"L" primes.........novelty or necessity??

[roanjohn]

I am specifically talking about the 85 f1.2, 35 f1.4 and 24 f1.4.

Anybody have any "personal" experience from any of these lenses??

I know Pekka has the 85 f1.2 and I am just drooling in awe everytime I look at the pics he can acheive from it. I also read the thread where he explained the reasons why he got the lens.........It was a truly enjoyable read :-)

I really want to hear more stories................why you purchased it?? What was the reasoning?? Did you collect all your "most wanted" zoom lenses first or did you go for the primes right away?? Did it pay off at the end?? Any regrets?? ................

...........oh..............and link with pics would be great.

I just want to live vicarioulsy through other people's experience.

Ro1

[drisley]

I think the L is only a necessity if you absolutely need that focal length, aperture combination.
For example, I shoot alot of low light, and the 85mm f1.8 is absolutely perfect. I dont need that extra 2/3 stop of light, but some may.

Virtually all the primes as super sharp.
I think the only advantage that the L lenses have is better control of chromatic abberation and purple/blue fringing at wide apertures. This is about the only flaw (although very slight) wide open on the 85mm f1.8 lens, and some other non L primes.
Btw, I am anxiously awaiting my first L prime, the 135 F2L.

This picture (http://www.mts.net/~lftbrain/iso1600crop2.jpg) was taken with the 85mm f1.8 at f2.5, ISO800 on the 300D.
The detail still blows me away.

[roanjohn]

I think the only advantage that the L lenses have is better control of chromatic abberation and purple/blue fringing at wide apertures. This is about the only flaw (although very slight) wide open on the 85mm f1.8 lens, and some other non L primes.


Suprisingly enough..........the 85 f1.2 also exhibits purple fringing wide open!!! I think this is just inherent of the 85 focal length.

I think the biggest difference is that the 85 1.2 version will be sharp already wide open.........and even sharper at 1.8!!! Though for casual shooting, the 1.8 should be good enough......

.........can't really say anything bad about the 1.8 version.....:-)

Ro1

[drisley]

Once I get my 135 F2L in the next day or so, I will do some comparisons with my beloved 85mm F1.8. I know they arent the same focal length, but I can still do comparisons regarding sharpness wide open, fringing, etc.
I expect the 85mm F1.8 will compare very favourably.

[roanjohn]

OOhhh!!! I want to see that for sure!!!

You seem to be building up a nice collection of primes there :-)

Ro1

[drisley]

I will absolutely post some pics.
Yeah, I guess I do like primes.
I had (and really liked) the 70-200 F4L, but I wanted something faster.
I really looked hard at the 70-200 F2.8 IS, but I wanted a lens that was less conspicuous, and the 135 F2L fit the bill. It's much smaller, black, and apparently one of the sharpest lenses Canon ever made. Even with the 1.4x Tcon, it's supposedly still slightly sharper than the 70-200 zoom.
You know, I've been to 2 forums that rate/review lenses, one was the fred miranda site, and I cant remember the other. The 135 F2L is the only lens I've ever seen get a perfect 5/5 score on BOTH sites. There was not a single negative thing said about it.
Well, I pretty excited to get it. Funny thing is, I can get seats in any row I want for the bodybuilding/fitness shows I shoot. Now with this lens, I'm going to be asking for seats FURTHER back so that I can use the 135 F2L
:lol:

BTW, just read these reviews:
http://www.photographyreview.com/pscLenses/35mm,Primes/Canon/PRD_83384_3111crx.aspx


If you want to read an EXCELLENT article comparing the 85mm, 100mm, and 135mm lens, check this out. You will see that the non L primes (85mm, and 100mm) do fairly well. The 135 L takes top prize though.
http://www.wlcastleman.com/equip/reviews/85_100_135/index.htm

Oh, and here is a comparison of the Canon 85F1.2, 85F1.8, and Nikon 85F1.4 :
http://www.wlcastleman.com/equip/reviews/85mm/index.htm

[drisley]

I'm back from reading those 2 pages above.

In a direct comparison of the 85F1.2L and the 85F1.8, the general conclusions were:

The 85F1.2L was sharper, especially wide open.
The 85F1.8 had better contrast.
The 85F1.8 had a much faster autofocus system. By comparison, the 85F1.2L was quite a sloth.

The author opted for the 85F1.8 (for shooting gymnastics) because the 85F1.2L was too slow (autofocus) and heavy. He also said that any difference in sharpness was not really noticable on digital, only fine grain film.

