Updated Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS Specifcations

[BillB]

Scotty,

Let me share my thoughts. the hidden benefits of shooting 85 F1.4 or F1.8 lens stopped down to F2.8 are: much lower levels of CA and vignetting, better corner sharpness So there is definitely a point in shooting with a wide aperture prime stopped down.Or even step back a bit for increased DoF and shoot full body portrait.
The DoF, when shooting with 85mm lens at F1.8 and 5m to subject, is quite reasonable being 18cm in front of and 18cm behind the subject.

I somehow never really warmed to my 85mm f/1.8. I've been thinking of selling but there were few nibbles on my Craigslist and everyone wanted to pay peanuts so I kept it. I think it is a combination of the focal length being just a little too long or short somehow, and the photos not being as contrasty as my 70-200. I also find that at a longer FL like this f/2.8 gives about as narrow a DOF as I really want. Any narrower and you get OOF ears, which I find makes people look weird; like they are doing a back float with ears underwater. I find despite the weight I go for the IQ and versatility of the 70-200 over the shallower dof and the1 1/3 stop of light of the 85.

Maybe I just need to leave the 85 on the camera for a month and force myself to get my head around it. Then maybe this new lens will appeal more strongly to me.

If you are ok with the size weight and visibility of the 70-200, the shallow DOF of the 85 may not be a big enough deal to give up the flexibility of the zoom. I like the light weight and the unobtrusiveness of the 85, especially paired with the 16-35 or the 40 pancake. Either choice gives great IQ. Using the 85 did require me to relearn how to zoom with my feet.

 

[SecureGSM]

unless the venue is so dark that you are forced to shoot at 1/60s, F2.8 and ISO 3200 with your zoom lens. Which I do routinely. with 85 F1.4 prime the ISO is down to very reasonable 1600 level and shutter speed increased to 1/125s at the same time. Thanks to F1.4 prime 2 stop aperture advantage. it works for me

p.s.: attached photo was taken with Sigma 35 F1.4 wide open.

...the shallow DOF of the 85 may not be a big enough deal to give up the flexibility of the zoom.

 

[hne]

Scotty,

Let me share my thoughts. the hidden benefits of shooting 85 F1.4 or F1.8 lens stopped down to F2.8 are: much lower levels of CA and vignetting, better corner sharpness So there is definitely a point in shooting with a wide aperture prime stopped down.Or even step back a bit for increased DoF and shoot full body portrait.
The DoF, when shooting with 85mm lens at F1.8 and 5m to subject, is quite reasonable being 18cm in front of and 18cm behind the subject.

At 5m distance, the CoC diameter for +- 18cm would be roughly 40 micrometer. Having that as resolution limit (since you say your outer ends should still seem sharp) means roughly 600x900 pixels on a FF sensor equivalency. As long as you never view your 4x6 inch prints at a distance closer than arms length, I agree with you.

I'm normally calculating for 2.5 times resolution needed or a 4x6 at no nearer than 25cm (international definition of visual acuity, in case someone's interested).

On the other hand, I don't mind slightly blurry ears, so I find 85/1.8 fully open to be tolerable down to about 3m distance, which makes for a nice loosly framed horizontal head+shoulders. Opening up to 85/1.4 would allow the same transition to out of focus (in object space) at a 10% longer distance. 85/1.2 increases that distance to almost 3.5m. Not a big deal, but quite handy at times to get a similar transition speed at a longer distance. Someone mentioned having DoF priority on the mode wheel. I'd agree. Set it at f/1.2 at 3.5m and if you refocus to 3m distance the camera stops down the lens to f/1.8. That would be handy!

 

[scyrene]

I may be wrong, so please someone inform me: I thought wide open, all lenses had a circular aperture, the aperture blades only kick in when stopped down, in which case the more there are, the better, and rounded is better than straight. Odd versus even numbers of blades also affects 'sunstars' differently.

Correct - wide open there are no blades to interfere.

