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Archive 2015 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85...

nehemiahphoto
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

phuang3 wrote:
True. The more distance the sharper the R80 is. From my observation, lenses with fixed rear element usually got better closeup performance. R80 has moving rear element and it will move away toward infinity. 85L is better in this regard. Maybe the Minolta is another. This principle also applies on macro lenses.

The Limited seems well corrected in that regard, at all distances. I have noticed the R80 struggles up close too.

Dec 13, 2015 at 10:51 AM

nehemiahphoto
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

wayne seltzer wrote:
They are all nice lenses but like my N 85 the best!

I think I like the N85 best too Wayne

The thing that doesn't come through on these tests but does with real life shooting is the shadow and highlight detail are exceptionally nuanced on the N85, especially the shadow detail. And greens are really lovely on that lens. I am waiting for better light to judge the Limited's color response in the field with regards to highlight and shadow detail.

The Limited is interesting in that's it's the sharpest of the lenses WO, but also has a pinch of veiling, which I think will be gorgeous for portraits. The Limited is the only lens I haven't shot enough to draw a real conclusion.

Edited on Dec 13, 2015 at 08:29 PM · View previous versions

Dec 13, 2015 at 10:58 AM

wayne seltzer
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

nehemiahphoto wrote:
I think I like the N85 best too Wayne

The thing that doesn't come through on these test but does with real life shooting is the shadow and highlight are exceptionally nuanced on the N85, especially the shadow detail. And greens are really lovely on that lens. I am waiting for better light to judge the Limited's color response in the field with regards to highlight and shadow detail.

The Limited is interesting in that's it's the sharpest of the lenses WO, but also has a pinch of veiling, which I think will be gorgeous for portraits. The limited is...Show more →

Yes, the Limited looks great and would be interesting to see more color and micro-contrast shot comparisons when the weather gets better. Would be interesting to see how much sharper the Otus 85 is WO. But the Otus 85's bokeh is more neutral and not the soft beauty type bokeh like the N 85. I prefer the neutral for environmental portraits but the soft for most other types of portraits. The AF of the N85 is handy sometimes too. Especially for narrow DOF street shooting or weddings.
R80 has some beautiful rendering stopped down from what I have seen posted over the years but is not sharp enough for me WO. I have the Rokinon/Samy 85/1.4 and it is optimized for WO and is a lot of bang for the buck. Slightly sharper WO than my 85Lmk2 but does not get as sharp as the L stopped down.
Anyway, thanks for the great comparison shots and for doing all this!

Dec 13, 2015 at 11:43 AM

nehemiahphoto
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

Here is sharpness WO at about 10-12 feet as there was some discussion about the mfd/near distance performance of the R80.

uncropped

Mino Limited

85L

N85

R80

Dec 13, 2015 at 02:43 PM

nehemiahphoto
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

Vingetting (WO)

85L

Mino Limited

N85

R80

Dec 13, 2015 at 02:45 PM

nehemiahphoto
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

Off center sharpness @ 1.4 (flat surface)

I wasn't surprised the N85 was best here. In the field, I have not been very impressed with the off center and corner performance of the 85L at times when WO.

uncropped

85L

Mino

N85

R80

Dec 13, 2015 at 02:48 PM

nehemiahphoto
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

For Derek/Sebboh--here's the (slight) difference in MFD between the N85 and Mino Limited. I was mistaken, the Limited has slightly better MFD

Mino limited

N85

Edited on Dec 13, 2015 at 02:55 PM · View previous versions

Dec 13, 2015 at 02:53 PM

nehemiahphoto
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

Jman13 wrote:
I too would like to see the humble Samyang/Rokinon 85/1.4 included. it's got such creamy bokeh and fairly good sharpness as well.

If you want to send me the Samyang, I am happy to shoot it against the Mino Limited and send it back to you.

Dec 13, 2015 at 02:55 PM

nehemiahphoto
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p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

wayne seltzer wrote:
Yes, the Limited looks great and would be interesting to see more color and micro-contrast shot comparisons when the weather gets better. Would be interesting to see how much sharper the Otus 85 is WO. But the Otus 85's bokeh is more neutral and not the soft beauty type bokeh like the N 85. I prefer the neutral for environmental portraits but the soft for most other types of portraits. The AF of the N85 is handy sometimes too. Especially for narrow DOF street shooting or weddings.
R80 has some beautiful rendering stopped down from what I have seen posted...Show more →

Aesthetically, the 85 Otus always seems bland to me, so I haven't had much interest in it. Ming Thein said the new 85 Milvus has more personality, and I am still waiting for the Batis 85.

Dec 13, 2015 at 02:58 PM

LightShow
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p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

I wouldn't mind seeing the SMC A* 85/1.4 in the mix too

Dec 13, 2015 at 03:02 PM

nehemiahphoto
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p.2 #11 · p.2 #11 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

Conclusion:
The 85L – the “budget” option here, but it really produces. I have used it consistently for about a year. It's my least favorite of the 4 lenses here though. I love the build, MF experience specs and price. I have found in the field the lens doesn't hold highlights or shadows as I like, and the colors are too saturated. Somehow I never notice this lens while shooting—it’s not fuss and I love it.

