Focus speed of the 85mm f/1.2L II USM

Over in Sports someone was asking about using the 85mm f/1.2L II USM for indoor sports. A few posters said they were not happy with the slow focus speed of the 85mm /f.1.2L USM compared to the 85mm f/1.8 USM which they preferred. I'm assuming that the amount of light available will determine the focus speed.

Canon's states of the 85mm f/1.2L II USM:

.....this new medium telephoto lens uses a Ring-type USM, high-speed CPU and optimized algorithms to achieve an autofocus speed approximately 1.8x faster than the original.

Of course there is about a $1,500 price difference between the two.

Comments?

PhotoScout wrote in post #2022856
I'm assuming that the amount of light available will determine the focus speed.
?

With this lens, you are talking about moving a huge element. This is where the 85L slows down. The more light that the lens lets thru the faster the AF. If you check out one of these babies front end you will see why. The mark2 does have improved AF speed, but it would be better for sports to use the 1.8 as its AF speed is definitely superior.

Dante is right about the weight of the glass being moved while focusing. Also consider that the 85/1.2L (both I and II) USM is presented primarily as a portrait lens, meaning that manual focus is also a priority for its users. As such, the throw from infinity to minimum focus distance is much longer, geared for smooth manual use and fine adjustment. That slows things down as well.

Expect the Mk II to be almost twice as fast to auto-focus as the older Mk I. But note that it will still be a fair deal slower than the f/1.8 version.

Yep, the 85 f1.2L MkII is still slower than the 85 f1.8 - but hold each lens in your hands and you'll immediately notice the difference in heft between the two. I don't expect the L lens to focus faster than the 1.8 - what I do expect is that it will give me crisp, sharp, wonderfully saturated images with gorgeous bokeh. On that it delivers.

Mark

Agreed - whilst the light gathering ability of the 1.2 is incredible it was never aimed at sports photographers and lenses like the 85/1.8, 100/2 and 135/2L would be a much better bet.

As Mark said, there are specific reasons for buying the 1.2 and if you need it for those reasons you'll want it. I was expecting the AF on my Mk1 to be glacial after everything I'd read but it's better than I was prepared for. My old Nikkor 85/1.4 (not AF-S) doesn't feel any quicker from what memory tells me anyway, and I never had any issues with the AF speed of that lens.

Thats true, the speed of the MK 1 isn't half as bad as everyone makes it out to be, i've done a few sports stuff with it, admittedly though i did more or less pre focus it to cut down the af times, but still it worked.

I'd think that virtually all owners of the 85mm f/1.2 L either the mk1 or mkII versions would advise you to get the f/1.8 lens for sports work. Having said that the 1.2 isn't half as bad as I've read in some of the reviews. The slow focussing (I can only speak for the mk II) is quite noticeable when going from infinity to close up, but if you're anywhere near in focus to begin with it's not really a hindrance at all. So... it would be useable but you'd be better with the 1.8.

Of course if you were asking about portrait work then it'd be a totally different answer! There's no way I'm parting with mine.

Cheers
Bill