I haven't had the opportunity to use the Canon 1.2 85mm, but I did buy the Rokinon RF 85 1.4 (for $450) before Canon brought the hammer down on 3rd party lens manufacturers and I can say, I'm please with the version of the 85 mm lens.
I can't tell you how many arguments I got into out here on the internet about this very thing. All one has to do it shoot the same subject (same distance, same parameters) wide open without a speed booster and then shoot the same lens wide open with a booster and then compare the photos. I always tell people bokeh and depth of field are are driven by lens characteristics, and these things have zero/nothing to do with sensor size.
Just as importantly as blurring out the background is the subject separation that can only be obtained with a wide open f stop and/or zoom. Higher f stops=flatter images. I have an A7RV, it’s new and expensive and it absolutely looks better when shot at f 1.2 in low light. Recommending that people with an f 1.2 lens shoot at high f stops in low light is the strangest advice. Y’all crank down your f stops and take iPhone looking photos and I’ll stay at 1.2
Well said. There’s so much misinformation spread on RU-vid by so-called photography “experts”, especially related to depth of field, and the obsession with bokeh. It doesn’t help that most people seem to think that bokeh is a synonym for shallow depth of field, when it is actually referring to quality of the blurriness.
Very true video and the view I’ve always had about f stops and those boring blurred background.I like in focus occasionally boca looks good . I hate it in video.
The image quality seems really nice, nice color. Canon was always known for their color science. I have located a body for all sake appears unused. That's a win win for me. Thank you great video.
Just bought this lens for 180 euro, hope it was a good price, the lens seems very good, also I'm new to photography so I'm not really an expert in matter but seems very good once again
I recently did a photoshoot with my a7iii with the sony 85mm 1.8. I usually did portrait shots on 1.8 to 2.0 aperture but I decided to close it down a bit (2.8 all the way to 5.6). The results were kind of shocking to me. Because I shot it outdoors in nature and open fields I got the same creamy bokeh as with 1.8 but my subject was even more sharper and in focus. I compared hundreds of shots to previous ones and I couldn't figure out why these ones look better. The subject stood out even more from the background, even with the aperture closed down quite a bit and I'm really happy with the results. Gonna use the open aperture only in low light conditions from now on
Hi! I have a canon r8 and am currently looking for an affordable lens in the focal range of 24-70 or 24-105. I'm willing to buy used and everything under ~800€ is okay. Which lens would you recommend? I already have an ef-rf adapter, so the ef mount is definitely a possibility. I mainly want a really nice and sharp lens, preferably with a fixed aperture of 2.8 (or 4). But there is 20 years of lenses to work through and I kinda lost track of which one is still good to todays standard, yet affordable.
I find it amazing a company like Smallrig would make a dolly for "their own video tripods" that doesn't work with them at full leg extension? Why?? Nope~~
Great review. For an enthusiastic amateur the price differential is massive at 2.5 times the price for the RF 85mm f1.2 ($2,000 AU). My copy of the EF 85mm f1.4 must be a really good copy, as it is critically sharp at f1.8, with f1.4 totally acceptable and I find the IS essential for my 5DSR. A magic lens with fantastic micro contrast.
Thanks for actually mentioning the CF card, just got the 5D mark II and was surprised as I missed it in my research. Camera is solid, but CF card is disappointing.
Image stabilization on a lens like this in photography applications is super useful in enabling slightly longer shutter speeds while maintaining sharpness, in my experience anyway
You’re misunderstanding the point of that statement. Its meant to tell beginners that better gear wont make them better. And also that applies to more fields that just photography.
I do find it interesting that someone would complain about the macro capabilities of a lens that is not a true macro lens. If you want a professional level lens buy 100mm F 2.8 L lens. It has a 1.4x magnification. It has Dual Nano USM motors. Problem solved!
I moved onto this from the Canon 90D. It doesn’t have the fast frames per second on continuous that the 90D has but just glad to get into the RF mount system for so cheap. I got my RP for $650 CDN. I also kept the 90D.
