Jesse R. Hunter Say: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
Fills a significant niche all by itself, 2007-08-13
This review is for: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
(I actually want to give it 4.5 stars)As most of you arriving at this page and considering this lens are the more professional/advanced amateur photographers whom already own plenty of L glass, this review will be written from a more stringent perspective on its capability to own up to its expensive price tag and compare with other L's. (i.e. no "It's so much better than my kit lens! Wow, buy it! The end")First up, it's uses. This lens is more obvious than others. Yep it's primarily a portrait lens. Anything that sits at 70mm focal length or higher and maintans wide apertures qualifies as such. L lenses tend to function well in two or sometimes more roles; this lens proves to function decently in one other role. Note that this lens's main advantage is it aperture. If the lens is stopped down, other L lenses start taking over with better image quality. With this in mind, let's look at a breakdown of all the other possible uses for this lens:As a general telephoto: Trying to stop it down and use the lens as an 85mm telephoto for "everyday" use really doesn't work: the 70-200mm (any of them) produces better sharpness at comparable apertures, equal chromatic abberation, faster AF, and adds more versatility for less price (with the exception that the 85mm has better saturation). One could argue that situations with low light might prove a worthy use for this lens, such as weddings & receptions. In this case there is a tie. The 85mm aperture advantage means usable shutter times in very low light, but you will notice a problem trying to autofocus with this lens (as its AF is known for being not exactly the best/fastest in the industry). The 70-200 f/2.8L IS has a three stop stabilizer, granting an "effective" 70-200mm f/1.4 (only "effective" as your shutter times are still slower than what a true f/1.4 lens would a achieve). So for low light with less action, you're better off going with the 70-200 f/2.8L IS. With more action (hopefully lateral action not coming towards or away from the lens, stressing its AF) the 85mm will have an advantage.Usage as a macro: not really. There are much better lenses for this (i.e. the 180mm f/3.5L) The minimum focus distance is too long to garner anything better than a mild macro lens. The only advantage the 85mm has in this regard is it's extreme DOF at minimum focus. The 180mm f/3.5L only produces an equivalen DOF when it focuses in to 1:4 macro or closer, meaining that the 85mm can achieve its beautiful DOF while encompassing a more "zoomed out" view of a subject, which the 180mm can't do. However, the 85mm's image degradation wide open sets it back far enough so that, surprisingly, the 135mm f/2L takes over as your "semi-macro with extreme DOF" lens, which performs much better wide open with an approximately equivalent DOF at minimum focus (and with less weight).Landscape: yep this works, and this the area other than portraiture that the 85mm f/1.2 functions well in, but only if your objective is to produce ultra-thin DOF images. Otherwise other L lenses fulfill this role with much better satisfaction. Exposures of flowers and foliage work well, along with anything that features an interesting main subject and a background suitably beatiful for being blurred into a wash of color. Once again however, the 135mm competes as a contender in the DOF catagory. All things considered, the 135mm produces better image quality while the 85mm produces a somewhat stronger DOF with a more surreal/dreamy feel to its images.Portraiture: the main enchilada. No other lens performs portraiture as well as the 85mm f/1.2 under $4000. Female subjects will especially appreciate the dreamy DOF this lens can produce. If you do portraits or wedding work, this lens MUST be in your bag. Mark it up as a necessary business expense and start saving now. If you actually happen to have the $4000 previously mentioned, you may wish to consider the 200mm f/1.8L or the 300mm F/2.8L. They yield an equivalent DOF at their longer focal lengths and deliver superior image quality, but require much more working room and more ambient light.Lens comparisons:The 85mm f/1.8 is one of the biggest competitors to this lens in terms of buying decisions. Forget the 100's of pages worth of forum entries regarding this debate, it boils down to this: you know you need an 85mm portrait lens. Are you a professional or demand the best in