Jman13 wrote:
So, I've come back to Canon after being on Nikon for the past bit, and I've rebuilt most of my kit. One thing missing is a portrait prime in the 85-100mm range, and I'm a bit conflicted in this realm. One potentially dumb thing I did is sell my copy of the RF Samyang 85mm f/1.4 a few months ago, and now I wish I had it back, but aside from braving the eBay lottery for one of those, I'm looking at the RF 85mm f/2 and adapting the EF 85mm f/1.2L II.
I don't shoot portraits nearly as much as I did a few years ago, so I really don't want to spend more than $600-$700. I'd likely buy used for both, so we're talking around $500 for the RF 85 vs ~600-700 for the EF 85. I am not going to up the budget here and go for an 85/1.4 VCM or even the EF 85/1.4L, as they're much more than I want to spend.
I've owned the RF 85/2 and enjoyed it quite a bit, and I've also owned the version I of the EF 85L, but that was 17 years ago, and on a 1D Mark II / 1Ds Mark II. I know the 85L will focus much more accurately on R bodies, but for those who own and use it now, is it as reliable on focus as the RF glass is, specifically with shallow depth of field EyeAF? How do you find the CA in real world use? I'm not going to be using it for action photography, so we're talking predominantly static portraits, and the occasional walking type shot, so AF speed I'm not particularly concerned about.
I have seen Gordon Laing's video comparing the two, which made me lean 85L, but I'd still like a few additional data points for those who may have used both on an R body, and I flip flop between having the faster aperture and more unique rendering and the compact size and clean CA control of the RF. The macro capability of the RF is of less primary importance since I also have the RF 100L Macro (which I'm also currently using for portraits, but I'd like something a bit faster).
Thanks
The Samyang 85 1.4 AF is currently on Amazon in EF mount:
