You Keep Asking About the Upcoming Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS....

[Khalai]

And, I can't understand how this lens would be a camel back breaker making someone jump to Sony? Has Canon released some lenses lately that have been sub-par that would make you worry about this lens?
Disclosure: I own two Sigma lenses ONLY because Canon doesn't make a similar lens.

I'm afraid @ashanford can be next. In the last few years Zony has released 4 50mm FF lenses! All are good to excellent.

Give me Zeiss 1.4/50 Distagon Milvus with AF and I'm sold. Okay, perhaps a bit smaller and lighter, thank you

 

[Jopa]

And, I can't understand how this lens would be a camel back breaker making someone jump to Sony? Has Canon released some lenses lately that have been sub-par that would make you worry about this lens?
Disclosure: I own two Sigma lenses ONLY because Canon doesn't make a similar lens.

I'm afraid @ashanford can be next. In the last few years Zony has released 4 50mm FF lenses! All are good to excellent.

Give me Zeiss 1.4/50 Distagon Milvus with AF and I'm sold. Okay, perhaps a bit smaller and lighter, thank you

For me a 35/1.4II-like 50mm should do it IS is a plus.

 

[Khalai]

And, I can't understand how this lens would be a camel back breaker making someone jump to Sony? Has Canon released some lenses lately that have been sub-par that would make you worry about this lens?
Disclosure: I own two Sigma lenses ONLY because Canon doesn't make a similar lens.

I'm afraid @ashanford can be next. In the last few years Zony has released 4 50mm FF lenses! All are good to excellent.

Give me Zeiss 1.4/50 Distagon Milvus with AF and I'm sold. Okay, perhaps a bit smaller and lighter, thank you

For me a 35/1.4II-like 50mm should do it IS is a plus.

Right. 50/1.4L and 85/1.4L IS with qualites of 35/1.4L II would be awesome. But then again, the price will not be that much awesome I'm afraid. I'm secretly hoping that 85/1.4L will be perhaps cheaper than 85/1.2L, but I'm not holding my breath.

I'm also conteplating another lens, which is rather similar. There is used Zeiss 1.4/85 Planar (Classic, not Milvus) for under 725 €. But I'm still not sure that I would get used to MF only, even with Eg-S focusing screen in my 6D. Choices, choices...

 

[bholliman]

And, I can't understand how this lens would be a camel back breaker making someone jump to Sony? Has Canon released some lenses lately that have been sub-par that would make you worry about this lens?
Disclosure: I own two Sigma lenses ONLY because Canon doesn't make a similar lens.

I'm afraid @ashanford can be next. In the last few years Zony has released 4 50mm FF lenses! All are good to excellent.

Give me Zeiss 1.4/50 Distagon Milvus with AF and I'm sold. Okay, perhaps a bit smaller and lighter, thank you

For me a 35/1.4II-like 50mm should do it IS is a plus.

+1, with our without IS, I would preorder one

 

[ahsanford]

Sigma has the 135mm f1.8 DG HSM A which obviously is not a constant maximum aperture lens

- A

 

[sanj]

I already sold my 1.2. Got a super price for it. It is good that not all read Canon Rumors. ;D

The 1.2 is a quite unique lens, and the 1.4 won't be a replacement. It should hold its value.

Sure, that is possible. But for me the 1.4 with IS and better optics, faster AF will work better.

 

[m8547]

Has everyone forgotten about the 400mm f/5.6 II? Or better yet, they could make a 400mm f/5.6 IS. The 100-400 II is excellent, but I would buy a lighter 400mm lens.

 

[Zv]

In terms of a constant maximum aperture set of lenses Canon has fallen behind Sigma and one has to wonder why.