image quality? If yes, get this lens. Period. Enjoy the enhanced DOF, build quality, surrealistic/dreamy exposures, transfered dynamic range, and the peace of mind that comes form knowing you bought the best and your images aren't hindered by your equipment. If no, buy the 85mm f/1.8. Enjoy the additional spending money, lighter weight, faster AF, and additional telephoto usage. That's all there is to it.The 85mm f/1.2 Mark I is also a competitor on the used market. Having used both the MkI and MkII variants, I find the ~$300 difference worth it, mainly due to the AF. The MkII's AF enhancement is nothing short of significant, both the speed and accuracy of the AF have been brought up a notch. This isn't so much a big deal in the studio as it is in the realm of weddings. As a bonus, the saturation seems somewhat higher as well.The 50mm f/1.2. This one took me a little while to decide on. $200 less. Much faster on the AF and less cumbersome. The saturation is about equivalent. The sharpness is less. CA is worse. In the end, the 85mm's more-dreamlike image output and 35mm advantage places it above the 50mm f/1.2 in terms of portraiture.The 135mm f/2. I hate to say this, but in all reality the 135mm isn't so much of a competitor as mush as it is a COMPLIMENT to the 85mm. The difference in focal length, AF, IQ, working ranges, and DOF mean that, although they may overlap and compete with each other from time to time in minor usages (the landscape and macro usages mentioned above), the primary uses of the 85mm and 135mm are seperate. It doesn't seem like it on paper, but once you use both lenses for a little while in the field they fill different roles almost immediately. If you're a professional in portraiture or weddings, it's not a question of which one, it's a question of which one first. (My general recommended order for wedding photog's: 70-200mm F/2.8L IS, 16-35mm F/2.8L, 85mm F/1.2L, and finally 135mm F/2L.)The breakdown for this lens:Usage: Taking portraits of females and children in studio or on-location. Some low-light event photography.Pros:-Superior DOF with a 'dreamy' feel other lenses can't produce-Good saturation (standard compared to other L's: better than the 70-200)Cons:-Weight & price-AF (still slow compared to other L's, but significantly better than the MkI)Other:-AF is electronic override, requires power to lens in order to function-Entire main element grouping shifts forward by up to 3/4" when focusing to minimum distance-Rear element is flush to base, requires care when lens swapping-CA when wide open is green shift (odd as most CA shift is usually red)Summary:The 85mm f/1.2L MkII is a cumbersome lens, requiring attention and patience, and is surpassed by many lenses in most usages of photography. However, it's results are simply unmatched within the primary usage of portraiture. It stands alone as an absolute requirement for professionals.

Black Belt Systems "fyngyrz" Say: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
Great specialized glass; still room for improvement., 2007-12-20
This review is for: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
The Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens is a very heavy (1025 grams or 2.25 lbs), very well built lens. It comes packaged with the appropriate hood, the Canon ES-7911. You get both a lens cap and a mount cap, all packed inside tight conformal foam to protect the lens during shipping. There's also a very brief manual and the usual warranty paperwork.The 85mm specification is for a full-frame camera; with an APS-C size sensor like the one in my EOS 40D, this is multiplied by 1.6 to an effective 136mm.The lens offers AF and manual focus. However, the manual focus is electronically driven from the focus ring to the AF motor system, which has several consequences. First, you can't focus when the camera is off. Second, the rate of focus is limited by the speed of the focus motor. Third, focus adjustments are extremely precise, essentially free of backlash and drift. The first two issues are negatives, but in my view, they are more than outweighed by the third. For instance, I often take images of the night sky; in order to do this, the lens can be AF-focused on something in the sky (I've been using Mars recently for this), and then it can be put into manual focus where the focus will remain correct and constant as long as the camera and lens temperatures do not change significantly. This is the only lens I own that has stable enough focus hardware to be able to do this. The focus ring is broad and well-textured, and