85mm F1.2L II - Not happy

All, thanks for the contributions - I am taking away from this that I need to not treat this like my other lenses, that it will take time to get to know and I should perhaps not expect too much.

I will not be using it on a wedding shoot until I have mastered it's use !!!

I would have to agree with what has been said.. it's a great lens, but it's got quite the steep learning curve.. and it can be hot and miss at f/1.2

I played around with this lens a while ago and it is capable of some truly astounding images when everything goes perfectly..

Have fun with it!

This lens is very unforgiving at f/1.2, it would drive me insane shooting something as stressful as a wedding at f/1.2. Much better stopping this lens down and it's great for portraits. I felt a bit peeved at having to stop it down (after all I bought it because it was fast) but it really does benefit from practice and being stopped down.

The OP may already be aware of this site but if not:

http://www.dofmaster.c​om/dofjs.html

Plug in your body and lens to see how little DOF you truly have at various settings.

As many have said, it's really the technique that caused the OOF. I don't blame you - F1.2 is extremely easy to get OOF.

Make sure your camera is not on AI Servo such that when you focus & Recompose, the AF tries to focus again on something else casuing OOF.

daft_togger wrote in post #10303529
I have recently purchased a Canon 1D mark 4 and an 85mm F1.2L II.

I have been getting so many out of foucus images with the 85mm it's not funny. Some times I get it bang on it's great, but a lot of time they are soft and oof.

With flash it helps a lot and you get nice crisp sharp shots.Taken with available light indoors and results are mainly displeasing. I've taken lots of shots at various ISO's and am not happy....

Anyone had similar experiences with this lens and is it a learning curve.

I have a 70-200 F2.8 and it's bang on much more consistently !

Well ive been through two of these lenses for that reason and ill share my findings.
I was having the same problem as you where on my 5D-2. I would take 4 shots at 1.2-1.6. 1-2 shots would come out so sharp that made me say wow. Then all of a sudden i would notice the others werent that sharp.

It drove me nuts. I tried eveything, and read everythign on this lens. I even bought a 200 dollar calibrating chart.

I came to the conclusion that its just normal for this lens. You just cant get 100% super sharp pictures at 1.2-1.6.

I have since learned to deal with it, and have been able to higher my % of super sharp photos with learning the lens. Give it time and you will learn the lens better and get nicer photos.

Its an amazing lens. And the OOF shots dont matter to me since the sharp ones just look, out of this world.

Hope this helps...

daft_togger wrote in post #10303864
All, thanks for the contributions - I am taking away from this that I need to not treat this like my other lenses, that it will take time to get to know and I should perhaps not expect too much.

I will not be using it on a wedding shoot until I have mastered it's use !!!

i use my 85L for weddings and the results i get from it are stunning. the point isn't to not expect too much, the point is to understand what it is, and not expect it to do things that are physically impossible (ie: shooting at MFD at f/1.2 and expecting someone's whole head to be in focus).

daft_togger wrote in post #10303736
Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)

Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)

There is your problem. Try to keep shutter speed above 1/100 with this lens for best results.

daft_togger wrote in post #10303706
...and if it's unreliable at F1.2 then I cannot run the risk...

I'm the one that's unreliable at 1.2. I use mine at 1.2 when I have a little distance between my subject, when I have to because of poor lighting conditions, or when I want to get REAL shallow DOF. When I want shallow DOF, I take a few shots and always a few are soft because of user error. I know it's great to use at 1.2, but it I find I get great results stopped down some.

I have had hard time getting consistent results with 85 1.2 (original & II) and 1D series, but with 5D Mark II it seems much easier. Maybe it's the FF signal path, which these EF lenses were designed for.

I know this is not the normal way, but try with 1D this: Set on AI Servo + ring of fire (all AF points active), start focus with center point aimed at desired target (eye) and then recompose while keeping focus running and initial focus target inside ring of fire. Many will say that using servo and RoF with 1.2 is insane, but please check it out - it might help. Because with 1.2 if you sway 5mm front and back (and people can't help it) you'll miss the intended AF plane. If your camera is in good calibration, AI Servo will do the job.

In the f/1.2 examples you give the hair fringe is sharp. The DOF is so shallow you have to be very precise with where you put the focus. How are you choosing focus point? The camera won't automatically know where you want it.

1.2 is about as low as someone can go (or high....it always confuses me that people say it the other way around).

Anyway, at 0 you have 100% blur or oof. If you turn on the camera without a lens it will say 0 aperature in the display. It's impossible to focus at 0. So 1.2 is extremely challenging.

I had the 85 1.8 and it was the same thing. Very difficult to nail focus, especially on impatient subjects who don't like to hold still (which is pretty much everyone I know).

Cesium wrote in post #10304053
There is your problem. Try to keep shutter speed above 1/100 with this lens for best results.

This ^^^

Madweasel wrote in post #10304208
In the f/1.2 examples you give the hair fringe is sharp. The DOF is so shallow you have to be very precise with where you put the focus. How are you choosing focus point? The camera won't automatically know where you want it.

I predominantly use centre focal point. I am glad I made this post though cause I was gonna sell it and just use my 70-200 for portraits...and what with having a portrait shoot this Sunday, I need to ensure I take right lens...so I'll perhaps use the 85 on my 5D at F2 to F2.8 and see how I get on taking like for like with my 70-200 on the 1D

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #10304228
1.2 is about as low as someone can go (or high....it always confuses me that people say it the other way around).

Anyway, at 0 you have 100% blur or oof. If you turn on the camera without a lens it will say 0 aperature in the display. It's impossible to focus at 0. So 1.2 is extremely challenging.

I had the 85 1.8 and it was the same thing. Very difficult to nail focus, especially on impatient subjects who don't like to hold still (which is pretty much everyone I know).

Thanks Mike, good way of explaining it......learning here....research before spending a load of cash ! However this lens still get's a lot of praise, I will be keep it for now and practice !