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timea
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Registered: Mar 18, 2005
Location: Czech Republic
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Dec 11, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,870.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Fantastic sharpness and color. Bokeh out of this world. Will make you happy whenever you just attach it your camera.
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Cons:
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Nothing but price. But even that is not a real con - the price is fair compared to how much joy and quality you get.
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I have the 70-200 2.8 IS, which worked pretty well for portraits. I was reluctant to spend 1870 USD on a focal length that I have already covered by a highly regarded L zoom.
Well, since I got the 85 prime, I haven't looked back. The 85 1.2L simply smokes the zoom. When I review the shots I made with the 70-200, I can't believe I once thought that THIS was sharp. The prime is sharp at f1.6 and cuts your fingers at f2.2. Add the ability the get a pretty decent hand held photo in near dearkness (room lit just by TV), add the fantastic colors and unreal bokeh and what you get is pure love. I just adore this beautiful piece of engineering.
I do keep the zoom because I find the 200mm end very useful. But I am so impressed with the 85L that I decided to get the 35L, which gets similar rave reviews. If it delivers the kind of joy I feel when using the 85L, I will sell my 24-70 and keep just the 35mm prime.
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 Dec 11, 2009
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buzzski
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Registered: Jun 27, 2009
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 46
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Review Date: Dec 9, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp at 1.2, construction, ease of manual focus, amazing IQ
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Cons:
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It is expensive, it is heavy, it is big, it could focus a bit closer
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I've only had this lens for a couple of hours and feel compelled to review it already. I had to sell my 50L to get this but already I am blown away with this lens. The build quality is great and despite being big, it handles really well. The manual focus IMO is the best of any Canon lens - it is so smooth - something I was wary of having read mixed reviews of it - I love it, it reminds me of a proper manual focus lens from days of old! This lens is so sharp at 1.2 but very basic tests so far have showed it to be exceptional form 1.6. AF is spot on on my 5dmk2 - no adjustment needed. I was concerned about the focus speed but am more than pleasantly surprised with it, again having read other comments I was expecting it to be real slow - IMO it isn't. If you are considering this lens, I urge you to just buy it, I very much doubt that you will be disappointed with it. No other camera lens has pleased me so much so soon.
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Dec 9, 2009
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dustnet
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Registered: Jul 30, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Dec 3, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,800.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Image quality (sharpness, bokeh), Build quality, colors
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Cons:
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Noisy focusing ring, extending front element, heavy, expensive
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Yes, I'm recommending this lens, what else can we do in front of such an amazing product ?
One of the thing that impressed me the most in this lens is the sharpness, even at f/1.2, the result is very satisfying.
Some thoughts:
- I've used this lens on both small sensor Cameras (40D) and FF ones (5D) and I liked the lens much more on the FF cameras. For some reasons I was getting the focus wrong at f/1.2 with the 40D almost each time. The only way to get proper focus was to use LiveView and to zoom all the way into where I wanted to make the focus and then do the focus manually. With FF Camera, I'm not experiencing such problem, and I like the range much more.
- I'm also using this lens for video, it performs great but one bad thing is that the motorized focusing ring is kind of noisy, don't place the mic next to it or you'll be disappointed.
For example of pictures taken with this lens:
http://photography.emmanuelrondeau.com
http://blog.emmanuelrondeau.com/?p=375
Thanks,
Emmanuel.
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Dec 3, 2009
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haringo
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Registered: Oct 7, 2009
Location: Hungary
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Oct 7, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Extremely Sharp, magical bokeh, colors are silky smooth, solid build, just everything
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Cons:
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price, weight, extending front element, AF is slow
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I have been using this lens for over two months. Probable this is the best lens I have owned. OK, the Canon 135mm 2L is equally good. There is nothing about the image quality I could complain about. I can take pictures of people in almost complete dark. The colors are crazy!!!!
Look at the bride on my opening page on my site: http://www.haringphotography.com/
Look at the image where the bride is sitting on a bench. I think it is the second picture on the flash site. You can see that every aspect of the image is crazy sharp. (Most of the time I don't need to use the sharpen tool!) Look at the bokeh and the colors! I hardly had to change the sky. It is nice and blue. As you see this lens is PERFECT.
The good thing that you can put it on a 1.6 frame body as well without any image quality loss.
It is slightly better than the previous version: Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM. The AF is faster but it is still slow compared to other prime lenses (Canon 85mm 1.8)
I know it is crazy expensive. Buy it cry for 5 minutes and don't tell your wife the price. She will love the pictures at the end!!! 
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Oct 7, 2009
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nomadbelat
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Registered: Sep 28, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 28
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Review Date: Sep 28, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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silent focus, great manual focus action, insane bokeh, fits well in hand, looks impressive, beautiful color rendition
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Cons:
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none
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I wanted to try this lens for a long time. When I got my 5D II, I knew I had to try it. It was weird when I first put it on. I hated the manual focus; it was so different. By the end of the first day of shooting with it, I wanted all of my lenses to employ the same kind of manual focus. I absolutely love it. It's so smooth and precise. Even in full daylight, you can shoot at 1.2 and get absolutely crisp images. I never stopped it down. I am saving a little each pay period to get this lens. I'm in love.