[roanjohn]

WHOA!!! You did your research!!!

I am a bit leary of using such a long focal length indoors (135) for fear of motion blur. Hopefully thats something you won't have to worry about. But the 135 f2 L is one of those novelty lenses that is legendary when it comes to sharpness.............so I'm jealous that you get to experience it :-)

In any case.........your primes seem to get longer and more expensive........whats next?? The 200 f1.8 L :shock:

he he.......

Ro1

[drisley]

Good points.
Well, after doing a few indoor shows, I can get consistently good exposures, with very little noise at about 1/200s at f2.8 and ISO1600.
With a lens that is so sharp wide open, I will be able to get about 1/250s to 1/400s at f2.0
That is plenty fast for a 135mm lens, even with the 1.6x crop factor.
I think even 1/200s would give pretty sharp pictures (216mm equiv length).
I could probably even get around 1/200s wide open at ISO800.
These shows are actually quite well lit for a theatre.

BTW, this is my favourite shot for showing the sharpness of the 85mm f1.8, and the low noise of the 300D at ISO800 and above. No noise reduction was used at all. Just shot "to-the-right", RAW, and used C1 Pro.

85mm, f2.5, 1/125s, ISO800 (http://www.mts.net/~lftbrain/iso1600crop2.jpg)

[CyberDyneSystems]

Canon's absolute Legendary lensea are all Primes..

85mm f.1.2
135mm f/2
200mm f/1.8
300mm f/2.8
400mm f/2.8
600mm f/4

These are the dream team :)

I don't own any of them.. :( But I can say this.. my ONE high dollar prime absolutely beats the pants off of any L Zoom made.

[Belmondo]

Canon's absolute Legendary lensea are all Primes..

85mm f.1.2
135mm f/2
200mm f/1.8
300mm f/2.8
400mm f/2.8
600mm f/4

These are the dream team :)

I don't own any of them.. :( But I can say this.. my ONE high dollar prime absolutely beats the pants off of any L Zoom made.

At least I have one of them (85mm f/1.2L). :) I frankly doubt I'll ever own any of the others. :cry:

[Pekka]

I'm back from reading those 2 pages above.

In a direct comparison of the 85F1.2L and the 85F1.8, the general conclusions were:

The 85F1.2L was sharper, especially wide open.
The 85F1.8 had better contrast.
The 85F1.8 had a much faster autofocus system. By comparison, the 85F1.2L was quite a sloth.

The author opted for the 85F1.8 (for shooting gymnastics) because the 85F1.2L was too slow (autofocus) and heavy. He also said that any difference in sharpness was not really noticable on digital, only fine grain film.

Couple of things: if he looked for a gymnastics lens then he should have known 1.2 is not for that at all. It is designed to be a portrait lens so fast autofocus must have not been its primary design requirement. Manual focus in 1.2 is on the other hand best there is which is very important in open aperture work.

1.2 contrast has been just right for me. It contributes to the special look the lens can produce.

The main reason you'll get 1.2 because you will need 1.2 or 1.4. And no one prevents buying both.

[robekert]

I like my primes. They are like my children, each has their own special qualities. Each brings me joy in a different way.

EF 35 f1.4L-Great general purpose performer. Gives me a great lowlight, close to "normal" lens with the 1.3 crop of the 1D Mark II
http://homepage.mac.com/robekert/images/01%20Jacob%20with%20Blankie.jpg

EF 85 f1.2L-Dreamy bokeh, dream portrait lens.
http://homepage.mac.com/robekert/images/05%20Julia%20Portrait.jpg

EF 135 f2.0L-Tack sharp, snaps to focus.
http://homepage.mac.com/robekert/images/06%20Julia%20Hitting.jpg

Cheers,
Rob

[Tom W]

Sweet shots, Rob! Very nice.

I've only recently discovered a couple of primes that I like (and a zoom or two that would be hard to replace). Neither of the primes is an "L" lens, but they definately have their place.

[roanjohn]

Rob - you are killing me!!!

All I can say is WOW!!! :shock:

Ro1

[timmyquest]

Rob - you are killing me!!!

All I can say is WOW!!! :shock:

Ro1

...what he said!

My current lens list is:

kit 18-55
sigma 70-300 POS
sigma 28-80 mid POS
canon 50mm f/1.8
canon 70-200 L

The three canons are the only lenses i use...but the one that i ues the most is for sure the prime. Had i not crashed my truck i'm sure i would have ordered the 85mm by now (1.8 version) but after seeing the 135 shot...i could find plenty of uses for that.

