Yongnuo 35mm f/2 Canon Clone on the Way

[Canon Rumors Guy]

<p>Yongnuo is continuing in their quest to make (clone) older Canon lenses and sell them for less. This 35mm f/2 has the same optical formula as Canon’s old 35mm f/2 non USM lens. Although the outside of the lens seems to resemble their 50mm f/1.8.</p>
<p><strong>First Chinese Made Wide-angle Fixed Auto Focus Lens YONGNUO YN 35mm F2  </strong></p>
<ul>
<li>The closest focusing distance up to 0.25 meter,when under close-up shooting,it is available to get the unique sense of depth of the wide-angle lens.</li>
<li>F2 large aperture,virtual background,which makes photography with more fun.</li>
<li>Support auto focus (AF) and manual focus (MF) mode.</li>
<li>The aperture blades up to 7 pieces,which allows you able to shoot the near-circular diffuse plaques,appropriately narrow the apertures can shoot the 14 astral effect.</li>
<li>Adopts chrome high precision metal bayonet,which effectively improve the goodness to fit the camera body and the bayonet strength, wear and corrosion resistance for durable use.</li>
<li>Full line of the products are glass lenses.</li>
<li>Supports full-frame and APS-C format cameras,supports M/AV/TV/P and other camera shooting modes,and can be displayed the aperture data in the EXIF Information.</li>
<li>Multi-coated lenses,effectively improve the transmittance and suppress the ghosting and flare when in backlit shooting .</li>
<li>Adopts gold plating for the metal contacts,effectively improve the signal conductivity and corrosion resistance.</li>
</ul>
<p>More pictures of the lens after the break…</p>
<p><!--more--></p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18219" src="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/yongnuo35_4-575x575.jpg" alt="yongnuo35_4" width="575" height="575" /></p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18220" src="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/yongnuo35_3-575x575.jpg" alt="yongnuo35_3" width="575" height="575" /></p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18221" src="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/yongnuo35_2-575x575.jpg" alt="yongnuo35_2" width="575" height="575" /></p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18222" src="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/yongnuo35_1.jpeg" alt="yongnuo35_1" width="550" height="550" /></p>
<p>Source: [<a href="http://www.hkyongnuo.com/e-detaily.php?ID=359" target="_blank">Yongnuo</a>] via [<a href="http://photorumors.com/2015/01/03/yongnuo-is-coming-with-a-35mm-f2-clone-lens-for-canon-dslr-cameras/" target="_blank">PR</a>]</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>

 

[pwp]

I love what must be Google translation in the main article.
Who could go past an f/2 lens with "virtual background,which makes photography with more fun"?

All that aside, if these inexpensive lenses are half decent, then what a boon for those on limited budgets.

-pw

 

[KAS]

lol. And you just know it will be built to last.

I would not recommend anybody buy this.

 

[privatebydesign]

I would think these lens clones are a pretty smart thing for Yongnuo to do, for the home market. The Chinese DSLR market is vast, and growing, to learn lens manufacturing on some simple lenses at bargain prices that give home consumers value for money and affordable options seems very clever to me, I hadn't seen the wisdom of it previously as I was only looking at it from an exporting and foreign currency raising exercise, which is comical because the postage costs nearly as much as half Yongnuo's products!

As a first world resident I still don't see the point for export, but wow, to become China's leading lens manufacturer in the age of the economic cycle they are in, what an achievement! If they are successful I can see full clone bodies within five years and then we will have some real copyright and patent fights.

 

[CarlMillerPhoto]

Yongunuo's 50mm 1.8 clone is actually better optically than Canon's. Perhaps this 35mm will be, too.

 

[Chaitanya]

as long as its cheap and sharp.

 

[agierke]

then we will have some real copyright and patent fights.

this is the aspect of Yongnuo that just doesn't sit right for me. i'm not a fan of others stealing designs and then undercutting the price of the original product. i understand that there are some out there who wont care as long as they are saving as much money as possible, but my sense of fairness keeps me from purchasing anything from companies like Yongnuo (or almost anything coming out of china for that matter).

i know there are plenty of fans of Yongnuo on this site....just something to think about is all.

 

[privatebydesign]

It is fairly common practice in the auto industry for first world countries to sell the production line complete with tooling etc of an old car manufacturing plant to get a last few dollars out of an otherwise dead line, maybe Canon and Yongnuo have a similar thing going on. I doubt it, but anything is possible.

