topic Re: Every time I.... in EF & RF Lenses

Every time I....

TheRogue — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 18:09:16 GMT

... bring up the 85mm L f1.2 II lens on my laptop screen, I find myself reaching for my credit card! I'm going to be doing lots of portraiture of an intensely breathtaking woman this coming year, and I'm thinking I can't do it without this lens. Do I need help?

Re: Every time I....

diverhank — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 19:24:58 GMT

@TheRogue wrote:
... bring up the 85mm L f1.2 II lens on my laptop screen, I find myself reaching for my credit card! I'm going to be doing lots of portraiture of an intensely breathtaking woman this coming year, and I'm thinking I can't do it without this lens. Do I need help?

Ha ha, don't we all need help :)...I recently took the plunge on one...not a single regret on my part.

Re: Every time I....

RobertTheFat — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 21:00:04 GMT

@TheRogue wrote:
... bring up the 85mm L f1.2 II lens on my laptop screen, I find myself reaching for my credit card! I'm going to be doing lots of portraiture of an intensely breathtaking woman this coming year, and I'm thinking I can't do it without this lens. Do I need help?

Of course. But a) so do most of us, and b) you only live once. There are many good portrait lenses, probably including some lenses you already have. But if you're willing to expend the effort to get the most out of the 85/1.2, you'll almost certainly be glad you did. Depending on who the woman is, and her relationship to you (daughter or granddaughter, for example), you may be very glad you did.

Suppose that instead of photography, you took up golf. Then look at the cost of clubs, club membership, and greens fees, and you may conclude that photography is a bargain. After all, if you get good enough, it's not inconceivable that you could make a little money out of your photography.

There are, I'm almost certain, some in this group who own the lens you're considering. They can advise you on the details. I'm just trying to put you in the right frame of mind,

Re: Every time I....

TheRogue — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 21:28:28 GMT

Looks like ima gonna do it!

Re: Every time I....

TheRogue — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 21:33:29 GMT

Bob, as always you're completely right about everything! The lady is not related to me but she is breathtaking none the less - so this is my take on it - I owe it to her to use the best equipment! And that is how I'll sell it to the wife who is ever understnding of my pursuits in the visual arts.

I did consider golf, in the dim and distant past!

By the time I post, I have usually made up my mind about a purchase - I kind of use the forums to find any reasons NOT to purchase. My recent purchasing conundrum regarding the M5 and EOS lenses being one such case where I was swayed away.

Many thanks for your 'esteemed' input!

Re: Every time I....

Waddizzle — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 22:12:44 GMT

@TheRogue wrote:
Bob, as always you're completely right about everything! The lady is not related to me but she is breathtaking none the less - so this is my take on it - I owe it to her to use the best equipment! And that is how I'll sell it to the wife who is ever understnding of my pursuits in the visual arts.

I did consider golf, in the dim and distant past!

By the time I post, I have usually made up my mind about a purchase - I kind of use the forums to find any reasons NOT to purchase. My recent purchasing conundrum regarding the M5 and EOS lenses being one such case where I was swayed away.

Many thanks for your 'esteemed' input!

By the time I post, I hope your mind is made up. Because I'm throwing some gasoline on the fire. I love this photo. It's a customer shot from B&H, from the lens' product page.

I love the focus gradient that is present in the background. The focus fades from razor sharp to a beautiful creamy blur.

I'm so happy that your mind is already made up to buy the lens.

Re: Every time I....

TCampbell — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 15:17:43 GMT

I think I currently have 9 lenses and while I have "rented" the 85mm f/1.2, I don't happen to own that lens. I don't tend to do a lot of portrait shooting so it was difficult to justify owning my own copy. The two alternative lenses that I like are the EF 135mm f/2 as well as the 70-200mm f/2.8L (I now own both the version I and II of that lens) and I use it near the 200mm end.

But while I love the look of the long focal length + low focal ratio lenses, it does, of course, mean putting the camera much farther from the subject. Which is why... if I were doing a lot of portraits, I'm sure I'd be lined up to buy my own copy of that lens. It's a fabulous lens.

Having rented it, the two things I noticed are (a) it's slow to focus (much slower than most other USM lenses) so it's not ideal for situations where you plan to focus & shoot on the fly (use the f/1.8 version if that's the sort of use it'll get). For non-candid photography where you're setting up the shot... this isn't an issue. And (b) it does have axial (longitudinal) chromatic aberration. I focus test all my lenses using a test chart. When doing this with my rented 85mm f/1.2 I did notice that as I adjusted focus, there's an overall color shift with red fringing vs. blue fringing around the high-contrast focus chart pattern.

