Dustin, I purchased the Tamron 85 SP 85 f/1.8 Di VC based on your reviews and all the lenses are awesome in your video and it was hard to choose but in the end I decided I'd rather have an image stabilized lens rather than f/1.4 based on the fact that my past portrait work has always been with a lens stopped down a little for maximum sharpness but the f/1.8 comes in handy on those occasions where I need to shoot wide open and having VC helps steady these old hands of mine!
Thank you Dustin. Your videos helped me deciding what gear to buy in the past. I'm going for Canon 85 1.4, I It will replace my current 70-200 2.8 L II. Hope it comes to Europe soon, wedding season is getting closer 😊
One thing I notice is that when you split the images you should use one of your eyes or swap the image. I say this because if you use your left eye or right eye they are different. So if the image is on the right its going to favor what your right eye sees...etc.
I have switched from 85 1.2 ll for 85 1.4 L yesterday. The AF is incredibly fast and in focus. I have tested both lenses in the shop in low light scenario. I was thinking to go with sigma but I still don't trust them with AF after I bought 35 1.4 art
Have been looking forward to this side by side comparisons of all the 85mm lenses, Of course this is at fairly close distance and the proof in the pudding is at distance also, if a lens can excel at both then it's a real credible winner, but as we all know it's the real world tests that show colour rendering and the overall feel of a lens that will make it truly stand out, but i'm sure you've more than covered that, looking forward to part 2.
It's a shame you don't do nikon as well , even if it was with an old d800 just for lens IQ , it's becoming common knowledge internet wise that your channel is the " GO TO GUY " for comprehensive and consistent evaluation of lenses , being able to do nikon as well would bring a complete spectrum to full frame lens systems . Example - I would be very curious to see how the aging nikon 85mm 1.8g ( sharpest of nikon 85mm ) holds up against the third parties , especially from about f2.8 .
That's great to hear. I tried at one point to do some crowd funding to add Sony into the mix, and I got no more than $100. Internet people want more, but they aren't really interested in helping make it happen.
Dustin Abbott I think that's something the manufactures should be assisting you with really , ultimately the viewer is the consumer and although they benefit from your insight their not the ones profiting from it , if a product is good , well then the supplier is the one benefiting from a possitive review and exposure . Especially if it's a review from a trust worthy source . Its for they own good to be part of such a review channel then not . This will become more apparent the bigger your subscription base grows (or views per clip). For example , I was after a good 85mm lens , and if you reviewed a nikon version I might have gone in that direction but since you don't I choose the tamron that you did review . Nikon lost out . I would be one of thousands that make a product choice based on a trust/unbiased review on a daily basis . What's the point developing a great product but being left out of the information pipeline that promotes your product . That would be my case in point to Nikon and Sony .
I have heard one of my wedding photographer friends that he had helped testing Sony camera and lenses founded by Sony. Maybe you could talk to your local dealer about this issue? I think as a such impacting RU-vidr and giving such professional reviews, you deserve more sources of support.
Dustin. Thank's for such a great comparsion! I have a question, what do you think about Sony FE 85 1.8? I've switched from Nikon and sold my favourite Sigma Art 85 1.4. Will the difference be dramatic? Also warm hello from Russia!
Thanks a lot Dustin! Great work as always! I can’t wait for the next episode! It’s probably too late for this but including the Sony 85mm GM might actually be a good addition to the mix. I was thinking about that vs. Otus (especially with the dxomark review however they used different bodies with different sensors). Just had to send my Otus to Zeiss for repair because the aperture is stuck and cpu is probably not working properly so I had to think of Sony especially when mounted on the a7r iii.
Yes the Zeiss rep said the same thing. They suspect that it might be the fault of the lens adapter (causing the cpu to short circuit) and especially since I just updated to the latest firmware. Still waiting for the diagnostic report from Zeiss... But hopeful that it gets fixed ASAP because I miss that lens.
Is the short summary of all these 85 reviews that the tamron is the best bang for buck lens here? That is the conclusion I am reaching as I continue my research for a 85 to add to my kit
Hi Dustin, love your comparisons, I just have a suggestion: you should add coma testing because it's a parameter that is often overlooked by manufacturers and makes some otherwise great lenses terrible for astrophotography!
Fascinating. Rendering is everything for me. 100% agree that that resolution is not all important. I owned the Canon 85/1.2L and had a love hate relationship :) I increasingly gravitate to older manual lenses as i own a Sony a7r2. Leica and Voigltander, here I come !
@Robert Holloway: If you like manual, give the Samyang XP 85mm f/1.2 a try - imho it's the best 85mm out there, a lot better than the EF85mm f/1.2LII (which I returned after 3 weeks because of that horrible CA)
Hi Mike, yes I know this lens but tend to be be more interested in the 15-50mm focal length these days. I already have the Zeiss Batis, which works very well. Thanks!
Very interesting comparison Dustin. Well done again. Note that in a lens with weaker edge performance in a 'planar' test may show a stronger performance on ''3D' subject due to field curvature.
Nikon/Canon owners are all the same, they get very hyped about a new lens and refuse to believe it isn't the best thing since sliced bread. I am sure the Canon does a very good job and people need to stop getting so picky about every single element of a lens. I have the Zeiss 85mm Milvus and the Nikkor 105mm f/1.4 and I still occasionally use an old Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D because it is lighter and does an ok job, even though it isn't in the same league as my other portrait lenses.
