The 85/1,2 lens has a little bit slow AF on my 10D. Is it different on a 1DmkII camera.
And how is the AF on that camera when you shoot wide open or close to wide open? Or do you always use MF then?

Lars

The focusing speed with this lens is limited by the lens on pretty much any body I tried it with, 1D2 included. Accuracy is excellent, I use AF most of the time.

- Stan

I have just tested my 85f1.2 on my one day old 1DMkll. The AF of the Mkll (no surprises) works a lot better with the 85f1.2 than my aging D60 does. However, the AF accuracy of the 85f1.2/1D Mkll combination is far from being perfect (i.e. soft at wide open). Using MF with the 1D Mkll works a lot better than using the AF. My experience with my copy of 85f1.2 is quite different from other's (sharp & AF accurate). Even with my 1D Mkll, I have no confidence in using AF with MY 85f1.2 wide open.

May be it is just my copy of 85f1.2. Can someone show some 100% crop of an image taken by their 85f1.2 with AF wide open at f1.2? Hopefully an image with some texture and contrast to judge sharpness easily, instead of a human portarit. Thank you.

85 1.2 + 1D II, just say no.

Some lens/body combos are excellent. the 50mm1.8 is excellent on my 1DII; the 85 1.2 is nice on my 1Ds; but the 1DII/85 1.2 combo does not impress me, at least for fashion.

Yeah. I'd say that that combination is obviously a bust (sorry, couldn't help myself there)

= Ed =

Lars Johnsson wrote:
The 85/1,2 lens has a little bit slow AF on my 10D. Is it different on a 1DmkII camera.
And how is the AF on that camera when you shoot wide open or close to wide open? Or do you always use MF then?


Take advantage of the FTM focus on this lens.

Before attempting to AF, use the MF to at least "get it close".

This will make the focus speed more than acceptable.

If you're trying to AF from a setting near minimum focus distance when the subject is quite far away, it can take a while to focus. Also, in this situation, the probelm you have is that you can't SEE the subject that you're trying to focus on, so you can't even point the lens at the right place to focus sometimes. That REALLY slows it down.

The lens can't be THAT slow, as many sports photographers love to use it.

Take advantage of the FTM focus on this lens.

Maybe I am missing something, but when I switch the 85/1.2L into AF on my 1Ds, I can turn the focusing ring as much as I want, nothing changes, until the camera acquires AF. Once it has acquired focus through AF, I can shift focus. However, I can't pre-focus manually, I have to "find something" at the desired subject distance and focus on it. This can be a problem; alternatively, I have to briefly flip the lens into MF and pre-focus, which ain't easy because of the cumbersome AF switch on this particular lens.

This is quite different from say the 135L, which is also quite a bit faster. Still, I like the 85 much more. And it is slow =)

- Stan

I don't have a 1Ds but I think my 1D Mk2 will be the same. Since the 85f1.2 does not have a 'mechnical' MF but a 'wire' MF, you have to press the shutter button half way down before you can use the MF ring.

slau wrote:
you have to press the shutter button half way down before you can use the MF ring.

Not true, depending on how you have certain custom functions set.

Not true, depending on how you have certain custom functions set.

Since we are obviously in the dark, could you please share which CFn you are referring to? Greatly appreciated.

- Stan

David is right and he wants us to RTFM .

With my 1D Mk2, it is the combination of CFn4 & CFn7 that changes how the 'wire' or electronic MF works. With my current CFn settings (both 4 & 7 are set at '0'), I have to press the shutter halfway down before the MF ring becomes functional. Try it with your 1Ds to see if it works the same, or wait for David to come back.

I have CFn 4 set to 2, as in, disable AF when * button is pressed. I use this often in Servo mode when I don't have a lens with AF stop button. Plus, don't see how changing this value would affect the MF, but then again, I am just reading what's on screen, I don't have my manual around.

I have CFn 7 set to 0, allowing me to MF after AF acquisition. The options are either to turn this feature off completely, or to disable it after AF is achieved (which would imply that it's possible before AF acquisition). I don't see how either is more appealing that the 0 setting, but I am happy to learn.

- Stan

Stan, you need to set CF 4 to 1 or 3 to enable electronic FTM before AF in one shot AF mode (CF 7 is 0). Check the table for CF 0 to see the setting.

Jeff

Like Stan said, the lens plays a large role when AF-speed is concerned. Some lenses AF really fast and some others are slow, almost independent of the body you are using.

I myself discovered this when going from the EOS-650 to the 1D. The difference in AF speed wasn't nearly as big as I would have expected after reading tests of the 1D and threads on this forum. AF is low light is much better though.

If you want to be able to MF both before and after AF with a lens like the 85/1.2, 50/1.0, and 200/1.8, then you need to have CF7 set to zero, and CF4 set to either 1 or 3.

If you only need to MF before AF with these lenses, then CF7 can either be 0 or 1 and CF4 must be either 1 or 3.

If you only need to MF after AF with these lenses, then CF7 must be 0, and CF4 can be anything.

DavidP wrote:
If you want to be able to MF both before and after AF with a lens like the 85/1.2, 50/1.0, and 200/1.8, then you need to have CF7 set to zero, and CF4 set to either 1 or 3.