Yes. That means it's possible to have perfectly round aperture at two settings, wide open and at one selected smaller aperture (say, f/1.8 or f/2.8 or whatever Canon wants). At all other settings there'd be corners.

Thanks!

 

[wockawocka]

I'm sure at 1.2 on FF the 50L and 85L clip the bokeh when wide open.

So I think the 1.4 version should give perfect bokeh wide open and no clipping at the edges. Worth a 1/2 stop of light loss imho.

 

[The Supplanter]

You'd call this image I took of my son last night desaturated?

I didn't touch the vibrance or saturation sliders and I actually desaturated the greens by -10. I reduced the luminance on the orange and yellow sliders and I only increased the saturation of the orange slider by +10 (I overexposed slightly and had to correct it).

I'm pretty sure you don't know what you're talking about because you haven't actually used the equipment, hence your link to something other than your own work.

I'm pretty sure no one on this forum cares that you use Sony, or what your son looks like. Absolutely no one.

This topic is about the upcoming 85mm lens from Canon - not about your Sony equipment, nor your son.

 

[ScottyP]

unless the venue is so dark that you are forced to shoot at 1/60s, F2.8 and ISO 3200 with your zoom lens. Which I do routinely. with 85 F1.4 prime the ISO is down to very reasonable 1600 level and shutter speed increased to 1/125s at the same time. Thanks to F1.4 prime 2 stop aperture advantage. it works for me

p.s.: attached photo was taken with Sigma 35 F1.4 wide open.

...the shallow DOF of the 85 may not be a big enough deal to give up the flexibility of the zoom.

I agree. I love primes and I particularly love that Sigma 35 Art, which is my walk around lens responsible for at least 60% of my shots. I think the 35mm focal length is more versatile than 85mm and it also is more generous with the DOF.

 

[jebrady03]

You'd call this image I took of my son last night desaturated?

I didn't touch the vibrance or saturation sliders and I actually desaturated the greens by -10. I reduced the luminance on the orange and yellow sliders and I only increased the saturation of the orange slider by +10 (I overexposed slightly and had to correct it).

I'm pretty sure you don't know what you're talking about because you haven't actually used the equipment, hence your link to something other than your own work.

I'm pretty sure no one on this forum cares that you use Sony, or what your son looks like. Absolutely no one.

This topic is about the upcoming 85mm lens from Canon - not about your Sony equipment, nor your son.

Mmmmmm... If only I cared what you think!

My initial post was my disappointment with how long Canon took to come out with an 85 I liked and by the time they had, I had already decided to bail for tech that better serves me. The picture of my son was in response to the assertion that Sony colors were desaturared.

 

[Jopa]

You'd call this image I took of my son last night desaturated?

I didn't touch the vibrance or saturation sliders and I actually desaturated the greens by -10. I reduced the luminance on the orange and yellow sliders and I only increased the saturation of the orange slider by +10 (I overexposed slightly and had to correct it).

I'm pretty sure you don't know what you're talking about because you haven't actually used the equipment, hence your link to something other than your own work.

I'm pretty sure no one on this forum cares that you use Sony, or what your son looks like. Absolutely no one.

This topic is about the upcoming 85mm lens from Canon - not about your Sony equipment, nor your son.

Mmmmmm... If only I cared what you think!

My initial post was my disappointment with how long Canon took to come out with an 85 I liked and by the time they had, I had already decided to bail for tech that better serves me. The picture of my son was in response to the assertion that Sony colors were desaturared.

Great picture. That's the only thing that actually matters

The Batis 85 is probably one of the best quality/size lens made for the A7 platform (unlike the 85GM grinder). Sony colors are somewhat different from Canon's. Sony picks up greens everywhere, Canon - reds.

Here is my favorite A7r2/Batis shot:

 

[Phenix205]

Are we sure this is going to be an L lens?

 

[hne]

I'm sure at 1.2 on FF the 50L and 85L clip the bokeh when wide open.

So I think the 1.4 version should give perfect bokeh wide open and no clipping at the edges. Worth a 1/2 stop of light loss imho.