These are not all flat field lenses. Do you refocus using live view for the edge focus ? If you don't field curvature will change the point of sharp focus. Live view needs to be used at the shooting aperture of course, because some telephoto lens have focus shift stopping down.
Nice video Dustin. Does the fact that the focal length of the Canon being a bit shorter negatively effect the resulting resolution when zoomed to 100%? Im assuming the tripod wasn't moved between lens swaps.
Dustin, how do you achieve consistent focus for each lens for your evaluations? Can you draw any comparisons of field curvature? Obviously a comparing close photos of a flat wall will always favour a flat field lens, like a macro.
I use 10x Live View Focus on a tripod. As for the flat field, I also always shoot 3 dimensional objects. Sigma lenses often do better with charts than 3 dimensional objects - Zeiss tends to be the opposite.
Very interesting indeed. As you say, resolution in portraits may not be the first decision criterion. Gradation and absence of any chromatic aberration are. Distortion (pincushion and barrel) next. IMO. Or, with promises in the end of the video looking forward to the next episode.
Could it be that your results were based on Canon 5D IV? As the result from DXO said differently in terms of the best performer including sharpness. However, they were using the Nikon D810 for comparison
What will be fun is comparing the handheld performance of the four and you suddenly find the stabilized lens outresolves the rest simply because it can keep that 85mm focal length steady. Big time advantage for high res sensors. Just sayin' :)
I have tried nearly all 85 lenses including Nikons and I can definitely say that the Otus is the only lens that gives you not just exceptional image quality but medium format look image. Only those who tried Otus will understand what really Otus is capable of. Whoever argue about Otus 85 is just a jealous person that couldn’t afford it.
The Milvus has better corner sharpness if that's a big deal to you. Otus is a bit sharper in the middle, has less vignette, and is slightly more corrected for, well, everything. Milvus has smoother bokeh.
Hi Dustin thank for your reply ....otus anyways out of budget but how about the advantage with others in center shaprness for milvus and also the overall rendering n fall off compare to Sigma or Canon
I think with D850 focus peaking live view manual focusing in live view is very easy and accurate and I find with range finder is bit tougher in view finder .... I have seen Milvus review from Tony & Chelsea and as per them its also the better lens than Sigma or Nikon 105 image quality wise ....I might have took Sigma 85 if its AF is very accurate but seems its not at all ....
I haven’t directly compared the Milvus to these other options, but expect the Milvus to have better contrast and a little more 3D pop than the other options (save the Otus). The Milvus has the heaviest vignette of the bunch.
Thanks ....I also find few interesting fact about milvus on some other review that it is superlative in backlit condition and better than Sigma 85 and also how about CA ? as from ur testing CA is big problem in Sigma at wide open and might reduce contrast and sharpness due to that but some other reviewers and DXO mark stated it has least amount of CA ...this is basically bit confusing ...Also do u think DXO mark just favoured few brands ?
So in summary if I want to take Portrait Pix of Brick Walls I should go with the Otis? lol. Just kidding, another great pixel peeping review bro, keep em coming ;)
Gerat job and good comparison Dustin, but as far as the result, I disagree. For the price and the fact that the Otis exclusively focuses manually, the difference in sharpness is so small that for me the Zeiss reaches the last place. However, I use Canon and therefore have not the ability to manually focus as easy as Sony. Which means that autofocus has a much higher priority for me, of course.
This really wasn’t about focus; it was about image quality. Having used about 10 different 85mm lenses, I can tell that in all out performance the Otus is #1... Real world images from it are just stunning.
I'm sorry if I expressed myself unhappy. Englich is not my native language. Of course, your test was not about the focus. I like to think that the picture quality is outstanding. So it should be with such a high priced prime lense. The photos are also very good, although on RU-vid so much quality is lost. My rating was for the whole package and that includes the price-performance ratio. For me as a Canon user, it is very difficult to manually focus a portrait. If I have to pay 2-3 times the price and additionally focus manually, the difference in picture quality is not big enough to balance these two factors. That's why I saw Otis last for me. The picture quality alone is of course outstanding but not so high to eliminate the disadvantages in the overall package. Regardless, I attach great importance to your lens tests and enjoy every new video. Thanks a lot for this. Greetings, Marcus
Excellent review Dustin......In case you forgot, Tamron is owned by Sony......Tamron markets better lenses.....I wonder how that works for Sony?.... Yes, i am back in the States till at least mid April......I agree with you that the money difference can not be seen in real world viewing so i too would opt for the less expensive........Sony markets a 85mm f2.8 for less than 300 dollars, that gets high ratings by reviews i noticed.....any comments on that statement?
My Friend, they sit on the Board, just because by name they only have 11% means nothing, one certainly will not offend one who is capable to own you out right........It's called big business, to either control or be in position to control for your own vested interest, and thats what big business does, i am surprised at you Dustin.....smile....
@@DustinAbbottTWI I really want to see some leica SL lenses vs zeiss lenses comparison but no one has ever done any comparison. I wish you could do it.
I'm sorry. I just saw that you recently posted a video about moving to Sony from Canon, thought that you might included the Sony GM. Didn't notice these are all about Canon's.
Yep, photographers don’t purchase these portrait lens to take photos of brick walls. I would have liked to see more comparisons of actual portraits. That is the most important comparison
