretty cheap lens, after all. Much of my own disappointment in this lens was that I didn't do enough homework on it beforehand. I wanted to pick up a wide-aperture lens for an upcoming trip to Disney World, specifically to try to photograph some of the indoor, low-light ride scenes, and didn't want to spend a ton on a somewhat niche photography objective. I was fixated on things like maximum aperture and minimum price, and didn't put enough thought into focal length and macro performance. I was struggling to decide between three lenses; this one, the cheaper 50mm f/1.8, and the slightly pricier 24mm f/1.8. Ultimately, I decided on this one because it was cheaper than the 24mm and advertised a macro performance component that the 50mm did not. I figured the macro element would give me some more creative flexibility. As it turns out, based on how I'm using it at least, I would have been better off going with either the wider focal length or the lower cost, as this is not quite wide enough for many of the indoor shots where I cannot back away from the scene any further, and the macro performance is not great. It's more like "pseudo-macro", or "macro-lite", since the magnification factor is only 0.5x, as opposed to most true macro lenses which generally offer 1.0x or greater. In summary, I will say that I recommend this lens for some buyers, but not all. Make sure you know how you plan to use it. Go ahead and get this if you just want an affordable 35mm prime lens with solid image quality and a wide aperture that will allow you to take pictures in low-light, and if you don't need lightning fast autofocus, aren't worried about shooting out in the elements, or if you don't plan to require any sort of serious macro performance. But please do not get suckered-in by the fact that this lens says "macro" on it. I'd suggest that if you're legitimately interested in getting into macro photography, that you do a bit more homework than I did, and maybe check out the RF100mm f/2.8 L that Canon offers instead. Yes, you'll be paying a little more than twice as much (based on current pricing), and you'll lose about 1.3 stops of light, and you'll be carrying a larger lens that weighs about double what this one does. But the trade-off is that you'll gain a lot in terms of build quality, weather-sealing, autofocus speed and performance, and have a 1.4x magnification like a true macro lens. This lens is fine, but it's definitely a case of "you get what you pay for." I'll attach a few photos from my trip, both indoor in the dark, and outside in the daylight. For reference, my camera is a Canon EOS R6mii. For the purposes of full disclosure, these are my finished edits. I tried to attach the unedited originals to this review, but the file sizes were too large. So you're getting the edited versions instead.

This 35mm compact lens really does it all. Great, and I mean great image stabilization (IS), big 1.8 aperture and nice dreamy bokeh (out of focus backgrounds), macro-capable (not true macro, but really close), and Canon's super smooth (and super quiet) STM focusing! The focal length of 35mm is surprisingly handy for just about everything: Just wide enough for street photography, nature, etc but can get close enough for portraiture. You can "zoom with your feet" to cover an effective range of about 28-50mm or so and you can cover much more than that by cropping in Lightroom or whichever app you use for photo editing. This lens is seriously sharp (which helps if your cropping) and optically near perfect. Canon camera's correct for distortion in the camera body also. I'm done with bulky, heavy cameras with ridiculously heavy zoom lenses! The only lens that this doesn't replace is a tele-zoom. I would much rather use this than a 24-70mm. It's sharper, lighter (probably 1/4 the weight) and brighter (max f-stop) than any zoom in this range. I love the programmable ring which I set to control the aperture! Great build quality with a metal lens mount-just because it's light, doesn't mean it feels cheap. I have this lens mounted on the Canon EOS RP and from that combo, I get great full-frame stills with great color, sharpness, bokeh and ditto for the video with this lens' silent STM focusing and Canons magical Dual Pixel Autofocus (DPAF). It's almost eery how the camera/lens focuses on the right stuff at the right time.

