I apologize if this is an old topic, but I'll still ask. I played with this lens yesterday at B&H and the focus was extremely slow. I'm looking at it for weddings, available light work in church and such. If you are using it under these conditions, I'd be interested in hearing your opinions.
It is very slow compared to nearly any other lens. But fast enough for the kind of subjects you are talking about shooting...and the 1.2 gives you options that no other lens can in lowlight (or in any light for the bokeh affects). Did you try the Version II of the lens? Still slow as a dog but faster than the Version I.
I have both the II and original and they are slow, and slower in focus speed. The 2 is slightly faster. I notice you shoot portraits and weddings. This lens is magical on a ff body for portraits and great also for wedding work.
You will be pleased with this lens.
It's not as bad as I thought it would be. I just got my 85L 2 weeks ago and was worried about all the slow AF talk. It's nowhere near too slow for weddings or portrait work. Chasing kids around for snapshots, now that's another story, although my 7 month old son faired well:
This is one of those rare instances where all the good things that you hear about a piece of equipment are true. Of course, they come at a price, and these are to my mind the weight and relative slowness in focus acquisition of the lens. Of course, when carrying the lens with a full bag for several hours, you will slow down too. But I suspect that when you see the special quality of the images that it can produce, you will find that these drawbacks are offset.
Yes, it's no speed demon, but I learned to appreciate slowing down for critical focus. I usually manually and instinctually rack the focus close to the range before I even AF to help. It's totally worth the effort and it doesn't bother me especially considering the results. It's a go to for situations like bridal portraits.
The bottom line is the 85L is generally/maybe too slow for fast-action sports and birds-in-flight but it's definitely not too slow for portraits and weddings. PetKal has done some incredible BIF shots with the 85L to prove the point that the 85L can be used to shoot almost anything really:
The 85L II isn't really 'slow' - it's 'precise' - the focus ring moves a lot further than the average lens, and since the AF motor has to move that much, it seems slower.
Think of it like you're driving in first gear... the engine has to turn more revolutions to get where you are going...
The precise focus comes in handy when working at F/1.2 though!
The downside: not so good for fast moving objects!
bobbytan wrote:
The bottom line is the 85L is generally/maybe too slow for fast-action sports and birds-in-flight but it's definitely not too slow for portraits and weddings. PetKal has done some incredible BIF shots with the 85L to prove the point that the 85L can be used to shoot almost anything really:
Thank you, Bobby.....shooting BIF with 85L is not exceptionally difficult at all, just that there are not too many idle souls like myself who have tried.
In fact, with prefocusing, or "zonal focusing", if you wish, the lens AF drive is fast enough for many applications.
Now, there is another component of the AF speed equation that people often do not think about: the speed of camera AF algorithm execution and issuance of the control signal to the lens.
The less light the camera AF sensors get, the slower and more halting the camera AF routine becomes. Which means that for given ambient/target light level, a superfast lens like 85L will allow a maximum AF routine execution speed.
Such lens will also allow the best possible focusing in low light.
Think of a drab grey pigeon flying towards you.....low contrast, low light emissivity target, moving fast into the lens. The 85L will allow the camera to latch onto it in the fastest possible manner. Or I should perhaps say the lens will allow the camera to focus, period. No point in having a super fast lens AF drive (like 400 f/5.6) if the camera does not get enough light to focus fast and reliably. The 400 f/5.6 is zipping back and forth snappily......but nothing ends up in focus.
I've used the 85L for 4 of my weddings in the past. The lens is fan-freakin-tastic in almost everything except the focus speed. The first wedding I covered was during the day, and I instantly fell in love with the lens. However, the second wedding was when I experienced the bad side of slow focus from this gem. The reception started in the evening and went on till the night, with very low light. I tried to get the lens to focus for dance shots, but it was so slow, that I was missing most of the action. When it would finally focus, it would re-focus again since people were moving, and it would take a while to lock on again... and ultimately miss focus. I ended up switching to the 50mm f/1.4, and just using that to get the shots. The lens was so slow, that I ended up missing some good action shots. On another wedding, the lens was fantastic again for the most part, but at the reception in a dimly lit hotel, it was hard to focus once again... and quite annoying to be honest. As a wedding photographer, I have a strange love-hate relationship with this lens. I love this lens to death, and am more than likely going to purchase it anyway since it's so nice and sharp. Infact, it's one of the sharpest lenses I've ever used to this day. However, the slow AF really annoys me for wedding work, and I wish there was a way around it.
As I have told others in the past, rent them both, and see which one works for you (in normal daylight and low ambient light), and then get the one you like best.
Sahid Limon wrote:
I've used the 85L for 4 of my weddings in the past. The lens is fan-freakin-tastic in almost everything except the focus speed. The first wedding I covered was during the day, and I instantly fell in love with the lens. However, the second wedding was when I experienced the bad side of slow focus from this gem. The reception started in the evening and went on till the night, with very low light. I tried to get the lens to focus for dance shots, but it was so slow, that I was missing most of the action. When it would finally focus, it would re-focus again since people were moving, and it would take a while to lock on again... and ultimately miss focus. I ended up switching to the 50mm f/1.4, and just using that to get the shots. The lens was so slow, that I ended up missing some good action shots. On another wedding, the lens was fantastic again for the most part, but at the reception in a dimly lit hotel, it was hard to focus once again... and quite annoying to be honest. As a wedding photographer, I have a strange love-hate relationship with this lens. I love this lens to death, and am more than likely going to purchase it anyway since it's so nice and sharp. Infact, it's one of the sharpest lenses I've ever used to this day. However, the slow AF really annoys me for wedding work, and I wish there was a way around it....Show more →
I only have the version II of the lens and yes, it focuses slow, but it works in preety much any wedding situation.
As a side note, on the 5D it is visibly slower than on a 1D(s) mk III. I was actually preety amazed by the difference. You can visually notice how the AF motor is running turning the lens faster.
I have no trouble getting in focus shots of the bride coming towards me in the church and getting nice action shots.