Besides, this particular lens cloning can actually help Canon too, they make their bread and butter money from Rebel sales, if Chinese customers are more likely to buy Canon starter cameras over Nikon etc because there are readily available affordable lenses, even if those lenses are from Yongnuo, then Canon are leveraging that outdated lens line very well, and hopefully breeding a new generation of Canon users who will end up insisting on genuine L lenses and higher end bodies, but the core business is shipping millions of Rebels.

I do see hints of some battles ahead, particularly for third party batteries and FW lockouts. But generally massive corporations are too slow on their feet to micro manage that type of thing effectively for very long, somebody always ends up sourcing the chip, or the code/protocol to make their third party item work.

The other aspect is first party feature protection. I did buy a Yongnuo YN-E3-RT for the sole reason that it gave me Group mode with my four genuine 600-EX-RT's on my pre 2012 bodies, whereas Canon locked me out. The YN did that upgraded feature fine 99% of the time so Canon were being annoying and petty at best, which I wouldn't mind but they haven't given me a 1Ds MkIII upgrade to buy yet so they really gave me no option other than to buy the clone to get the features out of my $2,000 worth of genuine Canon flashes on their $6,000+ Canon camera.

 

[K-amps]

Does it take TC's? If not .......... I am selling all my Canon gear and moving to Nikon.

 

[Bennymiata]

While it looks just like it, the Yongi 50mm f1.8 is quite different from the Canon version internally, so it's not infringing IP.
I think this a good thing as it will not only give Canon some curry, but also Sigma, Tokina et al.

I reckon these cheap lenses are good to use in bad environments, and if you get a few good photos out of them and have to throw them away, why not?

 

[mrsfotografie]

When can we expect a clone of the 200-400L? ;D

 

[AvTvM]

Does anyone know, what kind of AF-drive Yongnuo is using? DC motors? And how well it will work with current and future canon bodies? And how about lens mount protocol? Presumably the Yongnuo lenses will spoof the lens ID code of some od, out of production canon lens - or will they use the codes of the lenses cloned (50/1.8, 36/2)? I recall some other third party manufacturer (tokina?) had some issues along with this a few years ago.

For reasons like these I won't ever consider buying such lenses, but i welcome yongnuo bringing options to those on a tight budget (in china and elsewhere) and for possibly bringing some price pressure on Canon lenses - starting at the low end. Rumours have it that 50/1.4 is up next for cloning. As well as nikon lenses.

 

[Marsu42]

as long as its cheap and sharp.

I doubt these ancient designs can deliver "sharp" on 20mp+ digital corner-to-corner w/o major CA wide open. They only consist of two pieces of glass sandwiched together in a cheap plastic shell and an even cheaper stepper motor.

Yn's modifications won't change that basic premise, it's really only about "gimme a fast lens as cheap as possible". Yn might have a bit better bokeh tough, which isn't hard to archive given the original's performance.

And how about lens mount protocol? Presumably the Yongnuo lenses will spoof the lens ID code of some od, out of production canon lens - or will they use the codes of the lenses cloned (50/1.8, 36/2)?

I don't see any reason not to use the originals' lens id codes, probably the lens correction of (in-camera and post-processing software) might even work on the clone as it's optically close to the original.

 

[mb66energy]

as long as its cheap and sharp.

I doubt these ancient designs can deliver "sharp" on 20mp+ digital corner-to-corner w/o major CA wide open. They only consist of two pieces of glass sandwiched together in a cheap plastic shell and an even cheaper stepper motor.

Yn's modifications won't change that basic premise, it's really only about "gimme a fast lens as cheap as possible". Yn might have a bit better bokeh tough, which isn't hard to archive given the original's performance.

[...]

A two lens-one element 35 mm is not possible for EF cameras because you need the retrofocus construction to keep the mirror box clear. The negative front element of the photos gives a clear hint for retrofocus design too.

What I see from the Yongnuo images is at least 4 groups (counting reflections/lens borders) - the original lens had a 5/7 construction.

@privatebydesign
I asked myself why is Canon perhaps interested in clones - and came to a similar conclusion: Cheap lenses with good quality might drive the the decision for EF mount compatible cameras. If people have an EF mount camera they will perhaps upgrade.

Your remarks about the chinese market are very good: Include e.g. India and you have 2.5 Billion people that might buy Yongnuo lenses and ... Canon bodies.

Personal opinion: I ordered just yesterday an EF-M 22 to make my EOS M pocketable - and on the other hand I have the brilliant EF 40 with exceptional contra light contrast/flare resistance. So my interest in this lens isn't too large ...

