Any convincing 85 1.2L II vs 85 1.8 comparison pics to buy the L ?

Scott_online wrote in post #16141283
Juza from juzaphoto did a side-by-side comparison a couple of years ago. I can't find the link but IIRC he concluded that the IQ was identical when shot at the same aperture.

I don't doubt their results but I have shot these side by side for over a year, and maybe it is a difference in the copies I have but in my experience they have been different. (Same different results on both my 7D and 5DII.) Of course my tests have not been scientific at all...I take indoor sporting pictures and depending on where I am and what the conditions are I bring them both. It has been a lot of fun to experiment. I enjoy the pictures from the 85L more...of course that could be a placebo effect knowing I spent $2k on it. I would also question how much better given the large cost difference...the 85 1.8 is a great lens too and I was always happy with it before buying the 85L. I just could not resist the the examples of the 85L I saw for before deciding to purchase it.

RickRandhawa wrote in post #16141294
The first one has some major purple fringing so I'm going to guess that one is the 85 1.8

That being said...of the two pictures, I prefer the look of the first (minus the purple).

Yep, they are both very good at extra purple fring. That is why I typically do not use either one of them outside but could not resist given the BMW references early on.

RickRandhawa wrote in post #16141294
The first one has some major purple fringing so I'm going to guess that one is the 85 1.8

Yea I noticed the pf straight away as well.

Seriously people buy the L to shoot at f1.2, there's no point to compare them @ smaller aperture.

Sure there's slight differences in terms of contrast, colour and bokeh etc, but they are really subtle and can easily be compensated and enhanced with LR, I bet no one can spot it except in a side by side comparison.

Conclusion - You like shooting paper thin dof? Then get the L.

LucasCK wrote in post #16121000
The colour and contrast of the 1.8 pales in comparison to my 135 2.0

Sure it is sharp, but often I find the results a tad washed out lacking that wow factor

The colour and contrast of the 135L pales in comparison to my 70-200 f/2.8 IS II

Sure it is sharp, but often I find the results a tad washed out lacking that wow factor

I'm afraid that these type of comparisons will just prove how great the 85/1.8 is, instead of how superior the 85/1.2 is.

smorter wrote in post #16119518
Here's what f/1.2 buys you:

Sure these are beautiful, but it doesn't prove at all how superior the 85/1.2 is to the 85/1.8. In fact I will bet that if you had taken the same shots with the 85/1.8 and told the client or whoever it was shot with the 85L, by far the majority of them won't be able to tell at all. Personally I see nothing in these pictures that the 85/1.8 can't do equally well.

genjurok wrote in post #16141367
Sure these are beautiful, but it doesn't prove at all how superior the 85/1.2 is to the 85/1.8.

Sure it does, because all of those examples are shot at f1.2 which can't be replicated by the 85 1.8.

You want the 1.2 look? Then get the L.

kin2son wrote in post #16141376
Sure it does, because all of those examples are shot at f1.2 which can't be replicated by the 85 1.8.

You want the 1.2 look? Then get the L.

Don't agree. The shots are nice, but nothing like some so-called magic that the 1.8 can't do. What' I'm saying is it doesn't really wow me, I don't see the so-called magic.

genjurok wrote in post #16141389
Don't agree. The shots are nice, but nothing like some so-called magic that the 1.8 can't do.

Um so the 85 1.8 can do f1.2?

It's actually very simple, you like to be able to do f1.2 and like the look? If so get the L.

kin2son wrote in post #16141395
Um so the 85 1.8 can do f1.2?

Not from the pics you posted. I'm sorry. I just don't see the 1.2 magic.

genjurok wrote in post #16141411
Not from the pics you posted. I'm sorry. I just don't see the 1.2 magic.

What pics? I didn't post any...

I never said they are magic or wow, all I'm saying is 85 1.8 can never ever replicate the look of the L shot wide open, and that's a fact.

Whether it matters to you or not is another story. It certainly matters to a lot of wedding pros and the like...

kin2son wrote in post #16141418
What pics? I didn't post any...

I never said they are magic or wow, all I'm saying is 85 1.8 can never ever replicate the look of the L shot wide open, and that's a fact.

Whether it matters to you or not is another story.

Sorry that I thought the pics where taken by you.

Anyway my point is that the example photos don't show the difference or comparison between the two lenses as the OP needed, thus are invalid examples. You don't need to list the aperture difference 1.2 vs 1.8, the OP clearly stated that he wants to see the comparison shots using the two lenses.

And I stand by my point : the example photos are nice, but I don't see anything that proves the effect can only be achieved by f/1.2 for these shots. I 'll bet that if the shots had been taken by 85/1.8 , by far the majority of people on this forum or even professional photographers won't be able to distinguish them.

Pixel peeping differences between the 85 f/1.8 at f/1.8 and the 85L at f/1.8 isn't going to be the deciding factor between these two lenses. The real question you need to ask yourself is if you need f/1.2 or not and if f/1.2 is worth the price difference between the 85L and 85 f/1.8. Also AF speed is another thing to consider.

Personally I bought my 85L to have the ability to shoot at f/1.2, plain and simple.

Arob1000 wrote in post #16141595
Pixel peeping differences between the 85 f/1.8 at f/1.8 and the 85L at f/1.8 isn't going to be the deciding factor between these two lenses. The real question you need to ask yourself is if you need f/1.2 or not and if f/1.2 is worth the price difference between the 85L and 85 f/1.8. Also AF speed is another thing to consider.

Personally I bought my 85L to have the ability to shoot at f/1.2, plain and simple.

I'm on the opposite end as this. I got the 85L because I bought into the "significantly better color, contrast, sharpness, magic, etc" that people sometimes say on this forum....whats more, if you look in the sample pictures subforum, the ones in the 85L thread are considerably better than those in the 85 1.8 thread. However, I'm starting to realize this has more to do with the quality of the PHOTOGRAPHERS who use the 85L, more than a huge optical difference between the lenses themselves.

I almost never shoot wider than 1.6-1.8 and I think the 85 1.8 would have been a perfect fit for me. Fortunately, it wasn't too much of a significant purchase for me so I'll be holding on to the lens. However, I can see how this could be a very large investment for some and they may be better off with the 85 1.8.

I get the need to shoot at 1.2 logic here, but I have to say I thought the difference would be greater in respect to background blur than what we have seen so far in the example pics.