I’ve been using the Canon 35mm lens for a while now, and it’s hands down one of my favorite pieces of gear. It’s the lens I reach for when I want my photos to feel warm, real, and cinematic—whether I’m shooting portraits, capturing everyday moments with my kids, or working with clients. What I love most is how versatile it is. The 35mm focal length feels just right—it gives enough context to the scene without distorting faces, and it’s wide enough to work in tight spaces. The depth of field is gorgeous too. Wide open, it gives me that dreamy, soft background I love, especially in natural light. The autofocus is fast and accurate, even when I’m shooting moving kids or working in slightly dim environments. And the image quality? Super sharp, with beautiful color rendering and contrast. It really fits my style—natural, lifestyle, slightly cinematic. I also appreciate how compact and light it is. I can carry it around all day without feeling weighed down, which is a huge plus for spontaneous photo walks or shooting content for Instagram Reels. Honestly, if I had to choose just one lens to shoot with, this would be it. It feels like an extension of how I see the world through the camera.

Great lens. Works wonderfully on my r7. The Canon 35mm lens is a versatile, sharp, and reliable choice for photographers. Its wide aperture delivers excellent low-light performance and creamy bokeh, perfect for portraits and street photography. Autofocus is fast and accurate, while build quality ensures durability. A solid investment for creatives seeking crisp, dynamic images with great depth.

This lens is amazing for portrait photography and hardly ever leaves my camera. It takes the crispiest images, focuses very quickly, and is relatively lightweight. This is one of those things that I would absolutely buy again in a heartbeat if something were to happen to my lens.

The sharpness on this lens is impeccable. I own an EOS RP along with the kit lens and a 50mm f1.8. Recently added this to my collection and I am looking forward to adding an 85mm f2, a 16mm 1.8 and probably a bigger telephoto lens. I am just emerging into the photography/camera hobby. But this lens is good for cinematic video, close ups, and even portraits as well as macro and product photography. I recommend this

Let me say that the price does not reflect the quality of this lens. I’m happy to pay the low price, but the lens is worth more than you will pay in my opinion, which is a good thing!! The auto focus is very fast. The control ring is new to me but I had no problem getting use to using it. If you don’t want to use it, you can simply leave it unassigned. The image quality is tack sharp but this isn’t too surprising being that #1 it’s a prime lens and #2 it’s Canon. I have EF lenses and I purchased the EF-RF adapter but I wanted to try at least one native RF lens and this was the least expensive option. After using this RF 35mm 1.8 I will definitely be spending some serious money on more RF lenses. Having the back of the lens sitting so close to the sensor with the large RF mount makes for amazing images. Don’t underestimate this lens!

Pairs very well with the Canon R7. Great macro shots. Very sharp and good low light performance.

LOVE this lens it’s so versatile for full headshots or up close macro shots very easy to use for first lens

Excellent 35mm lens. I absolutely love the natural look this lens gives. The perfect range between a 16mm and a 50mm lens. A good price for an excellent RF prime lens.

This lens offers excellent image quality for everyday use; however, the lack of zoom functionality is a significant drawback. Overall image clarity is very good.

So i love with my 35mm. From macro to landscape. Images are breathtaking

perfect first lens for an RF system, IS makes it easier to take video and the lens is very sharp even wide open. probably will be the only lens you need for most people. the macro capability lets you take up close photos of your pets. very cute. attached picture is a picture taken with the lens

Great lens for portraits, business and personal use, great for indoor lighting, works well with flash

Amazing lens to walk around with. Perfect for street photography. Macro shots. Amazing. The price is amazing also.

Just purchased the R5 and picked up this 35mm macro as a first lens.. I love macro photography, and this lens did not disappoint right out of the box! It's super easy to use, not too bulky, and i don't have to get my nose right into my subjects.

Sharp and fast macro is really great and it’s a 1.8, my only beef is that the motor is a bit loud.

amazing lens! great value for the price. the macro is actually pretty impressive on this lens even if it's not a 1:1 ratio.

I recently purchased the Canon 35mm f1.8 lens and I am extremely impressed with its performance. The lens is compact and lightweight, making it easy to carry around for everyday shooting.