Here's a sample (I've cropped in on this to make it easier for you to see) that I shot with my rented copy.

Notice that the lines on the scale above the 0 mark have a slight blue fringe to them and the lines beflow the 0 mark have a slight red fringe. These are proper millimeters so you can also notice that after about 1.5 centimeters of the focus point (assuming using a shallow DoF -- these were shot at f/1.2) that the blur hides the CA and you can't really notice it. You're unlikely to be shooting true black & white high contrast subjects so this is something that probably wont show up (hence... you can find lots of gorgeous images shot using this lens). While the effect is there, it's not the sort of issue that would put me off from buying the lens (because I don't think it would show up in a typical "portrait" image of a real subject.)

Re: Every time I....

TheRogue — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 17:41:58 GMT

This picture is stunning! It sure dont sway me away from the purchase!

Re: Every time I....

TheRogue — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 17:45:35 GMT

This is probably a little bit too technical to discount the purchase on a cold light of day basis. I appreciate that I need to get the picture(s) right, but if I donwgrade on the purchase and dont get 'the' picture then I'm goin to regret it. If I get the lens and don't get the picture then its going to be all my fault and there is no blame back!

People, I think the decision is made - this lens is destined to be in my bag!

Re: Every time I....

diverhank — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 00:11:02 GMT

@TheRogue wrote:

People, I think the decision is made - this lens is destined to be in my bag!

I see this in your future... 🙂

Re: Every time I....

TheRogue — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 06:58:35 GMT

Oh My! This is like one of those swirling curling hypno circle things that is taking over my decision making process! "I must have that lens. I must have that lens."

Re: Every time I....

ebiggs1 — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 16:47:06 GMT

I have both. I mean the ef 85mm f1.2L and a woman. They are pretty similar as to how hard they are to master. The 85mil f1.2 is a real jewel. So is the woman as we approach our 50th.

I love mine but it is not a lens for the guy that wants to just shoot. It will take some getting used to and some serious learning to get the best. It is capable of delivering stunning results. Just like its shorter sibling the 50mil f1.2.

So, the question is are you willing?

I will add the slow focus myth is really beginning to bother me. Does it focus slower than some of the quickest lenses? Yes it does but there are folks that are sitting on their couch and running it from close to infinity. Something in the real world you don't do....often anyway. I know, they read all the reviews, too bad they never actually used one! Much less tired to learn it. At the reasonable distances you normally see it focuses just fine. Is it a lens that you would use to track a running back at a football game? No but I wouldn't choose any 85mil for that job. So ignore the false slow focus issue.

Golf?............uck!!!!!!!

Re: Every time I....

TheRogue — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 18:38:32 GMT

Yes indeed. I'll take my chance mastering the lens - I gave up trying to master the wife of 34 years a long time ago! She's the boss, I conceded that and she indulges me in my hobbies! Its win win!

Yeah I'm willing. Maybe 10-15 years ago I wouldn't have the patience, but now..... ima give it a go.

For what I want this lens for, posed portraits, lens wide open, all the time in the world, I think "yep". I did own the 50mm f1.2 which was another stunner, but for portraiture on a full frame camera, there was just too much invasion of personal space. Back in the day of the EOS 35mm SLR, wasn't it a 90mm that was top of the tree? I had that as well.

Golf - I concur, it WAS only a PASSING thought and a brief one at that.

Re: Every time I....

ebiggs1 — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 18:57:22 GMT

OK, time will tell.

The 85mil on a current DSLR that has a full frame sensor will show the exact same thing as you old film 35mm camera. Same, same.

The 85mm f1.2L is a limited purpose lens. It is a lens like no other 85. Even so for the 50mm f1.2L. You will love it or you will come to hate it. I doubt there is a middle ground for either of these twins.

They are expensive. They are big. They are heavy. They are slow. They are beautiful.

Re: Every time I....

TheRogue — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 19:12:31 GMT

It certainly will! But this is part of the fun, learning, mastering, maybe even possibly failing, but having a whole lotta fun in the process.

Mmmm from what I remember, back in the day, it was a 90mm lens, probably £1k worth in 1982. Cant quite dig back that far in the memory. That was the portrait lens of the day. The 50mm f1.2 I owned not that long ago and was using on in 1Dx. But like I said, the need to use it too close put me off. Couldn't be much fun for a model either I suspect.

Eh, I'm not a hater. I will persevere and I WILL win! Ha ha.

Re: Every time I....

ebiggs1 — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 20:51:11 GMT

"...but having a whole lotta fun in the process."

You are my kinda guy. This is the whole point. Good luck, I know you will enjoy it.