This is Canon current offering:-

EF 24mm f1.4L II
EF 35mm f1.4L II
EF 50mm f1.4 (A lens not up to the newer 5D MKIV, 5DS / R cameras resolution)

we have a rumoured EF 85mm f1.4L

Now lets look at a constant maximum aperture selection from Sigma Art series

20mm f1.4 DG HSM A
24mm f1.4 DG HSM A
35mm f1.4 DG HSM A
50mm f1.4 DG HSM A
85mm f1.4 DG HSM A

Sigma has the 135mm f1.8 DG HSM A which obviously is not a constant maximum aperture lens and is missing a 100mm from the Art series. Nikon recently produced a 105mm f1.4E ED so its plausible to make a lens in numbers at this aperture and maintain high quality. In cinematography a number of companies make fast primes with constant maximum apertures and for the video shooters among Canon clients this is a holy grail they are yet to realise from Canon current portfolio.

The mystery is the lack of EF 50mm f1.4L, this is the easiest focal length to design and would sell in greater numbers yet to date Canon has not delivered. Moreover its unlikely to unseat the 50mm f1.2L because they can be designed with different criteria (i.e. soft & creamy at max aperture for the 1.2 and crisp & contrast for the 1.4).

Sigma has taken their 1.4 lenses and repurposed them for cinematography to a part of the market that cannot afford Zeiss, Cookes, Schneider, Leica etc. Canon fixed cinematography primes are a mixed bag with good & bad lenses and not widely popular as a result.

So Canon where is the EF 50mm f1.4L and the EF 85mm f1.4L and what else beyond that because that would still only give you four focal lengths you would need either a 18 / 20mm and a 100mm

What exactly are you meaning by "constant maximum aperture" by which a 135A does not count? Do you really mean "f/1.4"? Because primes are constant maximum aperture by default and definition: they don't have a zoom range over which maximum aperture can change. I assume "at least f/1.4" is what you mean, because Canon has a ton more primes than you listed, and the only reason I can think of you've excluded them is they aren't f/1.4.

I would say that, as a strategy, Sigma has done a great job of identifying weak spots in the Canon lineup and focusing their efforts there. A full library of f/1.4 primes (plus the 24-70/2.8OS), is a soft spot in Canon's lineup. The 24-105A is much less of an unserved market, so whatever people say about the Sigma being better than the old 24-105L, I'd be really curious what the sales numbers have been for the Art, and how it's worked out for them as an investment.

I believe the word you're both looking for is "consistent"

 

[drmikeinpdx]

The new 85 IS comes too late for me. I have the 85 1.8 USM and the stabilized Tamron 85 1.8 that works great for my needs. I'm glad I didn't wait to buy the Tamron last year.

 

[Jopa]

In terms of a constant maximum aperture set of lenses Canon has fallen behind Sigma and one has to wonder why.

This is Canon current offering:-

EF 24mm f1.4L II
EF 35mm f1.4L II
EF 50mm f1.4 (A lens not up to the newer 5D MKIV, 5DS / R cameras resolution)

we have a rumoured EF 85mm f1.4L

Now lets look at a constant maximum aperture selection from Sigma Art series

20mm f1.4 DG HSM A
24mm f1.4 DG HSM A
35mm f1.4 DG HSM A
50mm f1.4 DG HSM A
85mm f1.4 DG HSM A

Sigma has the 135mm f1.8 DG HSM A which obviously is not a constant maximum aperture lens and is missing a 100mm from the Art series. Nikon recently produced a 105mm f1.4E ED so its plausible to make a lens in numbers at this aperture and maintain high quality. In cinematography a number of companies make fast primes with constant maximum apertures and for the video shooters among Canon clients this is a holy grail they are yet to realise from Canon current portfolio.

The mystery is the lack of EF 50mm f1.4L, this is the easiest focal length to design and would sell in greater numbers yet to date Canon has not delivered. Moreover its unlikely to unseat the 50mm f1.2L because they can be designed with different criteria (i.e. soft & creamy at max aperture for the 1.2 and crisp & contrast for the 1.4).

Sigma has taken their 1.4 lenses and repurposed them for cinematography to a part of the market that cannot afford Zeiss, Cookes, Schneider, Leica etc. Canon fixed cinematography primes are a mixed bag with good & bad lenses and not widely popular as a result.