If you only need to MF before AF with these lenses, then CF7 can either be 0 or 1 and CF4 must be either 1 or 3.

If you only need to MF after AF with these lenses, then CF7 must be 0, and CF4 can be anything.

The scary part of this post is that I understand it without having to resort to the manual. Must be spending too much time here

David

The scary part is that when I got my 85/1.2 and 200/1.8, I thought the lenses were broken at first because they wouldn't MF. Oops, gotta hook them up to a camera, turn it on, and make sure the CF's are set-up right.

When I got my 50/1.0, I wasn't fooled again.

The good sharp primes are ideal for the 1Ds, and wasted on the 1DII; the anti-alias filter eats up the detail. With the 1Ds, you can crop a 200/1.8 image down to a tiny piece (1/10 of the shot), and get a sharp noisy keeper like below. With the 1DII usually no detail is left. Get a zoom instead of a prime, so you don't need to crop, and can print the whole image!

I shoot both cameras side by side; full frame the pix look identical on a 13x18 inch, when the 1DII happens to focus correctly. The 1DII has huge speed, a bottomless buffer and no noise. However, when you need to crop and enlarge a tiny piece the 1Ds delivers while the 1DII goes soft. The 1Ds is a slow dinosaur with extremely sharp teeth, the 1DII is a quick puppy with a nip rather than a bite There's an old joke, you get what you pays for. It happens to be true too for the EOS-1 series.

eronald wrote:
The good sharp primes are ideal for the 1Ds, and wasted on the 1DII; the anti-alias filter eats up the detail.



I wonder if that will hold with the 1DS-II (or whatever Canon calls it) when it's released?

Or will Canon cheap out and just use the AA filter from the 1Ds on the new body (like they did for the 1D-II) instead of redesigning one given the new sensor?

I've heard that the 1Ds will be "low noise at high ISO" like the 1D-II is. I wonder if that'll be largely due to blurring from the AA filter?

eronald wrote:


I shoot both cameras side by side; full frame the pix look identical on a 13x18 inch, when the 1DII happens to focus correctly. The 1DII has huge speed, a bottomless buffer and no noise. However, when you need to crop and enlarge a tiny piece the 1Ds delivers while the 1DII goes soft. The 1Ds is a slow dinosaur with extremely sharp teeth, the 1DII is a quick puppy with a nip rather than a bite There's an old joke, you get what you pays for. It happens to be true too for the EOS-1 series.



I've been happy with the level of detail I get with the Mark II, but of course, you can't crop as much. I don't think it's so much a matter of getting what you pay for, but rather, a matter of two cameras for different needs.

As for the 85mm f/1.2/1D Mark II combo, I've been using it extensively, and it works very well for a lot of things. For fashion/glamour, it's a great combo as long as you can keep your cropping as close to 'in camera' as possible. I have only a little experience with the 1Ds, so I won't go to far out on a limb, but I think the combo (Mark II + 85mm) delivers a respectable level of detail if you pay close attention to your composition. As for speed, the AF is more accurate, but not faster. DavidP's suggestion of MF'ing and then AF'ing is a good one, and it really helps. I use the 85mm for stage work quite often, and I have found the AF to be quite adequate.

Arka C.

Arka,
Would you mind posting one or two 100% crop of sharp 85f1.2 images taken with AF? I believe that 85f1.2 can be quite capable but the sharpness of my copy is not even close to my 70-200f4 or f2.8, anddefinitely not to my 135f2. I like to see how sharp other 85f1.2 can produce. TIA.

Re: Focusing with AF then MF'ing the 85 1.2...

My 135 2.0L has the same "electro-manual" focusing...and when I'm in that mode (shooting bands or horses) I set for AF, but, use CF4=1 (set * button to AF, set trigger to AE lock) and use the AF as "AF Approximate"...

Hit * to get "in the neighborhood" then to the rest of my work for that moment MF.

Does that work for the 85?

Also, what about the 1dMkII and the 85 _doesn't_ work? My next cam is probably a Mk1, and I really like the 85 from the one time I rented it (and used it on a film-rebel, what a waste!)....

Thank in advance for your experiences...

G.

Greg,
Are you sure that your 135f2 is with electronic MF? I just tried my 135f2L and the MF works even when my camera is powered off, which means it is mechanical MF.

Anyway, I have no problem with the 85f1.2 MF with my 3 day old Mkll. With my current CFn settings, as long as the camera is powered on and the shutter is pressed halfway down, with or without AF lock, the MF ring is fully functional.

DavidP wrote:
[
The lens can't be THAT slow, as many sports photographers love to use it.


After browsing the sports forum for a while, the most popular sports lens are 70-200/2.8 IS, 135/2, 200/2.8, Sigma 120-300/2.8 or their variants. The slow AF plus razor thin DoF just isn't a good combo for good sports photography.

Wiseman wrote:
DavidP wrote:
[
The lens can't be THAT slow, as many sports photographers love to use it.


After browsing the sports forum for a while, the most popular sports lens are 70-200/2.8 IS, 135/2, 200/2.8, Sigma 120-300/2.8 or their variants. The slow AF plus razor thin DoF just isn't a good combo for good sports photography.

But have you ever tried using one for sports? You'd be surprised at what the lens is capable of, reports of slow AF aside.

Arka C.