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Xenedis
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Registered: Feb 11, 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 6
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Review Date: Nov 1, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Incredibly wide aperture and low-light capability; sharpness and creamy bokeh.
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Cons:
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Slow autofocus and "focus-by-wire" mechanism.
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I purchased my 85/1.2L II last June after looking at the unit owned by a fellow photographer.
For some time I had dismissed the 85/1.2L II as viable for the sort of low-light photography for which I wanted a fast tele-prime: Bands. Movement plus low light makes autofocus a challenge. I previously owned the 85/1.8, which has a much more rapid autofocus.
However, after looking at this lens again, I decided that the AF speed wasn't quite the show-stopper I had originally declared it to be, and that I had to have it; so I went and bought one very soon after.
I've used it for a band shoot, as well as numerous portrait sessions. It provides an extra stop over my since-sold 85/1.8.
The irony is that I use off-camera lighting for much of my portraiture, and it's simply not possible to take advantage of the depth of field (or lack thereof) with an f/1.2 aperture. Perhaps if I stacked ND or CP filters, I could get away with it; but that presents focus issues, and at any rate, for a lot of portraiture, an ultra-narrow DOF isn't necessarily desirable.
It's well known that this lens's autofocus is very slow. At the other end of the scale, the 135/2L's AF is ready before I am. I've not experienced such a rapid AF before, and it may even be quicker than my 300/2.8L IS.
Despite the 85/1.2L II's slow AF, one can adapt to work with it. Sure, there's a learning curve, and it may be necessary to shoot more, especially if shooting wide open. I wouldn't recommend it for sports, but I've not actually used it for this application; mine gets a lot of use for portraiture and the odd still-life subject.
It's a heavy, expensive lens, but feels comfortable (to me) to use. I don't mind heavy lenses, and weight is par for the course with a lens of this beauty's specifications.
I cannot say I'm keen on the focus-by-wire mechanism, but I can live with it.
If you're into portraiture, this lens is probably the most capable optic money can buy. The 135/2L is also a fantastic portrait length, and provides extra reach for more telephoto compression or more distance from the subject. Both produce very creamy background blur which so beautifully isolates the subject from an indistinct background.
Now, for some examples.
At f/1.2:
http://www.xenedis.net/viewimage.php?i=2974173182
http://www.xenedis.net/viewimage.php?i=2596469511
http://www.xenedis.net/viewimage.php?i=2810306749
http://www.xenedis.net/viewimage.php?i=2617721547
http://www.xenedis.net/viewimage.php?i=2852017531
Stopped down:
http://www.xenedis.net/viewimage.php?i=2954683718
http://www.xenedis.net/viewimage.php?i=2958091916
http://www.xenedis.net/viewimage.php?i=2827825332
http://www.xenedis.net/viewimage.php?i=2852968032
More images taken with the 85/1.2L II:
http://www.xenedis.net/viewalbum.php?a=72157600060851672
If like myself you're drawn to ultra-fast primes, this one is not to be missed. If you're after a lens of this focal length suitable for indoor sports, the 85/1.8 would be the better choice.
I'd recommend the 85/1.2L II, as it delivers a magical, dreamy appearance to portraits when shot wide open.
When shot within its capabilities, it's a tool that will deliver exceptional results; but for the beginner, there could be a learning curve, and the narrow DOF wide open could result in OOF shots.
At its not-great minimum focus distance of 0.95m, this lens has a DOF of around 1cm when shot wide open. Very little room for error, but when you get it right, it will impress.
J.
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 Nov 1, 2008
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nahminator
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Registered: Dec 17, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 130
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Review Date: Oct 25, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,799.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, even wide open. Fast. Awesome DOF & bokeh. Amazing colors produced.
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Cons:
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Heavy for some, unless you gots some guns!
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This lens is absolutely SICK! I call this lens "the beast". It's incredibly sharp, so fast, amazing build quality, and produces amazing IQ and color. It's my favorite lens along with the 35 1.4. I use this in many situations, but love it best for portraits and low light indoor shots. This lizzy for tizzy is not one to miss...foshizo.
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Oct 25, 2008
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Ratnavel
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Registered: Sep 17, 2007
Location: Canada
Posts: 50
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Review Date: Oct 17, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Able shoot in low light situations, background blur
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Cons:
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Size/Weight, Price
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Most reviews on here are very true, and I don't have much new to add. This is one magnificient piece (pieces) of glass. You already knew that..
Reason I am even posting is to tell all those non-pro types out there that the speed of focusing is not as bad people are saying. I was expecting macro style slowness... The speed is pretty good although not as fast as my 70-200 2.8 IS or 24-70 2.8.
If speed of focusing is what's holding you back, please go into your local camera store or get one off a friend and try it.
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Oct 17, 2008
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aeubank
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Registered: Feb 20, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 648
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Review Date: Sep 2, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Great images, very sharp pictures! The BEST lens Canon makes!
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Cons:
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A little heavy, but good for me.
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As others have stated this lens is legendary!! This lens focuses a little slow but hey it's not a sports lens. This lens is primarily designed for two purposes: portraiture, and low light shooting. This lens excells very nicely on both of my 5d's and never fails to deliver images that are truly legendary!
