How to focus 85mm 1.2 II properly ?

I have used a newly purchased 85mm 1.2 II with 5d MK2 on a birthday party, shot at f/2, 1/100-1/200 shutter speed and iso around 1000, center focusing point AF only. The most pictures were out of focus, but if it was in focus, it produced very sharp image. I was aware that this lens is difficult to focus before the shooting, that's why I used above settings and tried to avoid paper thin DOF at f1.2-1.8, but the results were extremely disappointing. I had 80% of OOF, 10% soft, and 10% sharp pictures after all.

To Whom is more experienced with this lens and camera combination, my question is: how to focus 85mm 1.2 II properly?

as you know it's not really a party lens!

that being said I too have used it for parties and apart from when I've expected miracles from the lens in low light have achieved consistent focus with just one technique:

1. set f4
2. spot photo I want to take
3. focus on their eye with centre point only
4. don't recompose, think or do anything other than pull trigger...
5. later if necessary crop in LR3

one other thing to notice, if you use f1.2 and focus on eyeball itself then sometimes even when perfectly focussed the eyeball will not show up as focussed as everything else is blurred and distracts you... in these cases sometimes it's better to focus on where the skin meets the eye, the root of the eyelash, and then the photo 'looks' better focussed...

Use AI servo and put the AF point on the target and shoot. Forget about f&r it will not work at this thin DOF. You probably need to restricted to use the center AF only on your 5DII. The non-cross type outer points won't give you very consistent focus.

Use a focus point, aim at the eye and the second you hear the focus lock sound press (don't jab) the shutter, don't wait for the subject to move, definately don't try to focus re-compose, that's a recipe for OOF shots all day long.

If the subject is moving like they would be at a party then use servo burst, again choose as focus point and put it on the eye.

Watch out for girls hair, a few strands in front of the eyes and that's where it'll focus, or young men with long hair as well for that matter (the kids of today).

Difficult to know. Did you check your focus points afterwards using the Canon software?

If you did and the focus at the focus point is off I strongly suggest you check for front/back focus and adjust accordingly. You should certainly have at least as many keepers as misses @ f/2.

Shooting @ f/1.2 is always risky business. Shooting @ f/2 should be a fairly safe bet.

splitsecond wrote:

I have used a newly purchased 85mm 1.2 II with 5d MK2 on a birthday party, shot at f/2, 1/100-1/200 shutter speed and iso around 1000, center focusing point AF only. The most pictures were out of focus, but if it was in focus, it produced very sharp image. I was aware that this lens is difficult to focus before the shooting, that's why I used above settings and tried to avoid paper thin DOF at f1.2-1.8, but the results were extremely disappointing. I had 80% of OOF, 10% soft, and 10% sharp pictures after all.

To Whom is more experienced with this lens and camera combination, my question is: how to focus 85mm 1.2 II properly?

I read this a couple of weeks ago, and wonder if it is of relevance here?

In the November edition of the UK BJP Magazine, there is a review of 85mm lenses, and in reviewing the Canon 85mm F/1.2 the reviewer says 'Micro AF adjustment is vital with the 85mm F/1.2 as the professional Canon bodies only see F/2.8 as the virtual aperture of the lens, so AF focus is never better than F/2.8 accuracy. Focus error wide open is the main reason that it's not an ideal £2,640 investment (£1700 street price) for owners of sub £1,000 bodies such as the EOS 550D. It is a natural pair with professional bodies, especially full frame 1Ds and 5D variants'
Is this correct, and is it widely known?

Reading the final sentence about the lens being ideally paired with pro bodies, I'm not clear whether ther article contained a missprint and should have said 'non professional bodies' instead of 'professional bodies' and the F/2.8 virtual aperture.
Does anyone know about this?
--
David

newmoon2night wrote:

I read this a couple of weeks ago, and wonder if it is of relevance here?

In the November edition of the UK BJP Magazine, there is a review of 85mm lenses, and in reviewing the Canon 85mm F/1.2 the reviewer says 'Micro AF adjustment is vital with the 85mm F/1.2 as the professional Canon bodies only see F/2.8 as the virtual aperture of the lens, so AF focus is never better than F/2.8 accuracy. Focus error wide open is the main reason that it's not an ideal £2,640 investment (£1700 street price) for owners of sub £1,000 bodies such as the EOS 550D. It is a natural pair with professional bodies, especially full frame 1Ds and 5D variants'
Is this correct, and is it widely known?

Its news to me. And I have not heard it before. For my own sake I can say that I shoot a lot at very wide apertures and that I noticed no difference in focus accuracy when moving from my 400D to my 5Dii.

If so, its just another confirmation that the 5Dii is not a pro body - as Canon also states.

ffabrici wrote:

The 1D bodies have increased cross-censor AF precision with f2.8 or faster - twice the precision, which is one of the reason I invested in f2.8 zooms.

I just bought this lens today....It is by far the most amazing piece of glass I have every touched.....It is tricky to get a 20 month old in focus at 1.2 but when I did....I was extremly impressed.

maiaibing wrote:

If so, its just another confirmation that the 5Dii is not a pro body - as Canon also states.

ffabrici wrote:

The 1D bodies have increased cross-censor AF precision with f2.8 or faster - twice the precision, which is one of the reason I invested in f2.8 zooms.

The article I quoted from BJP concluded

It is a natural pair with professional bodies, especially full frame 1Ds and 5D variants'

That comment suggests that it isnt just the 1D series that has better autofocus at F/2.8 and wider, but the 5D series also. However it didn't explain teh reasons behind the comments.

The article was written by David Kilpatrick, who I think won the UK Press PR & Stock Photographer of the Year 2009, and presumably knows what he's talking about.

I've just Googled a question and come up with this thread http://community.the-digital-picture.com/photography_gear1/f/7/p/2012/15238.aspx , which goes some way to explaining how Canon autofocus sensors work on different camera models (follow the thread through to the last post). However it doesn't explain why ANY Canon model would focus more accurately at wider than F/2.8. Unfortunately I couldn't get teh pdf in the thread to open.
--
David

ffabrici wrote:

The 1D bodies have increased cross-censor AF precision with f2.8 or faster - twice the precision, which is one of the reason I invested in f2.8 zooms.

The center AF point on the 5D2 is a cross-type sensor as well. Don't know how it compares to the 1D body sensors, but it is more accurate than the other 5D2 AF points. This is why many people recommend using center AF for the 5D2.

splitsecond wrote:

I have used a newly purchased 85mm 1.2 II with 5d MK2 on a birthday party, shot at f/2, 1/100-1/200 shutter speed and iso around 1000, center focusing point AF only. [...]

I use my 5D2+85L combination at events regularly. It took a bit of time to get used to it. It's not an action lens, it's a portrait lens. It's slow to focus, so if people are moving around you may never catch up -- you need them to pose for you. And while it's tempting to make use of that wide aperture you paid for, realistically I usually shoot around f2.5 to have enough DOF for a single subject.

If you set AI Servo and center focus point, and make an effort to take multiple shots when possible, you will get some stunningly sharp shots and that wonderful 85L bokeh. The one problem I've found using center focus is that if you are shooting two people posing together, your natural tendency is to place that center point between the two of them.

I have not microadjusted my lens, it already yields great results.

make sure your lens is focusing properly. I was just at a birthday party, same combo, shot between 1.2-1.8, and for reasonably stationary objects, had better than 80 percent hit rate. I have never had much of the problem with the lens honestly on 5d2. I always use center, and never recompose with this lens when shot wide open (almost always)