I found this lens for a good price second hand, and bought it for the shallow DoF and subject separation, especially for portrait and fashion.
With that in mind, soft corners, heavy vignetting, pronounced LoCa, and some softness wide open shouldn't be too important. Also, knowing that OOF highlights away from center wide open aren't circles but cat's eyes, I can work around it, so one could say it's fit for purpose.
But TBH, I'm disappointed. A lens that does only one thing well — and not even that well — is not just an expense, it also takes up space, both literally, and in the mind, for other solutions.
I like it, and will probably keep it, because it's smaller and less intimidating for portraits than the RF 70-200/2.8 L, and the f/1.4 offers the power of background separation.
For what it's worth, it's also a nicely designed lens, although I think the metallic red ring is not really deserved. I actually toy with the idea of painting it black.
I'm not so happy about the heavy vignetting, pronounced cat's eyes, soft corners, LoCa, and (less important to me) lack of IS.
The lens is not to blame for the lack of digital correction in camera and in DPP, but it's an irritant as well. The vignetting can be fixed in Affinity Photo, and probably in most other editors.
The current market price is difficult to ascertain, but looking at the nearly identical lens for Sony FE, one should not be surprised if the RF version is more expensive: It's only available pre-owned, an RF lens with those specs is attractive, and there's no direct OEM competitor, other than the EF 85/1.4 IS L, which will need an adapter.
My evaluation is of course highly subjective and you may prioritise differently, but now you're warned.
With that in mind, soft corners, heavy vignetting, pronounced LoCa, and some softness wide open shouldn't be too important. Also, knowing that OOF highlights away from center wide open aren't circles but cat's eyes, I can work around it, so one could say it's fit for purpose.
But TBH, I'm disappointed. A lens that does only one thing well — and not even that well — is not just an expense, it also takes up space, both literally, and in the mind, for other solutions.
I like it, and will probably keep it, because it's smaller and less intimidating for portraits than the RF 70-200/2.8 L, and the f/1.4 offers the power of background separation.
For what it's worth, it's also a nicely designed lens, although I think the metallic red ring is not really deserved. I actually toy with the idea of painting it black.
I'm not so happy about the heavy vignetting, pronounced cat's eyes, soft corners, LoCa, and (less important to me) lack of IS.
The lens is not to blame for the lack of digital correction in camera and in DPP, but it's an irritant as well. The vignetting can be fixed in Affinity Photo, and probably in most other editors.
The current market price is difficult to ascertain, but looking at the nearly identical lens for Sony FE, one should not be surprised if the RF version is more expensive: It's only available pre-owned, an RF lens with those specs is attractive, and there's no direct OEM competitor, other than the EF 85/1.4 IS L, which will need an adapter.
My evaluation is of course highly subjective and you may prioritise differently, but now you're warned.
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