Canon 35mm f/1.8
Canon · LTM · 1957 · Planar type, 7e/4g
Also known as: Canon 35mm f/1.8 · Canon 35mm f1.8 · Canon 35/1.8 · Canon 3.5cm f/1.8
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canon 35mm f/1.8 | LTM | 1957 | — | No figure published |
- Canon's own thread before 1951 was 39 mm at 24 threads per inch (1.058 mm pitch), against Leica's 26 tpi — close enough that the lenses interchange in practice, and the difference is why an early Serenar can feel tight on a Leica. The Serenar 50mm f/1.8 of late 1951 was the first Canon lens cut to the Leica pitch (Leica Copies Japan).
- camera-wiki gives April 1956 for this lens; the Canon Camera Museum gives May 1957. The museum's date is used above.
How to tell them apart
Canon 35mm f/1.8:
- Marketed May 1957, ¥32,000 · 125 g · 40 mm filter · stops to f/22
- Black and chrome; 40 mm filter; 125 g
Specifications
- Formula
- Planar type, 7e/4g
- Designed by
- Mukai Jirō — optical design (camera-wiki)
- Construction
- 7 elements / 4 groups
- Aperture range
- f/1.8–f/22
- Min. focus
- 1 m
- Weight
- 125 g
- Filter
- 40 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1957
- Country
- Japan
- Original price
- ¥32,000 (May 1957, Canon Camera Museum) (today ¥200,000)
What reviewers say
- Dante Stella, Canon LTM lenses on Leica (blog) — An underappreciated Planar type: "good sharpness without being too contrasty across the whole frame," smooth bokeh, and increasingly hard to find.
- Matt Osborne (mrleica.com) (blog) — "Fast lens with vintage rendering in a really nice small form."
History
Mukai Jirō’s seven-element Planar-type 35mm, marketed in May 1957 at ¥32,000 — camera-wiki dates it April 1956 — and, at 125 grams, small for its speed. Dante Stella calls it “underappreciated”: good sharpness across the frame without harshness, smooth bokeh, and increasingly hard to find; Matt Osborne likes it for “vintage rendering in a really nice small form.”
The 35mm f/2 of 1962 is Mechelhoff’s “derivation of the 1.8/35,” and the two are the sensible pair: the f/1.8 is the earlier, slightly softer, and cheaper lens.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a Canon 35mm f/1.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
Asking price, USD: a median of $350 across 7 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $280–$450). Tracked since 2026-09-09, 2 days: unchanged from $350.
By day
| Date | Median | Middle half | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-11 | $350 | $280–$450 | 7 |
| 2026-09-09 | $350 | $320–$450 | 6 |
Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.
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Listings updated 2026-09-11. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.