85mm 1.2 has arrived! First test shots included.

smooth

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Threebrows
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Matt
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Ut oh.

After months of wishing and researching I have just ordered a second hand 85mm 1.2L MK1. :love::love:
1 sleep until it arrives (EVERYTHING CROSSED FOR A SAT DELIVERY!).
 
lol nice one Matt. :) Tis a cracker and the one lens that EdinburghGary would sell himself for! :)
 
BouncyMelons said:
lol nice one Matt. :) Tis a cracker and the one lens that EdinburghGary would sell himself for! :)
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That would be a poor deal, as everyone knows Gary gives himself away never mind sells himself ;)

Gary is easier to do than a Rubiks cube made up entirely of red, not that I would know of course :suspect:

:D


PS. I would sell myself for that lens :)
 
:lol: Tis a MK1 but I got a blindingly good sub 1k deal for it that I couldn't resist with a 6 month warranty.

Bargainous! And I want to see EG offer himself for trade first!
 
It's a funny old lens, mine is the least used of all my lenses, but if I was ever forced to sell my gear, it would be the last one to go.

Using a vehicle anology, it's like having a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow wrapped up in dust sheets while you run around in a Ford Focus, just bringing out the silver shadow for special occasions, and for the sheer pleasure of driving something special.
 
Aw awesome mate!
Jealous is a massive understatement :(
 
Excellent analogy Les.
I am considering offing the 24-105 to force me to use just primes and really develop my framing and focusing skills.

Hmmmm decisions. I am thinking I may desperately miss the zoom for work and family events.

Thoughts anyone?
 
smoothedit said:
Excellent analogy Les.
I am considering offing the 24-105 to force me to use just primes and really develop my framing and focusing skills.

Hmmmm decisions. I am thinking I may desperately miss the zoom for work and family events.

Thoughts anyone?
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I'd keep the 24-105, for a number of reasons, the 85F1.2 is a heavy lens, over a kilo in weight, (twice the weight of a 17-40 F4L), so lugging it around isn't easy.

It's slow to focus as it has so much glass to move.

And more obviously it hasn't got the flexibility of a zoom.
 
mtracerz said:
Aw awesome mate!
Jealous is a massive understatement :(
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Thanks Matey. Hope I can do it justice.

Les McLean said:
I'd keep the 24-105, for a number of reasons, the 85F1.2 is a heavy lens, over a kilo in weight, (twice the weight of a 17-40 F4L), so lugging it around isn't easy.

It's slow to focus as it has so much glass to move.

And more obviously it hasn't got the flexibility of a zoom.
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As for the weight I will wait and see but it would be only a minor concern.

Slow focus - Another concern with this lens but like you see it is because of the amount of glass it has to move.

The flexibility of having a zoom is the big sticking point for me. I will have a long hard think this weekend about my primary uses for my gear. 80% of my work related togging is in a static studio/workshop environment but it is the day to day hobbying I am worried about.

Thanks Les - I really do appreciate you taking the time to post as someone who has experience with the two.
 
You're supposed to post a picture of it!!! ;) :D
Congrats on your purchase. Some shots taken with it are in order also.


Kev.
 
:) willdo kev!
Postman woke me up!

Shots will be up in a few. :thumbs:
 
Congrats, I can vouch you will feel the the dogs nad's walking around town with that hanging around your neck :P - takes a pretty picture to of course hehe
 
:lol: Mike. Had to make the GF breakfast... just incase she see's the invoice or cc bill :lol:
 
Breakfast? Breakfast? What's that? :)

You could always just shoot breakfast, what is the matter with you Matt, can't you multitask? ;)
 
:lol: Fair point Ali! But wouldnt want to risk any bacon splatter near the beauty! Uploading pics now. Literally 2 mins this time! :thumbs:
 
8.53 it arrived

10.45 and a post WITHOUT a piccy, might I offer the words........

PULL YOUR FINGER OUT !!!!!!!!
 
Right!
Here we go - 2 shots of 10 that were in focus of another 30 that were not!