So Canon where is the EF 50mm f1.4L and the EF 85mm f1.4L and what else beyond that because that would still only give you four focal lengths you would need either a 18 / 20mm and a 100mm

What exactly are you meaning by "constant maximum aperture" by which a 135A does not count? Do you really mean "f/1.4"? Because primes are constant maximum aperture by default and definition: they don't have a zoom range over which maximum aperture can change. I assume "at least f/1.4" is what you mean, because Canon has a ton more primes than you listed, and the only reason I can think of you've excluded them is they aren't f/1.4.

I would say that, as a strategy, Sigma has done a great job of identifying weak spots in the Canon lineup and focusing their efforts there. A full library of f/1.4 primes (plus the 24-70/2.8OS), is a soft spot in Canon's lineup. The 24-105A is much less of an unserved market, so whatever people say about the Sigma being better than the old 24-105L, I'd be really curious what the sales numbers have been for the Art, and how it's worked out for them as an investment.

I believe the word you're both looking for is "consistent"

The 135/1.8 is pretty consistent actually And fixed (constant) aperture. So we just keep guessing...

 

[ahsanford]

The 135/1.8 is pretty consistent actually And fixed (constant) aperture. So we just keep guessing...

Oh, the 135 Art is fixed at f/1.8 for all time? :

This thread is devolving into madness. We're actually having a back and forth about how our primes don't have a variable max aperture depending on the focal length our prime is set to.

;D

- A

 

[Jopa]

The 135/1.8 is pretty consistent actually And fixed (constant) aperture. So we just keep guessing...

Oh, the 135 Art is fixed at f/1.8 for all time? :

This thread is devolving into madness. We're actually having a back and forth about how our primes don't have a variable max aperture depending on the focal length our prime is set to.

;D

- A

If you damage your aperture control mechanism - it can stay permanently @ 1.8, why not? It'll be a bummer if it locks at f/16 though

 

[Ozarker]

The 135/1.8 is pretty consistent actually And fixed (constant) aperture. So we just keep guessing...

Oh, the 135 Art is fixed at f/1.8 for all time? :

This thread is devolving into madness. We're actually having a back and forth about how our primes don't have a variable max aperture depending on the focal length our prime is set to.

;D

- A

When a person only shoots in automatic and never changes aperture manually, and never looks at exif data, and the lens only has 1:1.4 printed on it (rather than f/1.4-f/22... I can see the confusion.

 

[ahsanford]

This is Canon current offering:-

EF 24mm f1.4L II
EF 35mm f1.4L II
EF 50mm f1.4 (A lens not up to the newer 5D MKIV, 5DS / R cameras resolution)

we have a rumoured EF 85mm f1.4L

Now lets look at a constant maximum aperture selection from Sigma Art series

20mm f1.4 DG HSM A
24mm f1.4 DG HSM A
35mm f1.4 DG HSM A
50mm f1.4 DG HSM A
85mm f1.4 DG HSM A

So if I understand you correctly, a nice clean slate of (consistently) f/1.4 max aperture primes is a good thing? I could get behind that -- that makes sense.

That said, I strongly prefer Canon's model to Sigma's. With the exception of 20mm, they offer 2-3 price points at each focal length, so you can better match the instrument to your needs.

Consider: all of those Sigma lenses above are comically large/heavy instruments. Not everyone is shooting portraiture, astro, concerts, etc. that requires such a large aperture, so it's awesome that we have (for instance) the 24/28/35 IS lenses, the inexpensive 50 f/1.4 USM, 85 f/1.8 USM, 100mm f/2 USM, etc.

- A

 

[LonelyBoy]

I believe the word you're both looking for is "consistent"

I wasn't looking for it. The guy I replied to may have been...

 

[Phil995511]

The 600 mm DO "L" F4 would make my happiness, hoping it is light and not too long.

The 200-600 mm "L" F4-5.6 must go out quickly to cope of Sigma and Tamron.

The 24-70 mm "L" IS F 2.8 is also highly anticipated.