Canon 85mm f1.2L ii with canon 5d mkiii

I currently have canon 85mm f1.2L ii with conon 6d mki but I have been having issues with nailing focus at f1.2 with this lense and on this forum, someone said it's better with 5d series

My question is, how is the auto focus on this camera body matching it with 85mm f1.2?

Thinking the focus would be more accurate with its auto focus


Thanks

As mentioned in your other thread, I'd seriously suggest you try out an EOS RP or EOS R with this lens (and Canon EF-R adapter of course). You might be surprised how good focus is with these bodies.

In addition, focus is a little faster too. Any focusing mishaps remaining, I found, are caused by user error. AF rate is incredible. With my 5D II success rate was about 60-70%, with the EOS R it is 99% or thereabouts.

I was so impressed, I got the RF version of this lens, and it basically has become my main go-to lens now .

HTHJ, kind regards, Wim

Thanks alot. Looks like an open eye for me to think of EOS R or RP but they are kinda pricey. I'll have to go with that rather than 5d mk iii

I don't think 5DIII centre point is any better than 6D. All the rest are much better.

I

Charlesmyd wrote in post #19043686
I currently have canon 85mm f1.2L ii with conon 6d mki but I have been having issues with nailing focus at f1.2 with this lense and on this forum, someone said it's better with 5d series

My question is, how is the auto focus on this camera body matching it with 85mm f1.2?

Thinking the focus would be more accurate with its auto focus


Thanks

I sold off the 85mm 1.2 because no matter what I did I could not get consistent hits at 1.2 ...It was terrible

I got the Sigma 85 1.4 Art---it was much better

If I had an 85 1.2 I would be using it on a EOS R

Its a tough lens to use on a non mirrorless body

shooting at 1.2-1.4 is tough to get razor sharp shots w/o eye focus capabilities......Why do you think everyone switched to Sony....easy answer

1.2 and eye focus....85mm 1.2's became consistent

two suggestions:
--If your're shooting people/portraits in Single Shot mode try Servo. That will account for the small amount of movement between focus and exposure
--shoot at 1.8 or 2.0 rather than 1.2. better DOF and the background will still be buttery smooth

edt wrote in post #19054795
two suggestions:
--If your're shooting people/portraits in Single Shot mode try Servo. That will account for the small amount of movement between focus and exposure
--shoot at 1.8 or 2.0 rather than 1.2. better DOF and the background will still be buttery smooth

I second this advice..1.2 is insanely shallow and the margin of error is too small for hand holding IMO. You can get the shot (or I can) by taking multiples. I supposed someone more steady could do it in one shot consistently.

reading canon-dude's post made me realize that in addition to using servo focus mode when doing portraits with the 85 near wide open I also often shoot 3-4 quick images with the shutter drive set at around 6 fps. Then I select the sharpest eye lashes and delete the others. Another cause of soft images with the 85 (for me at least) has always been shutter speed--I always try to stay north of 1/250 (maybe my handheld suffer from my shaky grip!) A couple yrs ago I sold my 85 1.2 and got the 1.4 with image stabilization and that has helped.

edt wrote in post #19055681
reading canon-dude's post made me realize that in addition to using servo focus mode when doing portraits with the 85 near wide open I also often shoot 3-4 quick images with the shutter drive set at around 6 fps. Then I select the sharpest eye lashes and delete the others. Another cause of soft images with the 85 (for me at least) has always been shutter speed--I always try to stay north of 1/250 (maybe my handheld suffer from my shaky grip!) A couple yrs ago I sold my 85 1.2 and got the 1.4 with image stabilization and that has helped.

Yeah, the shutter speed helps.

I'm teaching my daughter now and one thing I am quick to point out (I don't know how accurate it is, but I know there is some approximation of truth to it): If she is going to use the aperture wide open, she needs to attempt to get a focus point on the subjects eyes (for portrait for example), rather than relying on the original method when she was just starting out which was to "lock and re-adjust"...at 85 1.4-2.8 (I would say, 2.2 for sure), as soon as you readjust that angular deviation will throw off the depth enough (1-2 inches maybe) where the photo will not come out the way she wants it. So she's trying that now, but she's still learning...teaching photography is a great lesson in how much patience you either do or don't have, but need to have.

But to that point from 'edt', shutter speed as well seems to help enormously, even holding steady, if you move at all, between lock and fire, and during the firing itself (that's when people move without realizing), you risk missing it. I am starting to use back button AF-Servo now since I've gotten burned too many times on a shot that I thought was awesome (even on the 3" LCD screen with a Hoodman Loupe zoomed in), only to come home, throw it into LR and be dissappointed. And yes, 3-6 shots minimum on every shallow DOF shot...one of them comes out razoe sharp.

Another technique I've tried that seems to help a lot if one of the fundamentals they taught us back in the military, and that is to fire on exhale only and let the shutter going off be a surprise (at the range, not out on the battlefield). Just focus on holding steady. That way you don't contract muscles (other than your finger) when you take the photo...I've been doing that now for about 6 months and notice I get those shot in circumstance that used to be difficult.

Are there photogs out there that actually get the shot the 1st time every time...If so advice would be appreciated.

CD

Yes, all that is true--especially your comment about "focus and recompose." You absolutely cannot do that with the 85mm lens at 1.2. In fact, I struggled to get sharp images in Single Shot mode and ultimately decided the reason is that if either the subject or myself moves 1/2" in the fraction of a second between when I achieved BBF and when the shutter fired there would be some about of camera movement that would compromise focus. So at 1.2 or 2.0 etc., the focus point needs to be on the eye, not nose or cheek, and I have better success using Servo than Single Point even if the shutter drive is set to Single Shot.

umphotography wrote in post #19050517
I

I sold off the 85mm 1.2 because no matter what I did I could not get consistent hits at 1.2 ...It was terrible

How far would you have to stop it down to finally have consistent AF?

stopping down just gives you more DOF. a contributing factor is how close you are to your subject. If it's a headshot then at 1.2 the DOF might be 1/4" (just guessing) but if full length it might be 1".....it's a tradeoff between the smooth bokeh you want in the background vs DOF. I've heard wedding photogs say they often don't go below 2.2 when using the 85 just because they need more DOF. I've often used 1.8 or 2.0 or 2.2 when I wanted that little extra DOF

I have owned all three versions of the Canon 85L’s and it’s beyond me why anyone would rely on AF to shoot wide open, especially on anything closer than twenty feet away. I always focused manually on the F1.2 models and still missed focus when working with models.

The 85L II has given me nightmares for a long, long time. I've had it for over 10 years having first used it on my 5D2. I would nail maybe 1 out of 15 shots at F1.2 (if I'm lucky).

When the 5D3 came out, I was a lot more optimistic. But even then it wasn't much better. I tried pretty much everything. Changing focus screens and manual focusing, micro adjusting AF with FoCal program and even a Zacuto Z finder with the live view manual focusing. It was cumbersome but I had the most success with the Z finder. I soon got sick of using it and went back to AF. I found the 5 middle dual cross points on the 5D3 had a much better 'depth of focus' and would get more acceptable results.

I picked up a used 1Dx and again, it was marginally better. Would get decent results with the 5 middle dual cross points. When the R came out, as someone mentioned earlier, it has transformed this lens. With the eye AF, you could hit 99% @F1.2 anywhere in the view finder. It is now my most used lens and if you can nail focus at F1.2 with the 85, then you can nail focus with anything.

same is true with 1DX III--eye focus is FOR REAL, like amazing, really amazing