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Sep 28, 2009
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DamienG
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Registered: Aug 14, 2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Aug 14, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Fantastic colour reproduction, very sharp when stopped down.
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Cons:
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Can only be stopped down to f16, manual focus feels loose and is difficult to use
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I've had wanted one of these for a very long time, and when I eventually went out and got one was blown away by how good they actually are. If I had to give up all my lenses and could only keep one it would be this one.
I use it a lot for indoor sport. It needs to be stopped down to at least f2.2 for consistant results, by f2.8 it's easily the best lens I own for sharpness and colour reproduction.
I was worried that the focusing would be too slow for sports duties, but I have found no problems when using it on either my 1dmk3 or 1dsmk3.
As a portrait lens (or shooting anything that's not moving) I don't believe Canon currently produce a better lens.
Wherever I go I now always have this on one of my bodies ready to go. It's very sharp from f1.2 right through to f16.
The only downside to this lens that I have noticed is it's focusing ring.... It's rubbish. It has a lot of play in it, and makes fine adjustments very difficult. Best leave this lens in auto focus.
As far as image quality goes, this lens blows away everything else I own, even my 200 f2L IS.
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Aug 14, 2009
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andywang
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Registered: Jul 8, 2009
Location: Malaysia
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jul 8, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Superb Excellent photo quality & DOF, Perfect use for full frame camera, potraiture, candid shot.
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Cons:
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Slower then 85mm F1.8, Heavy but I know WHY.
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Love this lens very much, photo will from ordinary change to extraordinary thru this lens! Amazing lens!!!
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Jul 8, 2009
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emandavi
Online
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Registered: Feb 15, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 667
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Review Date: Jun 18, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,760.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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The bokeh is unbeatable. ...and the images are crisp and clean, even at 1.2 aperture.
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Cons:
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expensive, but I can understand why!
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I used this lens on my 1D camera, and it blew me away. Samples here, mostly taken at 1.4 and 1.2 aperture.
http://www.efelarca.smugmug.com/gallery/8579104_525QW#565480668_ncyxj.
I kept using it, even after the sun had set. I now realize how beatiful natural light photography can be when doing portraitures.
I only wish I'd bought this sooner. I recommend it be used on a professional camera like 1D() series. Their focus speed is amazing. Tried it on a Rebel XTi, and a lot of the shots were blurry.
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Jun 18, 2009
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sixgun
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Registered: Nov 21, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 98
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Review Date: Jun 8, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Speed, Sharpness, Color, Bokeh, Outrageous Creative potential!
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Cons:
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None, Really.
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This lens is a bit pricey, and for all practical purposes at 1.2 - 2.8 this is a manual focus lens - but what you get is nothing short of a work of art in glass if you know how to control it. I prefer manual focus to control DOF anyway - but some will not. I was absolutely blown away the very first time I used this lens. It has been on my 1D Mark III since the day I got it and never been off since. All of my portrait work is now done using this lens and the ability to soft focus in low light is better than anything I have every experienced. The only other lens I have seen that comes close in IQ is the 300L IS Prime (at $4400) - it really is THAT good.
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Jun 8, 2009
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blktaln
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Registered: Nov 1, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 64
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Review Date: May 14, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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build quality, sharp, creamy bokeh, shows nice saturated colors and contrast...
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Cons:
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draws battery, slow focus...
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just received this lens... it's magical. it captures nice colors and contrast, creates nice bokeh, to me... it's worth every penny!
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May 14, 2009
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alyssajul
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Registered: May 12, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 2
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Review Date: May 12, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,650.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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pops the foreground like no lens i've ever seen. beautiful backgrounds, great in low light.
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Cons:
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steep learning curve, heavy, a little slow, costs a small fortune
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I never leave for a session or wedding without this lens. In spite of its cost I would still buy this lens if its price doubled tomorrow. It really is that amazing. It takes practice, don't get me wrong. The depth of field gets real shallow, real fast as you approach f/1.2, but once you've mastered it, you'll wonder how you ever shot a portrait session without this baby. Just buy it.
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May 12, 2009
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x0SiN0x
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Registered: Jan 10, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 57
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Review Date: Mar 29, 2009
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Recommend? |
Price paid: $1,870.00
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Pros:
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Impressively sharp wide open when focus is dead on
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Cons:
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inconstant focus on two cameras, focus ring is a little awkward
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I originally rated this lens very highly, but after getting very inconstant focus I brought the lens in for testing. I had issues with this lens front and back focusing no matter what was done. I bought this lens to use at almost wide most of the time, so when focus was off at all it was not good. Im going to give this lens another try after some time, im hoping my copy had an issue. Originally thought my camera, but tried in a 20D and rebel with similar results.
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Mar 29, 2009
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