I think the only zoom i'll ever buy is the 100-400....otherwise, i'm perfectly ...(you knew a punlike phrase was coming) fine with prime.

[roanjohn]

Canon's absolute Legendary lensea are all Primes..

85mm f.1.2
135mm f/2
200mm f/1.8
300mm f/2.8
400mm f/2.8
600mm f/4

.

WOW..............400 f2.8.............Does anybody in the forum owns that lens??

Ro1

[timmyquest]

WOW..............400 f2.8.............Does anybody in the forum owns that lens??

Ro1

I'm sure someone does, the largest/fastest i know of though is owned by CDS 500mm f/4.

[Belmondo]

WOW..............400 f2.8.............Does anybody in the forum owns that lens??

Ro1

I'm sure someone does, the largest/fastest i know of though is owned by CDS 500mm f/4.

Someday.


Yup..................someday.

[roanjohn]

WOW..............400 f2.8.............Does anybody in the forum owns that lens??

Ro1

I'm sure someone does, the largest/fastest i know of though is owned by CDS 500mm f/4.

Someday.


Yup..................someday.

OOhhh............this is getting exciting!!! :twisted:

Ro1

[BearSummer]

Hi Folks,

I dont have (but would probably like) the 400mm F2.8 IS, only trouble is that its 5.37Kg (11.8 Lbs) which is a big chunk of lens. Not something that is going to be easy to hand hold for long :D

I used to have the 85mm 1.8 which was fast to focus and very reliable, gave it to the wife when I got the 85 1.2. I do miss the 1.8 sometimes whilst waiting for the 1.2 to focus, it is much slower but at just over 1Kg it does have a lot of glass to move. When used down at 1.2 the DOF is very very thin, dont trust the autofocus as you are well within its margin of error. The only other downside is that if you are using it for any length of time it makes your forearms ache, I used it last year to photograph fireworks and was handholding it for a couple of hours.

The 200mm 1.8, yum yum yum. Very nice, sharp and bright. They are as rare as hens teeth but definately worth getting if you can ever find one for sale.

I have thought about the 135 f2, but am running out of lenses to give to the wife so that she doesn't "notice" the newest bag filling.

Best wishes

BearSummer

[drisley]

Robekert, great pictures!
I love how you stopped that ball in motion on the last shot. Simply magical! Since the 135F2L isnt the longest telephoto, is that picture fairly heavily cropped? Or were you very close?

I was wondering, does lens contrast really matter any more in the digital photo realm?
Does correcting contrast in Photoshop cause any sort of image degradation compared to an equally sharp lens that has more contrast?
I've always wondered this.

[robekert]

I seem to have a "child" theme going with this thread. Here is a shot of the EF 500 f/4L Lens. This is from Bryan Carnathan's website.....I think this is his daughter. In the caption, for the photo, it states that there is a height requirement to use this lens :lol:

Bryan's site has many equipment reveiws and examples using many lenses. Check it out. Here is the link. Then again maybe you don't want to check out this site. His reviews have "talked" me into buying a lot of "L" glass. View at your own risk :wink:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Default.aspx

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Images/Other/Canon-500mm-IS-Lens.jpg

Cheers,
Rob

[robekert]

Robekert, great pictures!
I love how you stopped that ball in motion on the last shot. Simply magical! Since the 135F2L isnt the longest telephoto, is that picture fairly heavily cropped? Or were you very close?

Thanks for the compliments. The shot is heavily cropped. Which, in itself I think is amazing. I was shooting from the first base line, just in front of the bag. The shot is a testament to two pieces of hardware. 1st the lens is so sharp you get so much detail that when cropped, the detail is still tack sharp. 2nd the 1D Mark II has pixels to spare. The shot is heavily cropped and there is still enough pixels for good resolution. As for the ball frozen in air........it was not such a great feat......slow pitch softball.

I was wondering, does lens contrast really matter any more in the digital photo realm?
Does correcting contrast in Photoshop cause any sort of image degradation compared to an equally sharp lens that has more contrast?
I've always wondered this.

Can't help here that much, but I do tweak the contrast, use Magne Nielsen's Hi Sat Custom profile for the 1D MkII and process using C1. I don't remember what I do to each shot. I just do it till it looks good to me.
Cheers,
Rob

[drisley]

Haha! That picture of the girl and the lens is hillarious!