a pleasure to use. There is a second textured area on the lens barrel, closer to the camera, that you can mistake for the focus ring - this area is meant to assist you in mounting and unmounting the lens. I've learned to avoid it. Manual focus is precise and moving the ring results in a fine enough focus change that when you blow a shot, you can be absolutely certain the lens wasn't to blame.The AF/Manual switch is in a reasonable location, close to the camera body. There is a range indication on the barrel of the lens behind a transparent window which serves to keep debris out of the workings of the lens.I have found that after you focus, if you change the f-stop, the lens does move a little off-focus; it is slight but definite. So take care to re-focus if you change f-stops.While I'm thinking about how AF acts with this lens, one thing I definitely noticed was that at f/1.2, the camera can AF in almost any situation. I can AF on single stars, faint skin detail, all kinds of things that were impossible with my f/1.8 wide open, which all in all is a very pleasant experience.The lens lacks any form of image stabilization. On the one hand, looking at the sheer size of the optical components used to construct this lens, one is tempted to sympathize with Canon - IS would be quite a technical challenge if we want to keep all that great light gathering capability. On the other, IS is showing up in more and more places, and for the price... well, let's just say that perhaps this is one of the justifications for building IS into the camera body instead of the lens. One last point is that since the lens is inherently very fast, perhaps there is less overall need for IS (though that argument falls apart the first time you *do* need it!)Mounting: The red alignment dot is poorly located - it is on the camera-mount end of the lens where the lens approaches the body of the camera; this location makes it impossible to see when the lens is close to, but not yet mounted on, the camera body. It is a raised physical dot, which is good, but the location is a problem. I consider this a fairly serious error on Canon's part, as this is a *very* expensive lens, and I prefer to have the lens mounting process as smooth and crunch-free as possible. Hopefully they'll move the dot in the next version of the lens. I added a similarly sized dot (just a sticker) on the barrel of my lens orthogonal to the mounting indicator on the camera body, and that helps a lot.The lens takes a 72mm filter, and I've been using it with the Canon UV haze filter. The lens is simply too valuable to risk shooting with the optics exposed.Although the lens is very heavy, there is no tripod mount; apparently, because the lens is (relatively) short, Canon feels that the balance is still mainly at the camera body end. I'm not entirely sure I agree, but it isn't a huge issue.The available f-stops range from f/1.2 wide open to f/16.0 fully stopped down. This is something to keep in mind if you may need considerable depth of field - you should being another lens along. This lens really does specialize in largish f-stop settings -- it cannot stand in for the f/32 you can get out of Canon's $70 f/1.8 lens, for instance -- if you find you need that kind of depth of field, you'll be putting the f/1.2L right back in the bag.Because the f/1.2 aperture setting lets in so much light, you will likely find that you have to be very careful in order not to overexpose your subjects in normal daylight, even at the fastest shutter speeds (my EOS 40D can do 1/8000th - and that's not fast enough in many situations, even with ISO 100 set.) You'll be looking for shady areas with dark backdrops before you get comfortable with this kind of light sensitivity outdoors during the day. Otherwise, you'll have to stop down or change lenses.Wide open, the lens' bokeh will serve you well if you provide enough depth behind your subject for it to really blur things out. While it does provide a quality blur, you won't see items directly behind someone's head turn into unidentifiable smears; they have to be considerably further away for that to happen. Even so, the portion of the depth of field that actually *is* in sharp focus is very shallow indeed.For portraits, frankly, I find the f/1.2 setting can be too limiting and I end up stopping the lens down a few steps, where it behaves much more reasonably, or else taking advantage of my camera's many megapixels and backing off far enough to deepen the in-focus region in exchange for the area of the sensor that actually contains the portrait. The