thunder storm
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I know no one has a crystal ball, but probably we could share some guesses somewhat based on reasoning and/or riming history on if an RF 85mm f/1.4 will ever happen, how much longer it will take, and if the result would be good enough to be worth the wait.
The RF mount has the stellar RF 85mm f/1.2 USM, but beside a high price it's not a very light weight lens, and the huge diameter makes it less convenient to handle.
The RF 85mm f/2.0 IS stm has very good IQ (f/2.2 is better than f/2.0 though), a nice magnification factor, stellar IS, a great contrast in back lit situations, next to no distortion, however, while an unspecified amount of users is satisfied with it's AF performance, another unspecified amount of (potential) users is not. The aperture to size (and even somewhat weigth-) ratio isn't great either. For smooth backgrounds it's not bad, but it's not the best either.
You can adapt the EF 85mm f/1.4 IS USM, which has a nice rendering and fast AF, however, on the adapter it's heavy for what it is, and the lens fringes up to f/4.0, which isn't a problem in some cases, but definitely is in other cases. The price for used copies is coming down a bit lately, however, it's still on the high side in my opinion.
While the Samyang RF 85mm f/1.4 quickly disappeared after it's release, we still haven't seen a compact fast focusing f/1.4 option with nice AF. To be fair: this lens struggled a little with AF accuracy with fast moving subjects, so it wasn't the perfect lens from that perspective either, although it still did a better job than the f/2.0 IS stm.
With the release of the new VCM lenses there's some hoping we will finally see the ideal 85mm f/1.4 VCM. Even the historical 50mm gap was finally closed by an option being useful for portraits and walk around purposes and chasing toddlers, all in one lens.
Will that happen for 85mm as well?
On the FE platform there are more options, but some gaps as well. There's no 85mm with an 0.5 times magnification for instance. There's a fast focusing 85mm GM mkII, but it's rendering is so so. The GM I has a very nice rendering, but sharpness wise and AF wise it's so so. The Sigma DN has very good IQ and weights only 560g, but sadly enough it's released with stm motors, while the following options for other focal lengths from that DN series got fast motors (VLD/VXD/whatever). It also has a huge amount of distortion, although that's not so much a problem for me in an 85mm lens.
All in all the FE situation for 85mm isn't ideal either. That said, there are some signs of 2 upcoming 85mm lenses from Viltrox, both an 85mm f/1.4 and an 85mm f/1.2. The f/1.4 version will be equipped with 2 AF motors that work beautifully in the LAB 35mm f/1.2 lens, any details on AF motors for the f/1.2 version are unknown at the time of writing this.
In Canon land there's still a total silence on an RF 85mm f/1.4 VCM release. Canon is rushing out a 35,50,24 and even 20mm VCM in no time, and if they would have released that 50mm some years earlier my second body would have been a Canon too in stead of a Sony, but it is what it is now.
With a kit based on the 50mm f/1.2 GM and the Tamron 35-150mm f/2.0-2.8 I could make the Canon R5 as a second body work with an RF 16-28mm f/2.8 and/or a 24mm f/1.8 IS stm.... but that's not enough. I need satisfying RF 85mm as well. For the RF f/1.2 L I'm not willing to pay a price like that if the AF isn't up to sporty tasks, the RF 85mm f/2.0 IS stm is probably too dark next to the Tamron zoom, as the Tamron does f/2.5 at 79mm and the RF IS stm needs to be at f/2.2 for best sharpness. The 105mm Art is nice but heavy. In the grand scheme of things I would actually prefer a Samyang 24mm f/1.8 over the RF 24mm f/1.8 IS stm for some but not all aspects, but the stronger aspects of the Samyang are more important to me (sharpness in aps-c corners wide open, stopped down sharpness in full frame corners, compatibility with the flip up screen A7RV camera, and a considerably lower price). Comparing the 24mm VCM to the GM the GM is more affordable, weights less, and you can shoot it with distortion corrections turned off, allowing for sharper aps-c corners let alone full frame corners. Comparing the RF 16-28mm f/2.8 IS stm to a Tamron 20-40mm f/2.8 the RF lens is almost double the price, will most likely give better stabilization, but I like the range of the Tamron 20-40mm in my kit better, and the Tamron weights less.
I'm not in a hurry to get my weight reduction replacing the 105mm f/1.4 Art with the ideal 85mm lens, the 28mm f/1.4 Art with a lower weight 24mm option and/or a wide angle f/2.8 zoom lens. But I do wonder why it takes Canon so long to come up with a great 85mm VCM option. The prioritizing is.... weird imo. So weird it makes me wonder if we will see an 85mm VCM at all. It's a bit like the situation after the release of the EF 24+28+35mm IS USM lenses.... everyone was expecting a sharp wide open 50mm IS USM lens, but it simply never happened. The Sigma 50mm Art was the first lens being sharp at wider apertures, and it's actually IBIS that is stabilizing 50mm primes up today, still not ILIS.