Here it is!:
85%20on%205d.jpg


1) Morning Miss!
IMG_1090.jpg


2) She helped me make breakfast! (But not too close!)
The OOF wall was literally a foot away!
IMG_1080.jpg



To business:

My initial thought OMFJCG how heavy and big it is. Then I said thank you to the postman and began unwrapping!
Focus - absolutely THE hardest b*tch of a lens when it comes to focus. Extremely slow AF because of all that glass it has to move around. Manual focus feels really strange - it is powered by the camera body - makes you feel disconnected from the process somehow but works superbly. My initial play has resulted in a far less 'keep rate' than I am used to and I don't expect this to change huge amounts - although hopefully I will get better! My shots above really do not do the lens justice - but I really want to use it in anger before I get to posting some 'proper' shots with it!

Slow focus expected really - but the but... and it is a BIG but is that when you nail it, the 1.2 results are simply earth shattering. I get the feeling with this lens that it is an organic beast that needs to be tamed and loved before I will start to get anywhere near the results that are cited as examples for it.
 
So where are these OOF NSFW snaps of your non-bacon splattered beaut of a GF???
 
JESSSSSUUUUUUSSSS!

This is a crop of the shot above. Shot handheld at 125 f1.2 from about 4 ft away. Loooook at how small the DOF is!
IMG_1080Crop.jpg
 
I suspect if you use contrast-detect/live view focus, it will be insanely sharp and you will have a lot more keepers! I've found so with my 85/1.4 :)
 
Kanine said:
I suspect if you use contrast-detect/live view focus, it will be insanely sharp and you will have a lot more keepers!
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And miss out on the sheer pleasure of looking through the viewfinder with this lens on....you must be joking :cuckoo:

Bob
 
:lol: Fair point Bob. Plus I wouldn't want to be holding the weight at arms length!
 
Congrats-I'm sure it will get some good use-and produce superb images.

For me, this image is what the 85 F1.2 is about, it was quite dark (in the Railway Museum in York), and an untidy BG.

I was able to shoot at 1/60 sec @ F1.2, ISO400, and kick the BG out of focus quite nicely.

On your 24-105 at F4 the exposure would have been around 1/4 sec-impossible really

103278804_u5ZIpAm9_yb1s.jpg
 
It's a stunning piece of kit. Had a chance to use one a few weeks ago and I'm still dreaming about it. :D
 
Spot on Les and a stunning image to demonstrate it.

The unbelievable low light performance of this lens coupled with it's IQ and almost unanimous reviews is why I selected it months ago.

Got dinner at a friends house tonight so will be taking it out then but trying to plan an outing tomorrow.

Cheer for the good wishes matey :thumbs:
 
Congrats on the lens! Looks such a beast even on a gripped 5D, bet it weighs a fair bit, imagine lugging that around for a day shoot! :D
 
The23rdman said:
It's a stunning piece of kit. Had a chance to use one a few weeks ago and I'm still dreaming about it. :D
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Totally see where you are coming from. I had the briefest of plays (3shots) with a Pros a few years back at a wedding and I think there is something magical about it. Now I have got my hands on one I am sure of it.

I'm not sure if I will use it sparingly like Les for special occasions or keep it firmly attached and force myself to develop with it and sell the 24-105. It is the main area of my photography that I feel needs improving - consistency from all angles - we shall see if this lens will be a part of that!
 
NSFW (Not Safe For Wives (or girlfriends) ) post

Now you have your dream lens, a gentle prompt towards a dream camera to go with it ;)

MX0P4643.jpg
 
My 5DmkII came in the post this morning, battery has just finished charging - first thing I did was pop me 85mm 1.2 on the front and run around the kitchen.... deary me... where are the tissues! :D
 
Canon Bob said:
And miss out on the sheer pleasure of looking through the viewfinder with this lens on....you must be joking :cuckoo:

Bob
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True, but it would mean you NAIL focus :D

Also through the viewfinder, you only see the equivalent of F2.5 - ever wondered why the creamy bokeh you get on the final shot isn't quite the same on the ground glass screen? There's your answer! (I only found this out yesterday!) DoF Preview will do very very little/no change until about F2.8....unless you change the focussing screen to a different one.

Not sure about full frame, but its certainly true on my D300s 85/1.4.

Still, I know I'd still rather hold it up to my eye!
 
I'm still umming and aahing over whether to go for the 85 1.8 or 1.2.

Threads like this don't help :(
 
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