keys here are (a) you need a high MP camera so you have sensor area to trade away and (b) you need room to back off - not everyone has a deep studio. Given that care is taken to manage these DOF issues, in my opinion, this lens is quite literally unmatched as a portrait lens.When shooting subjects that do not demand a lot of depth variance, such as my night sky images I mentioned earlier, this lens brings great sharpness, consistent focus and huge light sensitivity to the table. This application is why I bought it, and so for me, the lens has been a great success. Previously, shooting with an f/1.8 lens, I would often get star trailing. Now I can shoot pitch black sky images with deeply exposed star colors in 3 seconds or even less if I push the ISO hard; this eliminates all solar, sidereal and planetary motion, so I am well satisfied. Shooting distant landscapes provides a similar experience, but again, is difficult in daylight unless the lens is stopped down. The key hours of pre-dawn and post-sunset are times of great opportunity with this lens.At f/1.2, the lens is already very sharp. It reaches peak sharpness everywhere at f/4, but achieves sharpness in the central image portion at f/1.8 and holds it all the way through f/4. There's very little chromatic aberration, certainly nothing to be concerned about. On my camera (APS-C sensor, remember) you can see vignetting of .6 to .7 EV at f/1.2; this is, as I understand it, basically unavoidable with this amount of glass. As you stop the lens down, this drops off, and by f/2.8 it is essentially invisible. I have been unable to detect any geometric distortion at all, the lens is near-perfect in that regard. Squares come out square, circles are circular, no little aspect weirdnesses to catch your eye, even at the edges of images.The lens construction is metal; eight elements in seven groups, featuring one aspherical and two higher-refractive elements. They did some work to improve near-field focus performance and reduce coma. There are eight blades involved in the aperture mechanism. All in all, it is extremely solid and feels reliable, repeatable and precise, plus it sits in my hand like it always belonged there; perhaps *that* is why Canon didn't provide a tripod mount on the lens - it would have been uncomfortable.I carry the lens deeply nested in a large camera bag (a Tamrac 5612 Pro 12, *highly* recommended); I rarely put the lens on the camera until I am ready to use it, and when I am done, I take it right back off, cap it, and bag it without wasting any time or motion. I do both the assembly and disassembly in the bag, using the bag top to shield the camera and lens from the wind and environment as best I can manage. It's the size of the investment that drives this behavior, of course; a lens like this deserves -- demands -- great care and that is just what I give it.For the price, I expected a great deal from this lens, and after using it for a while, I feel like I actually got what I paid for. You have to temper that with the natural inclination for anyone, including me, to want to justify having spent this much money on a single prime lens; I try not to think that way, but there's no question about it, the price makes you *really* want this lens to "be all that." The best way to judge is how you feel about the pictures you take - did you get what you wanted there? In my case, I can answer yes without any hesitation, and I think that is the bottom line.

Charleston Multimedia Say: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
A wonderful, but unforgiving tool, easy to use, hard to master, 2006-12-26
This review is for: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
I used to have the previous generation 85mm f/1.2 L, and I found this a worthy upgrade.Why get this over the f/1.8? For the extra stop of light, the extremely shallow depth of field, the bokeh, and the build.This is no amateur lens, at least not when used wide open (which is one of the main reasons to buy this lens in the first place). With a depth of field measured in mere millimeters, the lens is unforgiving of both the camera it's attached to (the focus has to be dead on), and the photographer. The worse one's technique is, the fewer good shots will come out of the camera, and this at a much higher ratio than nearly all other lenses. However, the shots that are spot-on are some of the most rewarding possible with a modern camera, with amazing sharpnessSo get it if you can afford it, and have the patience to learn to use it properly. Once you do, a lesser lens just won't do.

