ULTIMATE 85 mm lens for portraits?

I am not a gear head really, not into lens collection I have many weaknesses, but it seems that I am immune to GAS. For some time already I am looking for an ultimate 85mm lens. I like what I see from Medium Format when it comes to this FL equivalent, but we are not talking MF here. I really loved the bokeh of the 85 L II (or III? Whatever is the latest), but it has a very poor AF. I went to check the Otus 85 mm thread and have to say that I did not see anything there to make me want to get the lens (no offence). Strange that people talk so much about color accuracy only to massively change colors in post processing. What is the point? Any clues whether or not we will see an updated version of the 85 L with the BR element? Maybe I need to get a different camera system to get a perfect 85mm? It is the FL that I love for portraits, can be happy with just the 85mm and nothing else.

Thanks for all suggestions!

I think there will be no better 85 lens than the Otus in the upcoming years.
Sigma and Canon could release a new 85 within a couple of years, but that is not a fact that it would be better than the Otus.

The Zeiss Milvus 85 could be an interesting 85 as well, but not as good as the Otus.

I would not describe the AF on the 85L as poor. I'd describe it as slow but otherwise excellent. There's a lot of glass moving in that lens. Unless your portrait subjects are running at or away from you, the 85L makes an excellent portrait lens. If you want to shoot indoor basketball with it, you're probably not going to be happy.

Thank you.It doesn't have AF, so it is a bit useless for me on a modern DSLR. I have tried Zeiss 2-3 years ago and sold it, I was stressed and frustrated with way too many shots missed....even though I loved the IQ!!!

I tried 85 F/1.2 and it is magic.I would get it, but I have a feeling that it will be replaces sometime soon....we see 35L being replaced.

sdipirro wrote in post #17746722
I would not describe the AF on the 85L as poor. I'd describe it as slow but otherwise excellent. There's a lot of glass moving in that lens. Unless your portrait subjects are running at or away from you, the 85L makes an excellent portrait lens. If you want to shoot indoor basketball with it, you're probably not going to be happy.

Sorry, you are right.Bad choice of words....it is slow, not poor

With the removal of the Otus the top competitors are:
Canon's 85L II f1.2
Or Sigma's 85mm f1.4*

You could rent both at the same time and decide for yourself.

I wish you luck, either way you will be very happy.

Maybe consider a Fuji x-t1 as a second body with their 56mm.

InfiniteDivide wrote in post #17747571
With the removal of the Otus the top competitors are:
Canon's 85L II f1.2
Or Sigma's newer 85mm Art f1.4

You could rent both at the same time and decide for yourself.

I wish you luck, either way you will be very happy.

There is no sigma 85 art (yet)

OP - I could be wrong but I dont think we will see a revised 85LII anytime soon. The version II is already a very sharp lens and there are no version III lenses yet from canon that I am aware of. If I was in your shoes I would buy the 85LII

light_pilgrim wrote in post #17746264
I am not a gear head really, not into lens collection I have many weaknesses, but it seems that I am immune to GAS. For some time already I am looking for an ultimate 85mm lens. I like what I see from Medium Format when it comes to this FL equivalent, but we are not talking MF here. I really loved the bokeh of the 85 L II (or III? Whatever is the latest), but it has a very poor AF. I went to check the Otus 85 mm thread and have to say that I did not see anything there to make me want to get the lens (no offence). Strange that people talk so much about color accuracy only to massively change colors in post processing. What is the point? Any clues whether or not we will see an updated version of the 85 L with the BR element? Maybe I need to get a different camera system to get a perfect 85mm? It is the FL that I love for portraits, can be happy with just the 85mm and nothing else.

Thanks for all suggestions!

Photography is more about the photographer and the image being captured and less about the gear.

Do not use lens sample threads be a dictator of buying gear.... also for that matter I've seen award winning shots with the $100 50mm 1.8 II lens...

Corrected. My brain was day dreaming of the rumored 20mm Sigma f1.4 Art in another thread, while typing.

