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Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
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Features

3 Excellent 35mm Lenses Under $500 Every Photographer Will Love

Chris Gampat
No Comments
09/05/2021
3 Mins read
Pauleth Ip The Phoblographer Tamron 35mm f2.8 Di III OSD M1-2 Product Image 04

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The tried and true 35mm lens is a favorite for many photographers. You can find it affixed to the cameras of portrait photographers, photojournalists, street photographers, landscape photographers, and more. The convenience that it comes with is invaluable. No matter the situation, it’s hard to not justify shooting with a 35mm lens. At least, it’s hard to justify not having one in your camera bag just in case. We dove into our Reviews Index and found some of the best. Take a look with us at some of the best under $500!

The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear that we’ve fully reviewed. If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Table of Contents

  • Pro Tips on Getting the Most from 35mm Lenses
  • Canon RF 35mm f1.8 IS USM: An Incredibly Versatile Lens
  • Fujifilm 23mm f2 R WR: One of the Best 35mm Equivalent on Fuji
  • Tamron 35mm f2.8 Di III OSD: Incredibly Durable

Pro Tips on Getting the Most from 35mm Lenses

Here are some pro tips on using a 35mm lens:

  • For photojournalism: Remember that you don’t always need to get super close to a subject. You just need to tell the story. Luckily, the best 35mm lenses mimics what the human eye sees.
  • For landscape photography: Stop the lens down to f8 and manually focus out to half way between the closest focusing distance and infinity. You’ll most likely get more than enoughof the scene in focus a majority of the time.
  • For portrait photography: Keep your subject in the center. Positioning the subject along the edges will make the subject bulge out.
  • For food photography: This is all about lighting. Place the food near a window and try to make it look like someone’s about to have the meal.

Canon RF 35mm f1.8 IS USM: An Incredibly Versatile Lens

In our review, we state:

Arguably one of my favorite things about the Canon RF 35mm f1.8 USM IS is the bokeh. It’s smooth and creamy–this is all assisted by the fact that it can focus so darned close. Want that little bit of Korean BBQ or your Dumpling to really shine? Get close and let the background be blown out into a Monet painting.

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Fujifilm 23mm f2 R WR: One of the Best 35mm Equivalent on Fuji

In our review, we state:

It’s by far the absolute best lens in Fujifilm’s lineup for street photography and candid shooting due to its autofocus speed. When the focusing point is at its smallest, it will be a bit slower. But increase it and what it become a complete speed demon. With that said, let the camera choose its own focusing point and it will seriously surprise you with how fast it focuses.

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Tamron 35mm f2.8 Di III OSD: Incredibly Durable

In our review, we state:

Tamron has been introducing affordably priced Sony Full Frame Mirrorless lenses that are robustly built and deliver excellent image quality, and the Tamron 35mm f2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 (Model F053) is no exception. It can easily hold its own against pricier competing offerings. At press time, it’s cheaper than any of Sony’s native Full Frame E Mount lenses, other than the native 50mm f1.8. By comparison, it’s also less than half the price of Sony’s own 35mm f2.8 Zeiss. Although the Tamron 35 f2.8 may feel plasticky in hand, it’s weather-sealed just like the Zeiss. We put the Tamron’s weather sealing to the test, and it passed with flying colors.

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35mm 35mm Lenses Best 35mm canon canon rf 35mm Canon RF 35mm f1.8 USM IS fujifilm Fujifilm 23mm f2 Fujifilm 23mm F2 R WR review tamron Tamron 35mm f2.8 Tamron 35mm f2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 under $500
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Chris Gampat

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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