RF 85mm f/1.2L USM... a refined gem from Canon (REVIEW)

marshwader wrote:

The price is over the top and whatever happens I'll hang on to the EF version if only because you can use it with the drop in filter system. In fact since I got the R5 i've only ever considered adding RF lenses while keeping the EF versions for the great advantage of the drop in variable ND filter etc especially for video.

I agree the price is high.  But it's only a little more than the EF version when it was at maximum retail.  I traded my EF lens in to cover some of the cost of the RF version.  It was a hard decision to make because I had a very decent copy of the EF lens.

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Preparing my old EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens for sale...

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Whilst I had what was considered a "truly excellent" copy of the EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens, it still didn't come close to the reliability and optical quality of the newer RF model.  I won't use drop-in filters unless the lens itself demands them... because they compromise the environmental seals and allow dust incursion into the sensor bay.  I also note that the Drop-in filter has some of the structural integrity compromised with the "hollow side" design which in turn is more likely to be stressed with heavier lenses and may flex if the entire assembly is dropped by accident.  As you would know, the glass optic at the back of the older EF model is virtually flush with the rear of the lens.  The drop-in filter system was designed for the much larger White-lenses that had no means of attaching a supersized filter to the front threads of the lens.  And using a drop in filter system on an f/1.2 lens is only useful in bright daylight...  so removing it and not having something to plug the hole with becomes a serious problem if you haven't shelled out a small fortune for the hard-to-find blank or clear drop-in replacement.  Knowing that other people were likely upgrading, I elected to sell my EF 85mmL lens, knowing there was a fairly slim window for me to upgrade to the RF version. Since I was also abandoning the Full Frame DSLR system for Full Frame Mirrorless system, there was no point in me retaining the EF lens when the RF lens was essentially replacing it.
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The rear element of the EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens is flush with the rear mounting ring.

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I thought about keeping the EF lens.  It's produced a LOT of wonderful images for me over the years.  When sold it, there was not so much as a microscopic scratch on any of the shiny plastic surfaces.  The lens had never once been without a protective filter and it was always handled with a considerable amount of car.  So I ended up selling what was a mechanically and cosmetically pristine lens to make room for the RF lens equivalent. 
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Some of my shots from the EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens ...

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It would be easy enough for me to attempt to justify a purchase by claiming the new item is "so much better than the old item" - but just look at all the glowing reviews from professional photographers.  There's nothing remotely negative about the new RF lens beyond weight and price and all the glowing praises are from well established reviewers.  Even the labs that test and compare lenses were able to demonstrate scientifically that the new RF 85mmL was optically superior to the old version.
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An excellent example of how the new optical performance (via coatings and the new BR optics) can be seen here.  The shot from the RF 85mm was downsized slightly to match the scale of the 50mm EF lens.   Notice all the chromatic issues with-the image on the left.  Stars were rendered with massive purple halos that should not exist.  Now take a look at the shot in the right... That cluster of stars towards the lower left corner is the Southern Pleiades and they should be a sky-blue color.  Only the RF lens was able to render them properly and without all that absurd amount of purple fringing.

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The original EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens was an improvement on the even earlier version of this lens.  The Mk II had an upgraded CPU, was 1.8x faster and received optical coatings missing on the Mk1. It was faster and more precise with its older focus-by-wire system... but it was still unreliable.  Something that really bothered me with the EF version is that you had to calibrate your camera using the MFA (micro-focus adjustment setting) whenever using one of the f/1.2 lenses....  and the really annoying thing is that you could accurate calibrate the lens for the camera but then it would mysteriously skip focus again.  Worse still, if you swapped lenses and then returned to the EF 85mmL lens, you often randomly lost your calibrations and the lens would back-focus SEVERELY.  More tan a few members here have complained about this. The reason for this lack of reliability is that every camera and lens had tolerance differences of a fraction of a millimeter when assembled.  Hence the MFA option being essential.  But if you're leaving DSLR cameras behind, the EF 85mm f/1.2L II lens becomes redundant.  Your focus will be more reliable on a mirrorless body but you will still suffer the results from fairly noticeable Chromatic Aberrations - including visible LOCA and strong PF.  The RF version handles these issues easily and offers much faster and perfectly reliable Auto Focus accuracy... something that the EF lens could never hope to match.
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You can certainly save money by not buying the new lens and sticking to the earlier version.  But the image quality, future compatibility and AF speed will be lacking.
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EOS Ra with the Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM lens