I can't wait for my 135L to arrive. Boy Adorama takes a long time to get things shipped. I ordered last Friday via Fedex Overnite Priority, and I dont even think Adorama has shipped it yet. Sort of defeats the purpose of having overnite shipping.

[abel]

ugh yeah thats the reason i stopped using adorama... i had an overnight order i placed on a monday morning and by thrusday it hadnt even been shipped yet. i ordered thru BH photo that thursday and it wasat my door friday morning...

so now i glady pay more thru BH than have to guess when adorama will ship it out.

[roanjohn]

I can't wait for my 135L to arrive. Boy Adorama takes a long time to get things shipped. I ordered last Friday via Fedex Overnite Priority, and I dont even think Adorama has shipped it yet. Sort of defeats the purpose of having overnite shipping.

That really sucks!!! I am not a big fan of Adorama, they are sometimes rude and incompetent, thier website is also not up to date sometimes... I much prefer 17th street photo (its just a block over)........

EDIT:

I once ordered a used lens from Adorama. It took them two days to notify me that the lens has already been sold. I've also been to thier store.......and they are not as friendly as the others (B&H and 17th street).


Ro1

[abel]

wow...

id go broke ith 17th st photo was in the same city much less a single block away!! hehe

[daaaveman]

Canon's absolute Legendary lensea are all Primes..

85mm f.1.2
135mm f/2
200mm f/1.8
300mm f/2.8
400mm f/2.8
600mm f/4

These are the dream team

I don't own any of them.. But I can say this.. my ONE high dollar prime absolutely beats the pants off of any L Zoom made.


Tom, I'd have to add the 50 f/1.0 to the legendary list which means you own two of the legendary lenses. I've got to say that it's the 200 f/1.8 that keeps appearing in my dreams though.

[CyberDyneSystems]

I bid on 200mm f/1.8 lenses amost weekly on E-bay.. I allways bid low.. so I never win.. just too scared to actually shell out the big bucks.. but it shows how much I fantasize over that aprticular lens! :wink:

[roanjohn]

If Nikon is introducing a 200 f2 VR this fall.........then it won't be long before Canon answers back with a 200 f1.8 IS version. yeah??

............just a prediction............ 8)

........But even if its readily available.......I'm sure it'll cost a gazillion dollars (something I just cannot afford).

Ro1

[abel]

i never bid on an auction until like the last 5 seconds... if the current price is cheap, then i bid a reasonable amount over it that i am willing to spend and then hope that amount is more than the Proxy bid the current high bidder has...

works about 95% of the time.

[timmyquest]

i never bid on an auction until like the last 5 seconds... if the current price is cheap, then i bid a reasonable amount over it that i am willing to spend and then hope that amount is more than the Proxy bid the current high bidder has...

works about 95% of the time.

The whole idea of an ebay is to offer your highest "bid"

I'll do that with 10 days left, or with 2 mins left...if i dont win...then they got more then i was willing to pay.

Works for me 100% of the time, at least i'd like to think so :roll:

[CyberDyneSystems]

These lenses sell for $3,500.00 regularly...

Doesn't matter when I bid.. I am not bidding $3,500.00 :)

So I bid my lowball and hope... :?

In the menatime.. I think I need to just bite the bullet and get a much more affordable 135mm f/2 8)

[abel]

very true...

im also looking at getting a faster lens. maybe that 135 or the 85 1.8

[drisley]

Abel and Roanjohn, I agree with both of you about Adorama.
I would have gone with B&H, but they are out of stock of the 135L.

Get this, I phoned Adorama and asked the tech if their Mack warranty was transferable. He said yes. Then, I decided to email to get it "in writing". I got an email saying "no, the Macks are not transferable".
Someone else was ordering the lens for me with his CC, so I called and asked if it's ok to put my name on the Mack, even though there is another name on the bill. He said yes. So I emailed and asked, and was told "No, the names must match" *l* Finally I said screw it, and didnt get the warranty.

To top it off, my friend had to send them a copy of his visa bill for verification! B&H does this too. Here in The Great White North, companies phone the CC company for verification which makes WAY more sense, and is WAY more convenient (and more secure if you ask me).
The lens was ordered Fedex Priority to avoid UPS brokerage. Well, we recieved an email from them saying that we are responsible for UPS brokerage, and any duties that might arise. Sheesh.