I would highly recommend this lens if you are a professional DEDICATED to the best equipment available for the Canon mount system. You cannot go wrong with this lens. The lens is full of glass from the rear mount all the way to the massive front element.
I highly recommend this lens if you're serious about your photography.
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Sep 2, 2008
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mordicai
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Registered: Oct 11, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 131
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Review Date: Sep 1, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Color,Contrast,Sharpness, 1.2
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Cons:
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manual focus is weird,noisy AF on my 40d.
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I've never felt the desire to post a review of a lens here, but this lens is a whole different ball game from my other L lenses. This lens has knocked my socks off since I opened the box. The dreamy quality of this lens is so fine. Check out sample pics on pbase.com . I love the weight. It helps me keep a steady hand.
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Sep 1, 2008
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marcus riley
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Image Upload: Off
Registered: Sep 27, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 200
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Review Date: Aug 29, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,400.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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f1.2 speed and dof; sharp sharp sharp even wide open; unbelievable image quality; accurate AF; colors & contrast; !!!
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Cons:
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CA from about f1.8 down if not careful; focus a little slow; weight; other lenses get jealous ;)
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This lens is amazing! After all the lenses I have gone through, this is the only one I REALLY care about and love. If not for this lens, I would seriously consider trying Nikon's promising new D700. If canon had other focal lengths with the same quality as this lens, I'd buy all of them regardless of price.
Weight can be annoying on a 20D or Rebel. Not bad on a 1 series body as it hangs level and doesn't swing.
CA can come in to play but after f1.8 they are pretty well controlled if not gone completely.
My version is so sharp at f1.2 that I NEVER feel the need to stop down until I need more DOF. I use f1.2-1.6 about 95% of the time.
Even with version II, focus is pretty slow on consumer bodies. Right on par with most macros it seems, though, much faster than my Sigma 150mm macro. On a 1dmkII body, the focus is much faster and even good enough for tracking kids around as long as you aren't too close.
I find focus to be accurate.
Flare is never an issue.
Colors are rich and accurate.
The minimum focus length could be shorter, but I can't complain as it's equal to most other lenses in it's class.
After first getting it, I was in a room with about 8 other photographers and I passed it around to let everyone try it. After that, I was constantly being asked if I had the lens when we met and if they could use it.
The image quality is amazing!
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Aug 29, 2008
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AlainPhoto
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Registered: Jun 13, 2006
Location: France
Posts: 482
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Review Date: Aug 21, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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can deliver incredible images
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Cons:
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nothing important (heavy, big, expensive, slow focus, wierd manual focus drive, expensive ...)
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this lens is not legendary by mistake !
yes, on the paper you might question yourself about the crazy tradeoff you have to make versus the fantastic 85 1.8 !
yes, it's very expensive, big, heavy (1kg), the focus is not really the sport type (get noticably better with a pro AF though) ... all have been said here ... on paper yes, you have many reasons not to go for it
but it's a wonderful piece of glass, maybe the best available, who will produce wonderful images, can achieve focus in extremly low light, and who is really sharp at 1.2 !
so you will get less in-focus shot, but the images who will be in focus will be really better than any other lens can offer, so you'll take the trade-off
beware, if you try this lens, you'll want it. badly.
Alain
http://www.alaindavreux.com
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Aug 21, 2008
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pobz
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Registered: Aug 13, 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Aug 13, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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quality L lens build, superb colour and sharpness, f1.2,
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Cons:
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poor manual focus implementation, slow AF, heavy and a little bulky, not weather proof
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There's nothing more to report of the positive aspects of this lens that hasn't already been mentioned - the most important part is the quality image, and THAT is does pass with flying colours.
So, I will mention a few things about the operation of this lens that has surprised me a little.
There is no ring seal between the back of the lens which seals to the body. All my other L lenses do, so I am a little puzzled why this does not. Therefore even less weather-proof.
The manual focus operates electronically when switched to manual mode. (the focus ring activates electronically to the actual focus operation in the lens, unlike many other L lenses that are mechanically attached) The focus ring is VERY loose and easy to knock, therefore easy knock out of focus. It also has a long circumference in the focusing ring which is why the AF is slow damn slow. Sports lens or not, this for an L lens is quite shabby. The focus ring also moves at the same rate, like traditional lenses; unlike the neat short focus movement with a mechanical advantage ring which allows more movement with the ring of other canon lenses.
I think canon have cheapened the operation of this lens by not supplying, for example, switch for shortening the back focus given the huge focus ring circumference.
Be very careful putting this lens on the body as the back optic is pretty much flush and very wide. You need to be dead accurate.
Other than that, you'll get great images.
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Aug 13, 2008
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rentedmule
Offline
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Registered: Jun 13, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 41
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Review Date: Aug 4, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp everywhere
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Cons:
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heavy
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Its not the equipment, its the photographer. Except for this lens and the 300f/2.8L IS. These two may be this best in Canon's stable right now. I am one of those guys who always buys the next grade down from the top. There are very few times when buying the "best" translates into proportional returns. This lens is the exception to my rule. After renting one for a week I ordered one for myself. It has been worth every cent. There may be a little learning curve but the best people shots I have taken to this point were taken the first day I put this lens on.