Grant Brummett Say: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
Heavy Pro only portrait low light lens, 2008-03-27
This review is for: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
Intro: The Canon 85mm F/1.2 L II lens is a: heavy, pro only, ultimate portrait, ultimate full frame, ultimate low light, battery draining lens. Purchase this lens if you are a pro or own a full sensor camera.If you are not a pro have a cropped sensor camera (40D, 50D, Rebel etc) and want an easier to use lens with similar portrait taking ability, and have room to back up a little then go purchase the about half as expensive and easier to use Canon 135mm F/2 L lens. The 135mm F/2: focuses much faster, feels lighter and is much easier on battery consumption. You will be much happier.If you are a pro then read on.If you are a pro then you will want both this Canon 85mm F/1.2 L II lens and the Canon 135mm F/2 L lens. I find myself using the 85mm when photographing the ladies and children especially in low light and I don't have the room to backup. The creamy dreamy soft images and great bokeh really compliment women and children. I use the 135mm more for male portraits and when I either have more room to backup or need more reach and or if I want to be in stealth mode at public events like a renaissance festival.Cropped VS full frame:The ultimate portrait lens at F/1.2 to F/1.6 (and sharp lens stepped down to F/2 to F/4) on a full frame camera still very good on a 1.6 cropped sensor camera (40D/50D, Rebels). You get almost exactly double the Bokeh on full sensor or 35mm film camera vs 1.6 cropped sensor camera.Tips:Always but always carry a spare batteryStep down a little say to F/1.6 or F/1.8Never use focus lock and recompose, always focus and shoot with one continuous motion or you will never achieve focus especially wide open.Use a single focus point. I usually focus on one of the eyes.Find out exactly where your focus is, front / back focus etc and shoot accordingly.Only mount this lens under controlled conditions and take your time, the rear element is exposed and the mounting point is hard to see.If you want the lens focused at infinity before storing leave the camera ON and manual focus to infinityPros:Super BokehGreat lens hoodToo many clients!!Super low light event lensBest portrait lens for women and girls ever madeShoot outside at night with no tripod at 3200 ISO!Amazing looking photos that say professional all over them.Along with my Canon 135 F2 lens the finest portrait lens in the world!Sharp wide open in the center with wonder halo effect around outsideSharp edge to edge by F2.0This lens has Auto Lens Vignetting correction using peripheral Illumination control see Auto Vignetting comments below:Chromatic aberration correction when shooting Raw using Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP) to process see below for more.Cons:PriceHeavy! 1,025 GramsExposed rear elementNo focus lock and recompose! It's always out of focusRemoval procedure (1 manual focus, 2 focus to infinity, 3 camera Off)Battery Hog!! I only get 300 - 360 shots or so with Canon 40D 200 with Rebel XTiInstall procedure (carefully line up without seeing red dot and protect rear element)Some CA (Chromatic Aberration) wide open totally gone when stopped down to 1.8 not an issue with most portrait photosAuto Vignetting peripheral illumination control:I haven't noticed much vignetting with this lens even wide open, but Canon has this super sweet Auto Lens Vignetting correction that works with this lens both in camera with JPEG's and in RAW using peripheral Illumination control in Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP) when using newer Canon digital EOS cameras (Canon Rebel XSi, 40D, 5D Mark II etc.) . No more vignetting when shooting wide open!!! When shooting Raw open the file(s) in DPP and click on NR/Lens Lens Aberration Correction / Tune and click on Peripheral illumination. The cameras listed above have already picked up the amount of vignetting based on focusing distance and F stop from the lens and the camera has saved the information with the Raw file. You can then adjust the amount under Peripheral Illumination if you don't like the amount automatically suggested. If you shot JPEG then you get the auto amount. SWEET!!!Chromatic aberration correction when shooting Raw:This lens does have some Chromatic aberration when shooting between F/.1.2 and F/1.8 if you have bright contrasty subjects such as a car bumper. When shooting Raw using Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP) you can click on NR/Lens Lens Aberration Correction / Tune and click on Chromatic Aberration then choose the amount of correction needed. Pretty Sweet!!!9-20-2008 Update:This lens save my life this weekend!! I had a photo shoot at our church and they have it VERY dark in there. I was at the ISO limit with my F/2.8 lenses even my Canon 135 F/2 L I was at 3200 ISO and still not stopping the action. It's hard to believe there is that much difference between F/2 and F/1.2 but there is. I even managed to go back down to ISO 1600. Thank you Canon 85mm F/1.2 II L!!!!01-03-2009 Canon 5D Mark II Update:Canon 85mm F/1.2 II L lens. Without a doubt this lens delivers the clearest sharpest and most resolving power onto any photograph you care to take with the Canon 5D Mark II. The clarity has to be seen to be believed. At F/1.2 the Depth of Field (DOF) is scary thin and the edges are super soft which is great for female portraiture. The