Then again, I phoned B&H a couple weeks ago to ask why the "Paypal" payment option was gone from their site. He said "Paypal? What's a Paypal?" :roll: :lol:

[robekert]

BearSummer
_________________
D60, 1Ds, 14 2.8, 15 2.8 FE, 50 1.4, 85 1.2, 65mpe, 100 2.8 macro, 200 1.8
24 3.5/ 45 2.8/ 90 2.8 TSE, 16-35 2.8, 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8IS, 100-400 4.5-5.6 IS
1.4x + 2x extender, lifesize convertor, 3*550EX, MR14EX, BB+C1+PScs

WTF!

Belmondo
Free Martha! (Call me Tom.)

Funny :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers,
Rob

[roanjohn]

Drisley - Thats it!! If this was me, I would've been raising hell already!!! If I chose an overnight shipping, I should've gotten the lens by Tuesday (THE LATEST!!!). This is just absurd!!! I am never ordering from Adorama again!!! not that I ever did.

Ro1

[roanjohn]

Rob - quick question.

Tell me more about the 35 f1.4. In terms of build, photo quality, bokeh wide open and amount of usage. Thanks!!!

Ro1

[robekert]

Rob - quick question.

Tell me more about the 35 f1.4. In terms of build, photo quality, bokeh wide open and amount of usage. Thanks!!!

Ro1

Here is a link to a review that states the case for this lens better than I could........as for bokeh, you don't get any because it is a wide lens.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-35mm-f-1.4-L-USM-Lens-Review.aspx

Cheers,
Rob

P.S. Lance Armstrong is the man!!! Just got done watching the Tour de France this morning. Feels good to be an American :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[Belmondo]

[quote=roanjohn]P.S. Lance Armstrong is the man!!! Just got done watching the Tour de France this morning. Feels good to be an American :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Bet it feels better to be Lance Armstrong. The man is a machine.

[robekert]

Bet it feels better to be Lance Armstrong. The man is a machine.

I see Lance is dating singer Sheryl Crow, bet it really feels good to be Lance.

Cheers,
Rob

P.S. I am trying to pad my post count with inane babble........kidding.

[drisley]

Drisley - Thats it!! If this was me, I would've been raising hell already!!! If I chose an overnight shipping, I should've gotten the lens by Tuesday (THE LATEST!!!). This is just absurd!!! I am never ordering from Adorama again!!! not that I ever did.

Ro1

Get this! I TRIED phoning and raising hell today after discovering that the tracking for the order on Adorama's website still says "pending"!!!
I called 3 times. Each time they told me that they would have to forward me to the verification dept. Each time they did that, I would just get an answering machine. The 4th time I called and said I DO NOT want another answering machine, the guy did the best he could, but could not tell me what the delay was. Finally he FORWARDED ME TO THE VERIFICATION DEPT again! :evil:
They were sent a copy of a visa bill for address verificatin on Sunday. It's been 3 days. If there was a problem, why didnt they contact me.
Well, I emailed them and basically said if the order is not here by Friday, I'm going to cancel. The only problem is that B&H doesnt have the lens, and 17th Street doesnt deliver to Canada AFAIK.

This will definately be my last order from Adorama.
Sorry for the slightly OT rant.

[KennyG]

I think I have my lenses sorted. My favourites are my 300 2.8IS which is just a one of a kind, my 500 4.0IS that rarely gets an airing, 50 1.4 combined with my 85 1.8 for portraits and the 17-40, 24-70 plus 100-400 for anything that doesn't need a 'bright' prime. All these lenses do exactly what I want.

Like a lot of people I went through some really awful junk before I settled on what I use now. I won't name and shame some of the lenses that I regard as not even worth the low prices asked as it is bound to cause offence to someone who swears by them.

I know someone who may be parting with his 200 1.8 but I would only be getting it because it is one of the best lenses ever made by anyone, rather than because I have a use for it. It is in absolute mint condition so it won't be cheap. Or maybe I should go for his unused 1D MK-I as a spare.

[abel]

those 135 f/2 images are killing me...

i need a fast lens to shoot an upcoming conert with and i think that bad boy just might be the ticket!

[RoB_m]

what about prime wide angle lenses? am i the only one that doesn't feel the need for a long focal length? doesn't have to be L but what are the good choices for something between 12-17mm?

[nosquare2003]

what about prime wide angle lenses? am i the only one that doesn't feel the need for a long focal length? doesn't have to be L but what are the good choices for something between 12-17mm?

Other than fisheye, Canon, Sigma and Tamron all make their 14/2.8 but they are not cheap. The cheapest prime should be Tokina 17/3.5. Do you need such a large aperture WA prime?