If you are serious about indoor people photography you need this one. The only problem you will have is all of a sudden your existing lenses will see less use as It is hard to take this one off the camera.
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Aug 4, 2008
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scjurgen
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Registered: May 18, 2008
Location: Italy
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Jul 30, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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sharpness, bokeh, shallow DoF, contrast, focus range. Last but not least the WOW effect when you mount it and people see that big big black hole...
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Cons:
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slow focus (but it is not a sport lens).
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A great lens, but you need a lot of patience/time to master it.
If you have AF individual lens adjustment (1D) you should put the focus slightly behind so you get for example the eyes sharper. It is easy to make mistakes if the subject or your camera moves even slightly while shooting (increase f-stops).
This lens is my all time favorite and got totally in love with it.
Manual focus will help in many occasions to get the best out of it.
Calculate also to use ND8 filters to get the super bokeh even in strong light conditions (I use 77mm with step-up from it's 72 to 77 so you might save some money if you got 77mm caps).
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Jul 30, 2008
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Bruce Sawle
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Sep 26, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 4519
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Review Date: Jul 22, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Super sharp Wide open. Incredible Bokeh.
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Cons:
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Learning curve, focus speed
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I love this lens. It may never leave my MK III. To me this is the perfect focal length on a 1.3 to FF camera.
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Jul 22, 2008
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nsbkaizen
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Registered: Jul 5, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 44
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Review Date: Jul 5, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,800.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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-very sharp at f1.2
-out of focus rendering is superb
-ability to isolate a single element in a picture is outstanding
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Cons:
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-weight
-price
-slow AF from infinity to closest focusing
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This lens is not as easy to use as compared to the 35L for example but the results are spectacular when you nail the focus. The sweet spot is about a meter from the subject which is about the closest focusing distance. Portraits taken at this range will have the eyes in sharp focus while the rest of the features dissolve creamily into a beautiful blur - maybe not your conventional portraiture but I love the look.
I would highly recommend changing to a high precision focus screen and get used to manual focusing. Your keeper rate will be much better.
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Jul 5, 2008
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Liquidpics
Offline
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Registered: Jun 14, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 1107
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Review Date: Jul 1, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,750.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very sharp wide open, selective paper thin d.o.f. allowing for creative focus, excellent contrast and color, and dreamy/buttery bokeh. The AF is also noticeably faster then the first version of this lens.
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Cons:
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It's not cheap but, for a one of a kind truly amazing lens, you get what you pay for.
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Jul 1, 2008
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george malamis
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Aug 9, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 894
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Review Date: Jun 25, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,599.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very sharp wide open, beautiful colors, contrast, and bokeh.
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Cons:
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Cost - but anything this good has to... Focus speed is slow
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Jun 25, 2008
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dan727
Offline
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Registered: Jan 31, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 721
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Review Date: Jun 25, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Same thing everyone else has said... color, creamy bokeh, sharpness.
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Cons:
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Price of course! Weight. Danger of dinging rear element. Just be cautious about working with the lens and you will be okay.
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I do not want to re-hash what everyone has already said about this lens. I recently sold my 85mm f/1.8 to get this lens and wondered if the price differential was worth it. You can just visit the 85L thread in the Canon forum to see the results of this lens for yourself. The f/1.8 is an awesome lens for the money... but if you get a chance you will find the f/1.2L is worth every penny of its premium price.
Just some observations about the lens. It is gargantuan compared to the 85mm f/1.8. Size and weight wise. But I use it on a 40D and it feels real balanced. It might feel awkward on a smaller camera like the Xti's. The lens probably feels right at home on the 5D, but does a fine job on a 1.6X camera.
As others have said the rear element is nearly flush with the mount. Be prepared to baby the lens. Build wise it feel like a tank but just be cautious when removing or putting on the lens.
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Jun 25, 2008
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Andy M
Offline
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Registered: Sep 10, 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 9
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Review Date: May 13, 2008
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Recommend? |
Price paid: Not Indicated
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Pros:
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Bokeh heaven, sharp as a tack, wonderful colour and contrast.
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Cons:
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Weight, slow focus, minimum focus distance.
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Already owning a 135L I bought my first 85L mkII last year. It was a quality lens, but I eventually sold it through lack of use, and through me thinking the cheaper - and just as sharp 135L - would cover any need I had for the 85.
As always happens, as soon as I sold it I began to need it again for portraiture projects. The creamy bokeh of the 85L cannot be replicated, and so I once again had my debit card jumping out of my wallet and into the camera stores arms.
A truly excellent lens - one which Nikon have yet to come close to comparing - and definitely a 'keeper'. On the 1Ds mkIII it is astoundingly good, and exceptionally well balanced.
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May 13, 2008
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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185
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329510
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Jul 28, 2021
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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94% of reviewers
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$1,767.29
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.71
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7.95
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9.6
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