Minolta 85 Limited –the verdict is still out, but I think this lens in an absolute monster. It’s the sharpest of the 4 WO. It has a pinch of veiling haze, but those glorious Minolta colors. The ability to AF and exif with an adapter is awesome. The price sucks

Front heavy on the A7 cameras, and will draw attention when shooting…

R 80 – There’s been much written/said about this lens. I love the softness and tonality WO, but sometimes the bokeh gets a touch busy. It’s the most flawed lens WO, but I absolutely love the rendering with it's smooth, delicate look with gorgeous warm tonality. The R80 gives files a distinctive look—Zhangyue here on MF really understands the drawing style of the lens. It's my favorite for b/w work. I wish it wasn’t so hard to MF WO, and that it wasn’t so expensive…

N 85 – This lens in the field is absolutely gorgeous. My N85 pictures are rich, dimensional, nuanced and bokeh is killer, slightly less smooth and abstracted than the Mino Limited, but to me about perfect. I can immediately identify my N85 pictures (in a good way). I didn’t have a great experience with the Fringer people of eBay, so sadly I probably won’t keep this. Large lens too, so not great for making people comfortable…

note: One thing I neglected to mention but noticed while shooting, the N85 lets in more light than the other lenses at 1.4--it's usually the same as the FD at 1.2, or slower than the FD @ 1.2 but quicker than the Mino Limited and R80 @ 1.4.

Of course taste is subjective, but if all these lenses were the same price, I would keep the N85 or Mino Limited. Special nod to the R80 though—I sold my first one and missed it, and I almost never miss lenses. Just a couple photos I feel show what you get in the field. I’ll post a better Mino Limited photo once I shoot with it more.

N85

R80

85L

Mino Limited

Edited on Dec 17, 2015 at 02:35 PM · View previous versions

Dec 13, 2015 at 03:51 PM

MAubrey
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p.2 #12 · p.2 #12 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

Considering Marco Cavina's comparison with his own MTF tests of the three 85mm f/1.2 lenses (Zeiss C/Y, Canon FD & EF), I'm surprised to see the FD85L do so poorly against the Contax N.

But that's okay. My intuition says that my copy of the FD85L does better than this, but of course I can't know for sure.

Edited on May 20, 2016 at 01:05 PM · View previous versions

Dec 13, 2015 at 04:34 PM

Lee Saxon
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p.2 #13 · p.2 #13 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

Very nicely done tests! Cool thread.

Dec 13, 2015 at 04:46 PM

uhoh7
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p.2 #14 · p.2 #14 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

They all look pretty good.

The 85L has a very nice dog shot there, and the BW portrait is nice, though color would be much more interesting for evaluating the lens. The boy with R80 is very nice too.

A real comparison would include long landscapes at multiple apertures, and some portrait situations with various backgrounds, but that's alot of work

Dec 13, 2015 at 06:05 PM

Coltrane
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p.2 #15 · p.2 #15 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

Thanks for this great thread! They all performed well, but I liked the Contax N85 the best, and the Canon the least.

Dec 13, 2015 at 07:08 PM

phuang3
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p.2 #16 · p.2 #16 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

I was hoping my Mitakon 85/1.2 can put to the test too. It's sharp WO, and has very good MFD performance.

Dec 13, 2015 at 07:27 PM

nehemiahphoto
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p.2 #17 · p.2 #17 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

uhoh7 wrote:
They all look pretty good.

The 85L has a very nice dog shot there, and the BW portrait is nice, though color would be much more interesting for evaluating the lens. The boy with R80 is very nice too.

A real comparison would include long landscapes at multiple apertures, and some portrait situations with various backgrounds, but that's alot of work

I rarely use my 85's for landscape stuff cause I have a tele that the FL, so not much use for me. And I shoot stopped down anyway, so no need to carry these heaving things up mountains. And if I did use a prime, I would pick up a c/y 85 2.8 for it's size, iq and price. But yeah, it would be a more comprehensive test.

I thought about doing different backgrounds, but I am so familiar with the lenses in that regard (except the Limited) I didn't bother--I got tired of testing

The only thing I am very curious about is picking up an a900--so cheap nowadays--to mount the Limited on. That was my main camera for about 2 years of solid shooting, and while it had weaknesses, the tones and textures of those files along with the massive OVF, utiilitarian build and uber reliable center AF made for the most pleasant portrait camera I have used. I used the Mino 85, ZA 135 and 85, Mino 80-200G on it. Such nice gradation and color separation. Then Sony's colors went down the tubes, but people seem to like the a7rII files better.

Here's the color version for you comparison:

Dec 13, 2015 at 08:13 PM

cputeq
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p.2 #18 · p.2 #18 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

Great test, that Mino transition shot is awesome and a noticeable difference. Of course, bokeh cream may not be one's end-all be-all for a lens like this, but I have to admit, it's very nice to see!

Dec 13, 2015 at 08:37 PM

wayne seltzer
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p.2 #19 · p.2 #19 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

Last N85 dog shot is excellent. Hope you get your Fringer adapter mess sorted out soon and keep the N85!

Do you still have the ZA 135? Such a great portrait lens too with great bokeh.

Dec 14, 2015 at 10:26 AM

Steve Spencer
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p.2 #20 · p.2 #20 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80

Very nice test. All four lenses shine in slightly different ways. I think both the AF lenses have lovely renderings with good central sharpness with just a touch for SA for a softness that I find nice and both have good bokeh even if slightly different. I slightly prefer the N85 bokeh, but both are very nice and I am sure many have the reverse preference. The MF lenses both are behind slightly in sharpness and bokeh, but have lovely renderings for portraits. I love the shot of the boy with the R80 above, for example. These all have their place and for people who like render rather than raw acutance then I think these lenses will always have a following among portrait shooters.

Dec 14, 2015 at 11:58 AM

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