p.4 #2 · Canon 85mm f1.4 IS L First Images. Show us your Images.
I got this lens this weekend, the same day a friend of a friend had told me of an event going on at a local hotel nearby so I spent a few hours there trying it out. The thin depth of field at f/1.4 definitely requires careful focus and consideration, prior to this I used the f/1.8 which is generally more forgiving. There is a little bit of fringing when shooting wide open, visible in both these photos if you zoom in on the original on flickr. But I think I'll get a lot of use out of this lens in years to come.
I don't think the photos I took at the event are anything special, to me this was just typical unplanned impromptu walk-around use. But I can post several more if you guys want to see those types of photos. Having IS really helps for these types of events.
p.4 #14 · Canon 85mm f1.4 IS L First Images. Show us your Images.
IMO, Trading 1/3 stop in light and a tiny difference in bokeh for:
- Image stabilization
- Lighter weight
- Closer focusing distance
- Sharper
- Less CA
- Faster focusing
Is well worth the tradeoff for me. In fact, it a total no-brainer for the type of work I do (weddings/portraits). I'll be buying one as soon as I can find it in stock.
p.4 #15 · Canon 85mm f1.4 IS L First Images. Show us your Images.
deepbluejh wrote:
IMO, Trading 1/3 stop in light and a tiny difference in bokeh for:
- Image stabilization
- Lighter weight
- Closer focusing distance
- Sharper
- Less CA
- Faster focusing
Is well worth the tradeoff for me. In fact, it a total no-brainer for the type of work I do (weddings/portraits). I'll be buying one as soon as I can find it in stock.
I sold off my beloved 85 1.2 after a couple weeks of side-by-side testing. I did have an emotional attachment to my 85 1.2, due to the history and amazing feel it produced and thought that I would really miss it. After testing out the 85 1.4 and with all the positive characteristics you mentioned, I firmly believe I made the right choice with the 85 1.4. Results are spectacular and having many more keeper shots.
p.4 #17 · Canon 85mm f1.4 IS L First Images. Show us your Images.
It can't consolidate either as the 85mm is not in between in anyway with those lenses. It sounds like you have one lens too many currently. Now if you were saying a 100mm IS that would be a "consolidation": how about the 100mm macro IS?
p.4 #18 · Canon 85mm f1.4 IS L First Images. Show us your Images.
Robin Smith wrote:
It can't consolidate either as the 85mm is not in between in anyway with those lenses. It sounds like you have one lens too many currently. Now if you were saying a 100mm IS that would be a "consolidation": how about the 100mm macro IS?
I don't need two lens. I was looking for a prime portrait lens for bokeh and lightweight. I wasn't happy with the 85 1.4 Art and was planning to sell it after getting the 135 1.8 Art. I never did. This lens pique my interest and I'm just thinking of selling both and be fine with one focal lens.
p.4 #19 · Canon 85mm f1.4 IS L First Images. Show us your Images.
I own both. After a weekend of shooting with the new 85, my 85ii is for sale. I found it to be superior in every way including bokeh quality at the edges of the frame. It is noticeably sharper at f1.4 on my 5div than 85ii and the colors are even more saturated than the already excellent 85ii. The lens has more proportional weight distribution and handles quite a bit better than 85ii, it feels like 24-70ii on 5div. AF is MUCH faster and a lot quiter than 85ii, dpaf 4k servo tracking is superb, the lens support slow cinematic AF transitions (5div menu), IS is one of the strongest inplementation yet, works very well for video including panning. I’ve never been able to shoot videos with portrait lenses w/o tripod, now it’s a piece of cake.
Having said all that, 85ii is still the second best choice, IMO. And for many may represent a better value with current prices crashing and slightly used copies approaching $1k which makes it the biggest bargain ot of any manufacturer.
BadShooter wrote:
wow, what a great lens!!!
QUESTION: For those who have both the 1.2 and 1.4...what are the differences on focus speed & weight?
p.4 #20 · Canon 85mm f1.4 IS L First Images. Show us your Images.
I haven't used mine a lot, yet, but have shot some corporate environmental portraits with it in a modern glass-walled type office building using available light and a lot of shooting against the windows with strong backlighting. This is one area where I felt the 85/1.2 wasn't great with a fair amount of veiling flare. The 85/1.4L handled these situations much better, to the point where I didn't even think about it and just shot. While there was some lowering of contrast where a very bright area was against someone's body, the way the light kind of wrapped around and slightly bled along edges looked quite natural. I was also pleased not to find much in the way of LOCA fringing, and when there was, in a few shots, it was pretty easy to fix in post. Fringing was definitely a problem with the old 85 and in strong backlighting, AF could be unreliable. The new lens is much more consistent. I did have to dial in some MFA, but it seems to be more the camera because I have to do it with pretty much all my lenses on that body.
Hard to describe the bokeh differences, but I would say the new 85 is more Guassian and has a fairly clean, unsurprising look to the background, which is good and bad. It's good because so far it's safe and predictable. Bad because it's kind of boring. But it's a tradeoff I'll take for the faster, more consistent AF, IS, better backlight performance, etc.
I've been shooting it mostly at f/2 just to get a touch more depth of field, sharpness and background information. It's definitely sharp enough. Maybe the ART and Otus are sharper, but for people photos, I can't complain.
Looking forward to see what Canon does with the 135. A 105/1.8 would also be cool. I've tried the Nikon 105/1.4 and it's amazing, but I could give up half a stop for some size and weight reduction for 90% of the goodness of that lens.