 

[Khnnielsen]

It reminds of the pharmaceutical industries, where there is an influx of cheaper "clone" medicine, when a patent expire, which is obviously great for the people who otherwise couldn't afford the potentially life saving medicine.

I am fairly sure that lenses can't save lives, but it's good news for people on a budget. A 35mm lens design is much more complicated than a 35mm, so it will be interesting to see what they can do.

 

[300D]

I too am uneasy buying Chinese cloned products, however I did finally Succumb and purchased the Yongnuo YN-E3-RT; because it gave me Group mode with my pre 2012 body 7D and Canon 600-EX-RT's. It also gives me second curtain sync in manual mode, and has a focus assist beam, functions the Canon version fails to include.
I would have purchased the Canon version had it not been feature crippled, presuming better long term reliability, and would still do so if canon updated their version and included the missing features.

 

[Marsu42]

What I see from the Yongnuo images is at least 4 groups (counting reflections/lens borders) - the original lens had a 5/7 construction.

Thanks, I stand corrected - I always assumed the 35mm and 50mm had a similar build (I only have Canon's 50/1.8). So if there's more glass involved, maybe Yn can make a difference to Canon's iq.

I too am uneasy buying Chinese cloned products, however I did finally Succumb and purchased the Yongnuo YN-E3-RT; because it gave me Group mode with my pre 2012 body 7D and Canon 600-EX-RT's. It also gives me second curtain sync in manual mode, and has a focus assist beam, functions the Canon version fails to include.

I've unfortunately also bought the unreliable Yn, and it's indeed unfortunate Canon ties their rt system to post-2012 cameras. However, as you pointed out the 2nd curtain remote is really very limited on the Yn.

And I can see why Canon didn't include an af assist: The Yn's beam pattern is a joke, the height doesn't account for subject distance and even if it's on target it's pure luck if a spot is under an af point. Given the limited space inside the transmitter, Canon seems to have opted to leave their full-fledged beam to the big flash.

As a result, Yn's rt transmitter clone is my "Waterloo" making me see cheap knockoffs in a much more critical light than before. Let's hope they'll do better with lenses, there's probably less to screw up there.

 

[lintoni]

It is fairly common practice in the auto industry for first world countries to sell the production line complete with tooling etc of an old car manufacturing plant to get a last few dollars out of an otherwise dead line, maybe Canon and Yongnuo have a similar thing going on. I doubt it, but anything is possible.

Besides, this particular lens cloning can actually help Canon too, they make their bread and butter money from Rebel sales, if Chinese customers are more likely to buy Canon starter cameras over Nikon etc because there are readily available affordable lenses, even if those lenses are from Yongnuo, then Canon are leveraging that outdated lens line very well, and hopefully breeding a new generation of Canon users who will end up insisting on genuine L lenses and higher end bodies, but the core business is shipping millions of Rebels.

I do see hints of some battles ahead, particularly for third party batteries and FW lockouts. But generally massive corporations are too slow on their feet to micro manage that type of thing effectively for very long, somebody always ends up sourcing the chip, or the code/protocol to make their third party item work.

The other aspect is first party feature protection. I did buy a Yongnuo YN-E3-RT for the sole reason that it gave me Group mode with my four genuine 600-EX-RT's on my pre 2012 bodies, whereas Canon locked me out. The YN did that upgraded feature fine 99% of the time so Canon were being annoying and petty at best, which I wouldn't mind but they haven't given me a 1Ds MkIII upgrade to buy yet so they really gave me no option other than to buy the clone to get the features out of my $2,000 worth of genuine Canon flashes on their $6,000+ Canon camera.

Good points well made!

 

[300D]

Hello Marsu42
Fortunately my YN-E3-RT is still fully functional though I have only had it for 7 weeks, and only used it indoors so far, out of reach of the British weather. I have read that others have found it unreliable hence my preference for an un-restricted canon version, but it is proving to be a very useful device so far. I also agree that the focus beam is hit and miss but useful at close range. I am a beginner but intend to use the second curtain for photographing moving models (cars, boats and trains) when I have had a bit more practice with it.

 

[jeffa4444]

Lucky for me I can afford Canon products others maybe less fortunate. The Chinese dont care about patents unless they own them I was amazed at Photokina in the hall with the Chinese companies how many "other companies" products they had ripped off. Sure they make all of Apple products and just about anything else you buy these days but most of the IP is held by Western, Korean or Japanese companies. Anything successful they have no qualms in copying.