PvTsAm wrote:
Hi,
I am a professional wedding photographer and i own canon 85 mm 1.2 ii lens
as you all know its not a cheap lens . i did research for about one whole year before buying the lens and the results are just crazy (POSITIVELY GOOD) . I used it on Canon 5dsr before and then i bought the mammoth Canon 1dx mark ii body to better my photography experience
my question here is... should i sell the 85mm 1.2ii and get the new 85 1.4?
If you already own an f/1.2L variant, I'd say it's not really "necessary" to sell it. Even Canon don't consider the new f/1.4L version to be a replacement - and I seem to remember they announced they would continue to sell both lenses side-by-side (which they STILL do). It sounds to me that (like most photographers), you feel that the newest lens will help you improve shots that your existing lenses might miss. It's impossible to say if this is the case but quite a few photographers struggle to use this lens because they mistakenly use the focus-and-recompose method which us useless with f/1.2 when your subject is close enough to fill much of the frame. The DOF is just so thin that there's no room for error. But lens/camera envy is nothing new. This happens every time a new lens or camera is announced so you're not alone. Usually a new camera draws a desire to "upgrade" but a new camera won't magically help you to suddenly start taking better pictures. A good lens can made quite a difference though. A poor lens will not be doing you any favors.
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Switch the aperture on your f/1.2L lens to f/1.4 and see what you like about the pictures it takes. If you're used to the incredible speed of some other lenses, the 85mm f/1.2L lens will seem slower but the speed it can lock focus is considered more than adequate by most users. Some Wedding photographers consider this to be one of their most important lenses. It's sometimes considered the essential lens because the "bride expects" certain "dreamy shots". Years ago photographers at weddings would smear Vaseline over the lens to soften the details in the shot and it was VERY common to mount a filter with Vaseline smeared around the outside of the glass to produce a blurred effect. These days you can do that with Photoshop, but the effects of a lens with shallow DOF is far superior to any digital magic you could come up with.
sounds crazy ? well i have been using the 1.2 since past 14 months and its awesome
but the drawbacks for me are very annoying , slow focus and heavy weight are just starters
This is a portrait lens. Not an action lens. It's still relatively swift to operate unless you're shooting moving animals or people with it... and even then it performs well in most lighting situations. The weight of this lens is 1025g (f/1.2L) compared to 950g (F1.4L)
i feel like the weight of the lens is not proportionate . the moment i saw 85 mm 1.4 2 days ago i lost my sleep . it feels like i m really tired of the 85 mm 1.2 ii because of its bulkiness
The main reason to buy this lens is because of its performance (specifically the amazing Bokeh). In fact, that's what you're paying for.
i switch lenses way too often , and 85 mm is my main lens in the weddings .. but it just won't focus properly and fast
I'm mostly using mine on a 6D and 5DIII and the speed of focus is under a second.
i have been embarrassed in front of my clients a lot of time adjusting my focus in the low light , also the pictures are not very sharp and trust me i literally held my breath when i took pictures
Cons of 1.2 for me
- slow focus
-super heavy
That's because of the optics. The build is fairly heavy although this is a LIGHT lens compared to some of the 1.5 to 3.8+ kilogram White lenses. Why do other manufactures offer so few (if any) f/1.2 AF lens? Because it's a hard lens to apply reliable AF to. There's a lot of mathematics that goes into the 85mm f/1.2L lenses. You can see how different the design is when you look at the fly-by-wire manual focus system and the unique merging of the rear optical glass with the electronic contacts which virtually merge with the glass on the back of the lens.
-small size makes it very hard to handle as it feels like a rock ( i guess the weight is not balanced properly)
Are you using an extender battery pack on your camera or a 1Dx (as noted above?). If so, the balance ought to be acceptable. There are much heaver lenses out there. The popular 100-400mm lenses are around 1570g compared to the 1025g of the 85L f/1.2L.
Pros for me -
1. the corners create good vignette and the photograph overall looks like it doesnt need editing
2. quality of the lens is super class
3. 1.2 great aperture
4. looks awesome (yes, seriously)
My wife and I are often approached by photographers who ask to see our f/1.2L lenses. Sometimes its the 50mm f/1.2L but usually the 85mm f/1.2L is the one they want to see.