super soft creamy dreamy Bokeh at F/1.2 is much smoother on the 5D Mark II over my 40D. But stop this lens down to F/1.8 and it gets scary sharp and clear. Step it down to F/4.0 and it's at its sharpest and the only lens I have that gives you 100% pixel peeping razor blade edge to edge top to bottom perfect clarity in every single area of the photo.Looking at a photo on my iMac taken with a 5D Mark II with this lens is like standing there looking through an open window at the actual scene!The 85mm F/1.2 is your low light monster on the 5D Mark II, I don't have to harp too much on what an F/1.2 aperture and an ISO 25,600 can do for you at night. Let's just say you can go out into what appears to be a dark night and do hand held photos.This is the very first lens I will reach for when using the 5D Mark II.1-20-2009 Update:The way the Canon 85mm F/1.2 II L Lens eats batteries when on my Canon 40D may be a software glitch. I got notice that firmware update Version 1.1.1 for the Canon 40D fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes a low battery indication to be displayed when using the EF 85mm F1.2L II USM lens. Depending on the battery check timing of the camera, the battery level displayed on the camera's LCD data panel may shows Battery will be exhausted soon or Battery must be recharged, even though the battery capacity is sufficient.I am installing the fix and will see if this causes the early battery dead indication to go away.4-1-2009 Update:Photos from this lens continues to impress especially those I take with my new 5D Mark II. Just got back from shooting the 2009 Arizona Renaissance festival where I shot 95 percent of the photos with the Canon 85mm F/1.2 II L lens and Canon 5D Mark II. Looking at the photos there is this amazing clarity to them. Please click on the this link to see copies of these photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/grantbrummett/sets/72157613644226357/Other lenses I have:Canon EF-S 17-55 F/2.8 IS Ultra sharp, great colors, great low light, poor zoom actionCanon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Rebel XTi Kit lens Muddy, slow, pile of junkCanon EF 17-40mm f/4 L Fantastic colors, sharp zoomed 17 to 24mm, ultra smooth zoom action, light weightCanon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L Fantastic colors and contrast, sharp zoomed 40 to 70mm, zoom a little stiff at first, heavy, repair prone!Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Good budget portrait lens, light weight, disposable, sharp from F/2.5Canon EF 85mm F/1.2 L II The best portrait lens for female and children clients, buttery smooth Bokeh, heavy and expensive it shares sharpness with 135mmCanon EF 135mm F/2.0 L The best portrait lens for males and tied with Canon 85mm F 1/.2 for sharpest lens I own, buttery smooth BokehCanon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L fantastic colors, sharp for a zoom, very versatile ego boosting and attention getting and heavy! My favorite zoom lens!!!Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L great IS, super colors, sharp for a zoom, extremely versatile, variable Bokeh, even more ego boosting and attention getting when extended and 400mm reach!!My next lens purchase I'm saving for right now: 'Canon 15mm Fisheye and Canon EF 200mm F/2 IS L the finest lens ever

WildCardPix Say: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
Most effective portrait lens I own, 2007-03-31
This review is for: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
As a hobbyist, I owned the 85mm f/1.8 for several years, and admittedly, rarely ever used it, because despite it's fast aperture, it wasn't nearly as versatile as my 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM, 17-35 f/2.8L USM, or 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II.Then I turned pro, and along came the 85mm f1.2L USM Mark II in Feb 07. For some reason I became obsessed with this lens, after reading countless forum posts and reviews. So, I took a risk, and bought one. I've only had it for a about a week now, but the results are absolutely stunning, and it's now become my new favorite portrait lens. The diffusion is breathtaking, and despite what the forums say, learning how to shoot wide-open at 1.2 doesn't take that long to learn. Let's face it, if you're even aware this lens exists, then chances are you're not exactly a novice. For those of you on the fence like I was for close to a month, please take my advice and get one. You won't regret it.

W. A. Freeman Jr. Say: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
Great isolation lens, 2007-02-07
This review is for: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
I am very impressed by what this lens can do. I used it at a basketball game and was able to get great shots without a flash and with very little blur. The wide open aperture allowed for good color saturation, less yellowing, and crisp pictures. For shooting my grandchildren I was taken aback by the superb ability for it to isolate and suspend the subject while the world around it goes away. The narrow depth of field creates shots with the nose in sharp focus and the hair behind the ear blurred. With the latest version of this lens it is fast and relatively easy to get the shot you want. Focus is fast, but if you miss, there is no doubt you missed. If you want more depth of field just close down the aperture some until you get what you want. I can't wait to figure out how I can use it again.

