Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L MKII USM

Raymond Lin said:
Me too, love her work, even bought a couple of prints from her.

I saw on your Flickr that your work is really good. No doubt your talent will be enhance with better gear such as the 1.2 but if you are worried about the initial outlay then try the 85/1.8 first and if you do like that focal length, sell it and upgrade to the 1.2. You won't lose much money on it and will cost you as much as renting the 1.2.
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Awh, thank you for the kind words!
It's £33 to rent the 85mm f/1.2 for a shoot for the day, I might just do that.
If I can arrange a small shoot then the money would have gone towards my work & it's a worthwhile investment rather than
purchasing a certain lens & then deciding I want to sell & buy another. I'm probably better off just trying them all out first. I
did the same when deciding on whether the 5D MKII was the right camera for me, borrowed it a couple of times & just tried
to get the feel of it. I've never looked back! The feedback on this thread is all proving really helpful tho :}
 
Shame you live so far away (London) otherwise you can borrow it for the day or we can arrange a shoot where you can test out all the L glass you want, 35/135/85/24-70/16-35 and probably the 50L in a couple of months.
 
I get disappointed with this lens when I come back from a shoot and find the shots with the best expression are out of focus (and the ones in focus have less than ideal expressions). User error is probably to blame, or at least lack of experience with the lens. I heard it said that this lens is a bit like a thoroughbred horse - obviously it can perform well but it needs TLC and care in use.

If you are anywhere near East Finchley you are welcome to come and give mine a runout (I'm on a phone now so cannot see your profile).
 
Raymond Lin said:
Shame you live so far away (London) otherwise you can borrow it for the day or we can arrange a shoot where you can test out all the L glass you want.
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Awh that's really generous of you, yeah I am pretty far away!
I'm glad to see someone whose got some amazing photographs out of it tho, seeing your work definitely
makes me want to purchase the lens even more! It'll be a little while before I've saved enough for it tho.


ianmarsh said:
I get disappointed with this lens when I come back from a shoot and find the shots with the best expression are out of focus (and the ones in focus have less than ideal expressions). User error is probably to blame, or at least lack of experience with the lens. I heard it said that this lens is a bit like a thoroughbred horse - obviously it can perform well but it needs TLC and care in use.

If you are anywhere near East Finchley you are welcome to come and give mine a runout.
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I'm from South London but that is certainly a kind offer! Thank you.
I might just pay to hire it for a shoot & then I can get some more planned work to go towards expanding my {rather small} portfolio.


Houston1863 said:
Test report eagerly awaited ;)
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Hahaha, I'll definitely try to get an opportunity to shoot with this lens soon & post a little summary of my
experience. I hope I don't feel Mr Marsh's disappointment!
 
Hi Ashly,

I should have mentioned on the other thread that you might want to compare the sigma 1.4 with the canon 1.2.

Where are you hiring the lenses from btw? £35 seems like a really good price!

Either way I'll be watching this thread eagerly to find out how you get on.
 
dhracer said:
Where are you hiring the lenses from btw? £35 seems like a really good price!
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Fixation in London.
A friend of mine uses them regularly for both hiring out equipment & getting things repaired. Their website is here.
 
:( you're got to turn up in person for your first hire... Found calumet in bristol are the same price although they seem to have a much smaller stockist :)
 
dhracer said:
:( you're got to turn up in person for your first hire..
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Yeah, they're all about trust & all that.
A friend has been going to them for a while now & they now deliver direct to him in East
Grinstead, Kent. I've actually just emailed Fixation to find out their daily rent, insurance &
deposit costs. Hopefully I can get to test it out within the next couple of weeks!
 
Well I changed my mind completely (well not completely) and went for the 100 f/2. Been looking at photos of all (85 f/1.2, 85 f/1.8 and 100 f/2) and just found that I prefer the photos people have taken with it.

I think it'll suit better for what I want too.

Still looking forward to seeing how you get on with the 85L though, I can always change my mind :lol:

Really quick, crappy snap of one of the cats after I picked it up from DHL, will have a proper play this weekend :clap:


IMG_0415_edited-1.jpg by dhracer_1, on Flickr
 
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@dhracer
That's interesting. I've been in touch with Fixation to talk about renting fees & all that so hopefully I'll be able to play around in the next few weeks & decide if it's the lens for me or not!
 
Damn this thread makes me want a 5D MKII and an 85mm F1.2..........but I know I would get nowhere near those results. Great stuff Raymond.
 
Damn this thread makes me want a 5D MKII and an 85mm F1.2.
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@gazmorton2000
Hahaha, dreams come true ;D!
No doubt it'll take me a real long time to save for this lens!
 
Ha, I already have too much Nikon kit to be doing that though.
 
I suspect Raymond could take awesome photos with a box brownie so discount his examples entirely :lol:

When I used a 5D2 I found the 135mm f2 to be a truly wonderful portrait lens. And much more useable than the 85mm f1.2 which is huge and heavy. The 135mm is a lot less costly.

(Damn,why did I read this thread, I'm getting 5D2 yearnings again.)
 
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paulcamcas said:
I suspect Raymond could take awesome photos with a box brownie so discount his examples entirely :lol:

When I used a 5D2 I found the 135mm f2 to be a truly wonderful portrait lens. And much more useable than the 85mm f1.2 which is huge and heavy. The 135mm is a lot less costly.

(Damn,why did I read this thread, I'm getting 5D2 yearnings again.)
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:lol: Very true.

I had the Nikon 85mm F1.4G and it was a truly great lens and I really miss it. :(

But the 5D MKII images I see always seem to impress.
 
paulcamcas said:
I suspect Raymond could take awesome photos with a box brownie so discount his examples entirely :lol:

When I used a 5D2 I found the 135mm f2 to be a truly wonderful portrait lens. And much more useable than the 85mm f1.2 which is huge and heavy. The 135mm is a lot less costly.

(Damn,why did I read this thread, I'm getting 5D2 yearnings again.)
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I've got a 135L and 5D1, and find it too long for indoor use. Guess it would OK in a 'larger' studio.

Just waiting for delivery on a 85mm f1.8 from the classifieds here as a alternative for indoor shooting.
 
Have to admit, I think I'd find the 135L a little too long much like @losbandidos mentioned.
It does produce some beautiful photographs tho.
 
just caught up on this thread...great advise...im around 3 wedding payments away from being able to invest in a 5Dii....thinking about lenses and kit bag...I currently run a 50mm 1.8, 35mm 2, 100mm 2.8 macro, plus other zooms....i think i'll look to get the 24-70 as standard plus a new 50mm 1.4......but also like the idea of the 85mm..........decisions decisions.....money....money!!!
 
I've got quite a while before I can afford this lens D:! One day tho, & hearing others'
experiences, seeing the work it can produce has only made me lust after it more haha.
 
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