Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L Mark ii Review

Check out my website at http://www.DarrenMiles.com - Southwest Florida Photographer

Buy the Canon 85mm f/1.2 L Mark ii here;

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product...

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF B&H PHOTO'S DAILY DEALS HERE;

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?...

Buy the Canon 85mm f/1.8 Here;

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product...

Buy the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for Canon here;

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product...

Buy the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for Nikon here;

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product...

The canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L II - We test another Canon legend, does it live up to the hype?  

Before we get into the review, I'd like to offer a quick disclaimer about my reviews/opinions.  I review lenses based on "real world" and "in the field" experiences.  The technical aspects and technical specifications of this lens - and all the others I've reviewed - are well documented.  My reviews are based on real world situations where just the right lighting and focus charts aren't present, just me, the 85L, and an off camera flash or natural light.  The majority of these shots were taken with the 5D Mark II, the 7D and the 1D mark ii.  Enjoy.


CONCLUSION:  If you're a wedding or portrait photographer who charges top dollar for his or her services, then there is simply no substitute for this lens.  At the end of the day of you're charging a few hundred per shoot, then this lens is a bit of a no-brainer.  There is some competition in this focal length, but each has its own share of short comings.  Notably the Sigma 85mm f/1.4, which is highly regarded - if you get a good one, I hear that phraseology with Sigma often.  I own 3 Sigma lenses and well, lets just say 2 out of 3 ain't bad.  The Canpn 85mm f/1.8 is a great option, it focusses faster, but it suffers from a LOT of purple fringing in high contrast (read harsh lighting) conditions.   Most of the other 3rd party options (Zeiss and Samyang) are manual focus lenses - fine, if you're doing portraits.

Over all

BUILD QUALITY:  Apart from not being weather sealed, its a home run 9.5/10

FOCUS SPEED AND ACCURACY:  Too slow for anything other than portraits, it is however, pretty darn accurate.  7.5/10

OPTICAL QUALITY:  For its intended purpose of portraits, its a 10/10, for general field use, more like a 7/10

QUALITY OF RESULTS:  Award winning, so long as the photos are of relatively still subjects.  10/10

VALUE:  Depending on what you're using it for, again, I sound like a broken record, if you take portraits, this is your lens, its a 10/10, it's practically worthless for just about anything else, the moment will be gone before you can focus. 5/10.

OVERALL:  FOR  PORTRAITURE:  47/50  HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!
                   FOR EVERYDAY USE:  39/50  RECOMMENDED