Would you still buy the 85mm f/1.2L II usm?

Pocket Lint wrote:

The other day I was at my local camera store browsing around when I noticed a used copy of the venerable 85mm f/1.2L II usm sitting on the shelf.

Out of pure curiosity, I asked the clerk if I could see it, and immediately upon taking possession of the lens, I was awestruck at its heft, and build quality. It FELT like a professional lens that means business. I know words get slung around a lot, like “built like a tank”, etc. etc. but actually holding this lens, you immediately feel it’s qualities.

Anyway, long story short, I was immediately impressed by this lens, and, although I never had a penchant need for an 85mm portrait lens, I am very tempted to acquire this one now at a very reasonable used price of $1,600CAD.

I’ve been doing a lot of portraits walking the streets lately, and I think this could make for some interesting portraits. I do have some concerns though, that initially made me overlook this lens.

1. It is focus by wire. All my EF lenses have true manual focus override which I like, but when I heard this lens is only focus by wire it put me off.

2. No weather sealing. As I’ve mentioned, I’d like to use this out on the streets. That includes inclement weather conditions. How well will this hold up in rainy conditions?

3. Image quality. I have always heard good things about this lens’s optical qualities but nothing much in-depth. Canon made a series of “Signature L” series lenses and as I understand this is one of them.

Long post, but I’d love to get some feedback on this lens as it might just breathe new love and life back into my 5D Mark IV. I’ve been shooting with my Fujifilm Xpro3 almost exclusively the last two years and there are some days I miss the “full frame” look.

I've never owned the lens in question, but I've read many reviews and looked at many samples over the years.   There's generally two opinions on this lens from owners and reviewers.

1.  Those disappointed because for the size, weight and cost the lens does not deliver optical perfection on test charts (not even close actually).  The slow focusing only makes it worse.  Steer clear.

2.  Those who feel it renders in a beautiful way that few other lenses do.  It produces 'magic' that test charts don't convey.  It's not sharp by high end 85mm prime standards, but sharp enough.  For this level of aesthetic beauty they are willing to put up with the spotty focusing.

Best I can say is look at as many samples as you can and decide if you feel the 'magic' is calling to you.  If you don't see anything special, it's probably a better option to go with the 85 f1.4L as others have suggested.  Objectively it's a better lens on almost all levels.

gipper51 wrote:

1. Those disappointed because for the size, weight and cost the lens does not deliver optical perfection on test charts (not even close actually). The slow focusing only makes it worse. Steer clear.

And that you can get most of what the f1.2 version does with the much cheaper f1.8 lens, and if that's not good enough you can get the f1.4 lens which has a blazing fast AF motor and image stabilization and in my experience better image quality.

But if you need to take photos of people with one of their eyes out of focus then I guess you need to shoot at f1.2.

Scott Larson wrote:

But if you need to take photos of people with one of their eyes out of focus then I guess you need to shoot at f1.2.

I resemble that remark!

Scott Larson wrote:

gipper51 wrote:

1. Those disappointed because for the size, weight and cost the lens does not deliver optical perfection on test charts (not even close actually). The slow focusing only makes it worse. Steer clear.

And that you can get most of what the f1.2 version does with the much cheaper f1.8 lens, and if that's not good enough you can get the f1.4 lens which has a blazing fast AF motor and image stabilization and in my experience better image quality.

"Better" image quality is subjective. Some people want a particular look more so than a lens that is the sharpest, or otherwise "better". The optical flaws in the f1.2 could be described as 'character', and some (many) people like it. I'm not disagreeing with your statement, just that what you or I may think is better another different photographer might feel differently.

But if you need to take photos of people with one of their eyes out of focus then I guess you need to shoot at f1.2.

Ah yes, cuz f1.4 certainly won't accomplish that

gipper51 wrote:

Scott Larson wrote:

And that you can get most of what the f1.2 version does with the much cheaper f1.8 lens, and if that's not good enough you can get the f1.4 lens which has a blazing fast AF motor and image stabilization and in my experience better image quality.

"Better" image quality is subjective. Some people want a particular look more so than a lens that is the sharpest, or otherwise "better". The optical flaws in the f1.2 could be described as 'character', and some (many) people like it. I'm not disagreeing with your statement, just that what you or I may think is better another different photographer might feel differently.

I have not heard anyone say that the purple and green fringing that is a trait of the f1.2 lens is positive character of it,  nor have I heard anyone complain there isn't enough of it with the f1.4 lens.

Ran Plett wrote:

Is that green / purple fringing not worse on the 85 1.4 IS? The minute I saw that is the minute I rejected the idea of buying one.

It there is less of it wide open at f1.4 and it's pretty much gone at f1.8. My copy of the f1.2 Mark II still had serious fringing in the background in high contrast areas at f2.0, although less than the f1.8 lens.

You can remove a lot of it in post of course but that was rarely an option for me.

Seeing as we are discussing 85s, with some thought given to the 85/1.8 as well as the 85/1.4, allow me to slip in my usual plug for the excellent Tamron 85/1.8. Significantly sharper than the Canon 1.8, and it has IS, all at half the weight and a quarter the price of the Canon 1.4 and 1.2 lenses. A lens that should always be considered in this sort of context.

Just wondering if the OP might return and tell us his decision, unless I missed one of his posts.

Kokopelli_Rocks wrote:

Just wondering if the OP might return and tell us his decision, unless I missed one of his posts.

I passed, I think it’s still a little too high to command that price used but it definitely almost made me impulse buy it when I held it at the camera store. I don’t care what people say about its optical qualities, subjective or not, I think it’s a fine lens.

Tannin wrote:

Seeing as we are discussing 85s, with some thought given to the 85/1.8 as well as the 85/1.4, allow me to slip in my usual plug for the excellent Tamron 85/1.8. Significantly sharper than the Canon 1.8, and it has IS, all at half the weight and a quarter the price of the Canon 1.4 and 1.2 lenses. A lens that should always be considered in this sort of context.

I've never shot the Tammy 85, but I do have their 45 f1.8 in that same series and it's an excellent lens. I got it fairly recently (used) after reading Dustin Abbott's glowing review. I'll use it mainly for portrait work as the bokeh is soooo much smoother than either my 50 STM or 35 f2 IS. That lens is proof that nice bokeh is about more than just a bigger aperture.

The Tamron 85 gets similar praise in reviews. So yes, it's definitely a dark horse in the 85 class.

Ran Plett wrote:

I’d say it’s possible to remove those fringing artifacts, but not easily, or if done easily, it usually doesn’t look good.

The tool I used just identified the areas of color fringe and desaturated the color in them.

Pocket Lint wrote:

Kokopelli_Rocks wrote:

Just wondering if the OP might return and tell us his decision, unless I missed one of his posts.

I passed, I think it’s still a little too high to command that price used but it definitely almost made me impulse buy it when I held it at the camera store. I don’t care what people say about its optical qualities, subjective or not, I think it’s a fine lens.

You could offer them less.  Drive a hard bargain to get it.  Or keep an eye out for other used  copies of it.

If you like it, and it works for your photography, then it is a fine lens.  I like 85mm.  I have two of them.  A good price on an EF 85 f1.4 IS (for the IS) would tempt me.