Michael Ziegler Say: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
85mm f/1.2, 2007-01-09
This review is for: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
Build quality is excellent. Auto focus is dead on but not super fast, however not slow at all. You would expect that with all the mass which has to move and narrow field depth. The bokeh is really neat, blurring background is a piece of cake. At 1.2, the depth of field is very shallow so be advised. It is a super portrait lens. I use it on my Canon 5D.

PD Say: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
It Does NOT Focus Slow, I Discovered the Secret, 2011-12-16
This review is for: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
If you're reading reviews on this lens you know it's in a class by itself. Creative portraits shot at f1.2 are like no other, this lens is like a studio in a box. However, one of my first major shoot with it was a family portrait session at a park which went into the evening. I was shooting at f1.2 with no flash (on a 5D2 at ISO 1600) and the imagery was infectious at that f stop. BUT, THE AUTO FOCUS... hunting, hunting, driving me nuts. I knew f1.2 lenses have that as part of their physics, but it did get annoying. I thought I'd have to live with it, until a little online research revealed that it was due to the focusing screen in my camera. All cameras come with a general focusing screen. Problem is, when you get below f2.8 and onward to f1.2, the lenses can't focus with the standard screen. Cut to the chase: I ordered and installed the Canon Eg-S Super Precision Matte Focusing Screen For Canon EOS 5D-Mark II Cameras. Forty bucks and about 90 seconds to install with the tool they give you. WOW! What a difference! Now my 85 snaps in focus like my 70-200mm! (almost, lol). I don't understand why this isn't talked about more. It made my 50mm 1.2 even faster. Finally, a solution. The one drawback, however, is this: It does make the viewfinder a touch darker, hardly noticable if all of your lenses are f2.8 or faster, which mine are. But if you own any of the zooms with f3.5-5.6 aperture range, they will look dark, FYI. I would assume if you are researching this humungous light vacuum that Canon calls a lens, you hopefully have gotten away from slow cheaper lenses.Anyway, there is an answer, and I'm blown away how much faster and more acurate all of my lenses are, so if you are concerned about the 85's reputation for slow AF, there is an answer!

B. Jaber Say: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
A journey into the masterful, 2008-01-03
This review is for: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
I've only been using it for a short while and I can already say that this lens is going to take me a bit to master. Still, it's very forgiving when not wide open and I'm really liking the results so far! Unbelievably sharp, excellent bokeh, good feel. Heavy, but balanced (on a 40D). Manually focusing is a bit clumsy, but with a chunk of glass this large, I can see why the internals are so "precise and micro" for the focus.Like others have said... at wide open (f/1.2) and even at ISO 100, it's easy to blow out your shots. At night, this lens belongs at 1.2, but by day, it's best when stopped down a bit. This lens will make you learn to be comfortable in manual mode.Regrets? NONE!