Yes, the two current Canon f/1.2 lenses clip bokeh in two ways. First off, the lens barrel gets in the way for the corners, causing "cat eye" shaped out of focus hilights. Secondly, the mirror box gets in the way for top and bottom at some angles, causing out of focus hilights to look chopped off (bottom part at image top, top part at image bottom). A surprising source of well presented information on what makes bokeh balls look the way it does can be found in the features list of a tool used to simulate lens aberrations in 3D renders:

http://richardrosenman.com/shop/dof-pro/

 

[camerone]

Are we sure this is going to be an L lens?

yes

 

[Ozarker]

I sincerely believe that with this lens on my 6D that I'll be able to get chicks.

Only if you take it to the tattoo shop and get a barbed wire tattoo all the way around it.

 

[sulla]

I have rented the 85/1.2 -- was shocked at the incredible optics and difficulty to perfectly focus :-[.

So were my thoughts when I rented a 85 1.2 II and used it on a 5D1. Focus was not easy to achieve always. I also borrowed a 85 1.8 from a friend of mine, but did not like the images too much.
Later on, I bought a 85 1.2 II used, because - like Mr. Wilde - I just couldn't resist temptation. f/1.2 is sooooo much more light than f/1.8. DOF-shallowness also. While focus is still on the slow side, I find it not difficult to achieve perfect focus with the excellent AF system of my 5D3. Focus by wire becomes the new standard with STM lenses anyway, and I got used to it. Yes, it feels strange.
Since, I have just fallen absolutely in love with that lens. It is amazing.

the IS in the new 85 1.4 lens will be a game changer, I believe. Probably that lenses greatest asset. A real advantage over the 1.2. The rest (build quality, image rendering, colour rendering) remains to be seen, however.

PS: With the 1.2, you can get even more chicks!

 

[LonelyBoy]

I've decided to give the Sony E mount system a try and this lens was the one thing making me consider staying with Canon. I grew tired of waiting and bought the Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 (which is stabilized and weather sealed) and paired it with the A7r2 (which also has in-body) and with Eye AF, the results are incredible. Also, it's half the weight of the 85mm f/1.4L IS and I bought it for $850 (used but essentially new). So, yeah, I'm missing out on 2/3 of a stop of aperture, but the AF accuracy, small size and weight, and low-cost make it more than worth it.
I know Canon won't even know about me to even consider shedding a tear, but I'm really happy with the Sony combo. And as a bonus, I actually prefer the Sony skin tones because my wife and son are both orange-heads (I don't know why we call people like them "red heads", they're not) and the Canon colors wreaked havoc on their hair and skin. The Sony colors represent them accurately. FINALLY!!!

Orange was the last color that we currently identify from the others to be distinguished and named. This occurred after the term "red-head" was coined.

There are other cultures (I believe certain indigenous cultures in Mexico) that don't distinguish between blue and green.

The more you know!

 

[suburbia]

I sincerely believe that with this lens on my 6D that I'll be able to get chicks.

Is that what you call it?

 

[Ozarker]

You'd call this image I took of my son last night desaturated?

I didn't touch the vibrance or saturation sliders and I actually desaturated the greens by -10. I reduced the luminance on the orange and yellow sliders and I only increased the saturation of the orange slider by +10 (I overexposed slightly and had to correct it).

I'm pretty sure you don't know what you're talking about because you haven't actually used the equipment, hence your link to something other than your own work.

I'm pretty sure no one on this forum cares that you use Sony, or what your son looks like. Absolutely no one.

This topic is about the upcoming 85mm lens from Canon - not about your Sony equipment, nor your son.

I'm sure you are an abrasive goon.

 

[SUNDOG04]

Not in the market for this lens as I love my 100 macro IS lens. Recall how I used to love a 85 f2 Rokkor lens. Very compact, and, by my standards f2 is a fast lens.

 

[sowlow]

I think i will probably upgrade my 85 1.8

 

[scottgoh]

this is awesome. love to get the 85 IS. but too bad its not 1.2

Scott
www.scottgohphotography.com.au