A grey market A7CII is 1550 euro, and a grey market A7CR 2150 euro. At some point I quit waiting for the lens I need. Am I the only one? I think Canon should hurry up a bit with that 85mm VCM. What do you think?
The RF mount has the stellar RF 85mm f/1.2 USM, but beside a high price it's not a very light weight lens, and the huge diameter makes it less convenient to handle.
The RF 85mm f/2.0 IS stm has very good IQ (f/2.2 is better than f/2.0 though), a nice magnification factor, stellar IS, a great contrast in back lit situations, next to no distortion, however, while an unspecified amount of users is satisfied with it's AF performance, another unspecified amount of (potential) users is not. The aperture to size (and even somewhat weigth-) ratio isn't great either. For smooth backgrounds it's not bad, but it's not the best either.
You can adapt the EF 85mm f/1.4 IS USM, which has a nice rendering and fast AF, however, on the adapter it's heavy for what it is, and the lens fringes up to f/4.0, which isn't a problem in some cases, but definitely is in other cases. The price for used copies is coming down a bit lately, however, it's still on the high side in my opinion.
While the Samyang RF 85mm f/1.4 quickly disappeared after it's release, we still haven't seen a compact fast focusing f/1.4 option with nice AF. To be fair: this lens struggled a little with AF accuracy with fast moving subjects, so it wasn't the perfect lens from that perspective either, although it still did a better job than the f/2.0 IS stm.
With the release of the new VCM lenses there's some hoping we will finally see the ideal 85mm f/1.4 VCM. Even the historical 50mm gap was finally closed by an option being useful for portraits and walk around purposes and chasing toddlers, all in one lens.
Will that happen for 85mm as well?
On the FE platform there are more options, but some gaps as well. There's no 85mm with an 0.5 times magnification for instance. There's a fast focusing 85mm GM mkII, but it's rendering is so so. The GM I has a very nice rendering, but sharpness wise and AF wise it's so so. The Sigma DN has very good IQ and weights only 560g, but sadly enough it's released with stm motors, while the following options for other focal lengths from that DN series got fast motors (VLD/VXD/whatever). It also has a huge amount of distortion, although that's not so much a problem for me in an 85mm lens.
All in all the FE situation for 85mm isn't ideal either. That said, there are some signs of 2 upcoming 85mm lenses from Viltrox, both an 85mm f/1.4 and an 85mm f/1.2. The f/1.4 version will be equipped with 2 AF motors that work beautifully in the LAB 35mm f/1.2 lens, any details on AF motors for the f/1.2 version are unknown at the time of writing this.
In Canon land there's still a total silence on an RF 85mm f/1.4 VCM release. Canon is rushing out a 35,50,24 and even 20mm VCM in no time, and if they would have released that 50mm some years earlier my second body would have been a Canon too in stead of a Sony, but it is what it is now.
With a kit based on the 50mm f/1.2 GM and the Tamron 35-150mm f/2.0-2.8 I could make the Canon R5 as a second body work with an RF 16-28mm f/2.8 and/or a 24mm f/1.8 IS stm.... but that's not enough. I need satisfying RF 85mm as well. For the RF f/1.2 L I'm not willing to pay a price like that if the AF isn't up to sporty tasks, the RF 85mm f/2.0 IS stm is probably too dark next to the Tamron zoom, as the Tamron does f/2.5 at 79mm and the RF IS stm needs to be at f/2.2 for best sharpness. The 105mm Art is nice but heavy. In the grand scheme of things I would actually prefer a Samyang 24mm f/1.8 over the RF 24mm f/1.8 IS stm for some but not all aspects, but the stronger aspects of the Samyang are more important to me (sharpness in aps-c corners wide open, stopped down sharpness in full frame corners, compatibility with the flip up screen A7RV camera, and a considerably lower price). Comparing the 24mm VCM to the GM the GM is more affordable, weights less, and you can shoot it with distortion corrections turned off, allowing for sharper aps-c corners let alone full frame corners. Comparing the RF 16-28mm f/2.8 IS stm to a Tamron 20-40mm f/2.8 the RF lens is almost double the price, will most likely give better stabilization, but I like the range of the Tamron 20-40mm in my kit better, and the Tamron weights less.
I'm not in a hurry to get my weight reduction replacing the 105mm f/1.4 Art with the ideal 85mm lens, the 28mm f/1.4 Art with a lower weight 24mm option and/or a wide angle f/2.8 zoom lens. But I do wonder why it takes Canon so long to come up with a great 85mm VCM option. The prioritizing is.... weird imo. So weird it makes me wonder if we will see an 85mm VCM at all. It's a bit like the situation after the release of the EF 24+28+35mm IS USM lenses.... everyone was expecting a sharp wide open 50mm IS USM lens, but it simply never happened. The Sigma 50mm Art was the first lens being sharp at wider apertures, and it's actually IBIS that is stabilizing 50mm primes up today, still not ILIS.
A grey market A7CII is 1550 euro, and a grey market A7CR 2150 euro. At some point I quit waiting for the lens I need. Am I the only one? I think Canon should hurry up a bit with that 85mm VCM. What do you think?