InfiniteDivide wrote in post #17748914
Corrected. My brain was day dreaming of the rumored 20mm Sigma f1.4 Art in another thread, while typing.

The 20mm f/1.4 art really has my attention. Hopefully its good for astro although it is quite big and heavy. The rokinon/samyang options still might be the better astro options

light_pilgrim wrote in post #17746264
I am not a gear head really, not into lens collection I have many weaknesses, but it seems that I am immune to GAS. For some time already I am looking for an ultimate 85mm lens. I like what I see from Medium Format when it comes to this FL equivalent, but we are not talking MF here. I really loved the bokeh of the 85 L II (or III? Whatever is the latest), but it has a very poor AF. I went to check the Otus 85 mm thread and have to say that I did not see anything there to make me want to get the lens (no offence). Strange that people talk so much about color accuracy only to massively change colors in post processing. What is the point? Any clues whether or not we will see an updated version of the 85 L with the BR element? Maybe I need to get a different camera system to get a perfect 85mm? It is the FL that I love for portraits, can be happy with just the 85mm and nothing else.

Thanks for all suggestions!

Heya,

I too am a big fan of 85mm. I've tried several. Vintage and modern. Sold a few. Bought different ones.

Ultimately I ended up with my most versatile 85mm, by getting a 90mm lens. The Tamron 90mm F2.8 VC macro. It's essentially an 85mm lens. It's sharp, wicked sharp, wide open and performs very, very well. L-level quality from a third party. I don't mind losing 2 stops of light and going to F2.8, because the more I shot F1.4 and F1.8, I really liked shooting F2 and F2.8 more often, with ND filters, with lighting (or HSS). So I found myself at F2.8 anyways quite often and I mostly prefer having more of the subject in depth of field anyways. That said, the other kicker is that it has stabilization. No other 85mm has that. And it's a macro lens on top of that. So it pulls all kinds of duties. I use it for everything these days. I do insect macro with it. I shot it on a 1D the other day at a kid's party as an action lens tracking kids on slides and bouncing in moonwalks. I use it for portrait outdoor all the time. It's the jam-packed feature rich 85mm that no one else made yet.

Or, just wait for the 85 ART from Sigma.

Until something better and reasonable comes along, I enjoy the Samyang 85mm F1.4 (manual lens) for my fast 85, and my Tamron 90mm F2.8 VC for the "do all" 85.

Very best,

MalVeauX wrote in post #17749981
Heya,

I too am a big fan of 85mm. I've tried several. Vintage and modern. Sold a few. Bought different ones.

Ultimately I ended up with my most versatile 85mm, by getting a 90mm lens. The Tamron 90mm F2.8 VC macro. It's essentially an 85mm lens. It's sharp, wicked sharp, wide open and performs very, very well. L-level quality from a third party. I don't mind losing 2 stops of light and going to F2.8, because the more I shot F1.4 and F1.8, I really liked shooting F2 and F2.8 more often, with ND filters, with lighting (or HSS). So I found myself at F2.8 anyways quite often and I mostly prefer having more of the subject in depth of field anyways. That said, the other kicker is that it has stabilization. No other 85mm has that. And it's a macro lens on top of that. So it pulls all kinds of duties. I use it for everything these days. I do insect macro with it. I shot it on a 1D the other day at a kid's party as an action lens tracking kids on slides and bouncing in moonwalks. I use it for portrait outdoor all the time. It's the jam-packed feature rich 85mm that no one else made yet.

Or, just wait for the 85 ART from Sigma.

Until something better and reasonable comes along, I enjoy the Samyang 85mm F1.4 (manual lens) for my fast 85, and my Tamron 90mm F2.8 VC for the "do all" 85.

Very best,

I decided to just have both sigma 85 and the tamron 90. works out well.

I shoot with a 85mm on my full frame and it looks nothing like my 85mm equivalent(180mm) on my 6x7.

Just go medium format if you want that look.

I'm not sure why this is even a thread. Either get a proper focus screen and an 85 otus or get a canon 85L.