FYI: This Is The Gear Used To Take Obama’s New Official Portrait

[Jesse]

Haha, nice debate I stirred here. For the record, if I could afford both the 70-200 II and the 85L I'd definitely shoot this with the 85. Obviously a zoom isn't needed in this situation. And anyone who can't shoot a portrait in focus at 7.1 with the 85L shouldn't be shooting the president.

[East Wind Photography]

And thus having you lens stick out in front you also causes your shirt buttons to scratch your LCD screen!  Just another reason to carry your camera with the lens pointing down no matter what lens you use. 

Well, anyway, as Vincent Laforet says in his blog, there is NO reason to own the 85L if you're not shooting it between 1.2 - 2.0, as you might as well own the 70-200 II for only a few hundred $ more, with the ability to have the versatility of the zoom, much faster auto-focus, IS and pretty much equal sharpness.

If you can afford both, well, I'm jealous of you.

What I understood from the video (Presidents Photographer) is that he follows the President all day long and takes 20000 photos a week, so carrying a big heavy like 70-200, all day long, would be a bit too much (especially for a 59 year old like Pete Souza) ... also in that video I saw him work mostly with a 35 f/1.4 & 85 f/1.2 lenses ... the only other lens I saw him use in that video was 24-70 (if I am not wrong it was mostly used outdoors).
So don't be jealous ... be happy that you are a strong young person with the muscles and strength to carry a 70-200 all day long

The 85 f1.2 isn't a light lens, I would say it's almost the same weight as the 70-200 2.8 with out the collar. I know it's a lot heavier than my 24-105 f4. I know carrying a 70-200 more than 4 hrs non stop will do a number on your arms, but i think it would be the same for the 85 f1.2 since you would need to walk around more to get your shot. Both lens would have  done a great on the portrait so what ever you have on you, you will learn to use it to your best ability.

85 f/1.2 weighs 2.26 lbs (1.03 kg) ... 70-200 f/2.8 L IS II weighs 3.28 lbs (1.49 kg) ... i.e. 70-200 is almost 50% heavier ... also a longer lens (mounted on a camera), when carrying around your shoulder or neck tends to annoyingly hang down more than a shorter lens would, due to its length and weight.

[sandymandy]

The bokeh is fine in the photo isnt it? If he really used 1.2 then it probably looked like it was taken "somewhere".

[Hill Benson]

As if I didn't already have enough reasons to get an 85mm f/1.2L!

I wonder if a digital medium format camera has been considered by this photographer?

[Marsu42]

I wonder if a digital medium format camera has been considered by this photographer?

They probably wanted to leak the dslr spec the president was shot with and make him a man of the people (you can also afford a 85L!) rather than a leader whose picture is taken with a medium format camera worth the price of a porsche racecar - the man is a democrat after all :-p