EF 85mm f1.2 MK2...worth it?

If portraits are your thing, this lens is almost a no-brainer.

DaleRob wrote in post #2107400
"no-brainer" is my wife's pet name for me. Sounds like this decision is made!

LOL!

"Bokeh" is a Japanese word. Basically it refers to the characteristics of OOF highlights. The smoother, rounder and more "perfect" (e.g. no rings or halos) the better. A search on the forums will turn up countless discussions on this.

As for the DoF, f/1.2 is a good deal shallower than f/1.8 - more so on telephoto lenses than wide angles, but just the same...

On the 85mm, the f/1.2 maximum aperture is what truly sets this lens apart. The very shallow DoF and creamy bokeh makes it absolutely wonderful for isolating your subjects.

flipm3 wrote in post #2107255
this is what i end up doing...i plan to pick up an 851.8 first...then ill see if i need the 135L. how often do u use your 135L since u have the 70-200?

Actually, I tend to pick the 135L, or the 85 1.8, more than I pick the 70-200.

The 135L is one stop faster, better image quality in my view, half the weight and half the size, black...

However, versatility makes the 70-200 very useful to "get the shot".

again

whats the difference between the mk I and mk II?

and i assume these in AF terms are still slower than the 1.8?

The 50 1.2 might be a better choice if you use a 1.6 cropped camera(Rebel Xt, 20D, 30D, 400D/XTI, etc.). Its probably going to be like the 85L, but better focal length for the 1.6 crop.

Yella Fella wrote in post #2108301
again

whats the difference between the mk I and mk II?

and i assume these in AF terms are still slower than the 1.8?

The Mark II is just the latest version of the 85 f/1.2L. I’ve heard the AF is about 1.6x faster (but still fairly slow in comparison to other lens). The optics have a different coating I believe which is supposed to improve image quality. The new version is about $500-700 more expensive, other then that both lens look almost identical.


Oh and yes they are slower then the 1.8 the 1.2 is a CHUNK of glass.