atombomb "atom" Say: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
Pictures worth way more than 1000 words with this lens, 2010-12-02
This review is for: Canon EF 85mm f12L 1056B002 sale
You may have heard most of this information from other reviewers, I personally tested out most of this and hence I am writing all that I have seen vs. all that I have heard.It is more of a firsthand experience and I think it will be useful to people reading this review.General:- Picture is worth way more than thousand words when shot with this lens- The strength of this lens is it's sharpness and it's blurriness. It is sharp even at 1.2 and the blur it produces is amazing.- It's big in every aspect - size, weight, price, quality of output, the only small thing is the DOF, I mean literally.- Took it for a night shoot and believe me the shots were unbelievable. I was like, why can't my eyes see so much light. It was like taking pictures with night vision (except in color:)- Attracts un-necessary attention- Also if people are considering buying a used copy you may find my notes on scribd/com very useful. Just search for buying used lens and this document has a name specific to this lensAbout the focus ring:- Electronic - (Best analogy is fly by wire), what you turn in not mechanically linked to the moving lens - therefore you cannot change focus w/o power supply - Not that it is important to focus when off but to make it shorter (to store) it needs to be on the camera with power on.- The focusing rings needs to be rotated more to cover the focus span (fine adjustment). I think the intention is to help the photographer hit the focus with less search. Given its ultra thin DOF at large apertures, more coarse focus adjustment may sometimes result in harder search going back and forth trying to focus a spot.- My only complaint with the focus rings is that it feels very loose (meaning very easy to spin), I always feel that I may have moved it by an iota while taking my hands of it after focusing. I don't mind the amount of rotation I just wish it was a little bit more harder to rotate.- When focusing the front element does not rotate but moves in and out, being shortest for focus at infinityHood :- I love this hood, cause you don't have to align it. It snaps anywhere. This hood is symmetrical and does not have a cut out and hence needs no alignment.- I hear some complaints about the hood rotating on manual focus, I don't see this as a problem because the hood is symmetric so rotating makes no difference, the hood is mounted on the focus ring so it rotated along with the focus ring but only in manual focus. During autofocus the external ring does not rotate so there is no problem- It comes off by pressing the latch releaseRear element:- The rear element is flush. This is risky- You have to remember not to place it on a table w/o the rear cap- The contacts are placed on the glass directly- Even when mounting/un-mounting you have to be careful because unlike the usual lens you could actually collide the rear element to the camera mount and scratch the glass.- To make life little more difficult canon has put the alignment red dot on the side that is flush with the camera. So when you take it close to the camera you cannot see the red alignment marker. I noticed few other reviewers making this comment. I have put a sticker on the visible side so you would never mess up when trying to align when mountingFocusing speed:- Auto-focusing is slow, but being primarily a portrait lens, I think it is OK. Important thing is that the autofocus is accurate.- Manual focus is also slow because of the big rotation but that I think has a purpose , so you can fine adjust the focus- I did not notice any focusing offset and hence don't need any micro adjustments on my 5DMKIISharpness at different F stops:- I did a test of sharpness at different apertures (at full stop interval) using USAF1951/MTF charts and I must say it is super sharp even at F/1.2 . At F/3.5 and smaller it is razor, I recommend using a safety gloves when dealing with pictures taken with this lens 'Barrel distortion:- There is some amount of barrel distortion. I think that is too small to notice on face etc, you can see it in trying to shoot pictures of parallel lines. Also I am not sure may be that is helpful in making a face look more beautiful :Pin cushion:- I did not notice any pin cushion dist , may that's because I didn't go looking for it. Being a telephoto I think it should have more pin cushion than barrel. May be the brick wall I shot had some distortion already and that made my pin cushion look like barrel :-)Vignettting:- There is noticeable natural vignetting (at full frame) at large apertures from F/1.2 until F/3.5. I think this may be less noticeable with crop sensors At 4.0 it is almost gone. This can be easily corrected in photo toolsCA:- I noticed some CA when shooting the koren 03 lens test chart with minimal to almost no analysis I tend to think it was both longitudinal and lateral. But I am not confirming thatDOF:- It is crazy thin, I am guessing it must be in less than a centimeter at f1.2. It is so thin that that is you focus on the eyes the nose tip is out of focus and vice versa. The aperture is a good approximation of a circle so make the bokeh shots really beautifulAfter Buying Tips:- Put a good quality UV filter right when you take it out The diameter is 72mm. I wish it was 77mm so I could share the polarizer with other lenses I have. Now I am having to use an adapter and therefore I cannot take my hood off without removing the polarizer..........- Stick a marker on the horizontal portion of the barrel right next to the red alignment dot so you can see it when trying to mount- Never ever put this lens on the table with out the back cover.- Before removing from the body, make sure the focus ring is set to infinity (shortest length of lens)- When dis-mounting remember to draw it out perpendicular to the body (of course after threading it out)- If someone else is dealing with your lens, make sure they understand your code of conduct with regards to this lens