5. feels awesome (it really matters to me)
the reasons are clear to you guys just one more thing
the new 85 1.4 looks like 35 1.4 ii which i own and really adore
It does. But there's some less than glowing reviews out there on the new 85mm f/4L lens. There seems to be a level of disappointment in the results from the lens, blaming the optics and implying under-performance with image quality. Reading between the lines of the reviews and specs, this lens was designed to appeal to videographers.
so i wont be uncomfortable getting the same looking lens , also the grip looks great because its longer in size .
what are your thoughts?
The 85mm f/1.4L lens still has Chromatic Aberration problems although there's less PF due to new coatings. You expect to see CA in an f/1.2 lens but in an f/1.4 lens you would have expected Canon to have managed to eliminate it almost completely using the new coatings, the new optics and with all they've learned from past lens designs. There is still a bolder, stronger Bokeh from the f/1.2L lens. If your camera isn't calibrated to match the lens (most DSLR's require an MFA adjustment which MUST be performed on a Tripod) then your shots will be hit and miss. The same applies to technique. The f/1.2L lens is NOT a lens that is forgiving when using the focus-and-recompose method. With those two factors in mind, this lens should produce stunning results on any FF or similar camera.
People like to talk about how they can "hand hold" slow shots using the stabilizer on the f/1.4L lens but that won't freeze the subject. If people are moving and you're trying to captures a moment in extremely low light, you'll end up with a blurred image due to the very long exposure time encouraged by the I.S. on the lens. With an f/1.2 lens you're able to capture the exposure in less time with a faster shutter speed and less chance for blurred subjects.
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There's some advantages in owning the new lens but some of the members here who bought it weren't bowled over by their decision to buy. Of the three reviews here on DPreview by members, two warn of the CA issues not being resolved. This is NOT an action lens. It's NOT a wildlife lens. It's NOT a sporting lens. But people can always try to use it as one if they wish. They're just not using the lens for its intended purpose. This lens is a tool, just like every other lens.You already have one so it seems unnecessary to buy the new f/1.4 version just because of the IS.
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It's shots like this where IS might be useful. I'm sure something like this would be easy for the f/1.4 because the stabilizer kicks in but it was just the right shutter speed to freeze the scene for me at f/1.4 using the f/1.2L lens.... But how often are you shooting in almost near-darkness?
There's a quality to the Bokeh at f/1.2 that people don't seem to be demonstrating in their comparison shots using both the f/1.2L and f/1.4L lenses
The f/1.2L lens ... still squeezing out bokeh at f/1.4
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There have been a number of occasions when I really did need f/1.2 over my f/1.4 lenses. These were usually at indoor venues at night with no interior lighting other than individual candles inside frosted jars (for example). I was told not to use a flash by the venue organizers. A tripod was considered public liability. I just couldn't nail the shots with f/1.4 and it actually surprised me. I didn't want to crank up the ISO any higher either. This was really dim light and it was quite a lesson for me because it demonstrated to me that fast lenses weren't just about bokeh when it came down to essentials. People were moving about so slow shutter speeds with IS weren't practical. I nailed all my shots with f/1.2
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If I was considering a new lens and had no 85mm in my kit, I tend to move towards newer lenses so I would be prone to considering the EF 85mm f/1.4L USM quite seriously. But I also like to use fast lenses for extremely lowlight use - so I would be quite confused as to which lens to select. I think Wedding photographers tend to enjoy using the 70-200mm f/2.8L and the 100mm f/2.8L Macro lenses routinely and these lenses cover the focal range that the 85mm f/1.4L lens covers. Both offer strong bokeh as well. This is where the dilemma lies. In the end, only you can make the decision as to which lens to use for your work. But if Canon still made that f/0.95 lens I'd probably buy one if it worked well with modern digital cameras. I need as much light as I can possibly muster so for me, it's still going to be f/1.2 until something faster comes along.
