I just got the chance to test out the Canon 85mm f1.2 II and 50mm f1.2. I also tested out the new Sigma 85mm f1.4 which is another lens I have been very interested in and that has been getting a lot of great praise. You can see some sample images at the bottom of the page after the review.
These are two Canon lenses that I have always wanted to add to my kit (not just because of the red ring). The price though is the reason I have not yet decided to jump at them. I have read a lot of different reviews online saying that the 85’s focus is slow, the 50 has some focussing issues and that the sigma gives the same image quality of the canon at £1000 less. The following is just a short review and my thoughts on these lenses. I am not going to focus on the technical specifications or any of that as I really couldn’t care less about charts and numbers, I want to look at the practical uses and if the lenses will work for me and in the situations that I personally shoot. Oh and the camera used was my Canon 5D mark 2.
Canon EF 85mm f1.2 II
When I tested the Canon 85 I was surprised to find the focus was actually pretty fast, considering the size of glass it has to move, I have used much slower autofocus lenses in the past. I also read that the manual focus is quite annoying to use but I personally really liked it. The manual focus ring is quite loose feeling but I prefer this to a stiff focus ring. I have previously owned the Canon 50mm f1.8, most people hate the manual focus ring on that but I loved it, it was loose and I could move it with one finger, I could always focus much more accurately and quickly, this goes against most people’s views but hey different strokes. I tend to trust my eye more than the autofocus on a machine so being comfortable with the focus ring is very important to me. I took a couple of portraits of my girlfriend at 1.2 and was blown away by the images, the sharpness, the DOF and overall feel was outstanding. The weight actually wasn’t too bad, don’t get me wrong it is pretty heavy but its a nice solid heavy. I think that if you shoot any kind of portraits and can reach the price of the 85 f1.2 then it is simply the best thing out there. It is not an all purpose lens but for portraits it is simply amazing! I still cant get over the sharpness at f1.2. I think I would use this lens for portraits and gigs, I have heard that the focus hunts too much in low light but I am very comfortable with manual focus and actually get more keeper shots using my own eye and hand rather than relying on the camera and mechanisms.
Now the price of this lens is insane at around £1700 but after using it I now know why. I truly believe that this lens is a great investment for your business, providing you shoot at this focal length a lot and are very serious about your images. I’m not just saying this for the amazing creamy background that it produces as I have seen many boring images made with this lens where the photographer has simply relied on the blurred background (Bokeh) to make the image interesting. I think that in the hands of a photographer who can make great images regardless of lens and then incorporate the power and beauty of this 85 into their images it will be a revelation.
Canon EF 50mm f1.2
Through my time with photography I have used the Canon 50mm f1.8 and now for the past year the Canon 50mm f1.4. The 1.8 for the money (I got mine at around £90) is a great lens and an amazing introduction for people wanting to get into prime lenses or low light photography. I used this to shoot a lot of bands and most of my early portraits as I loved the shallow depth of field created at 1.8. The problem with this lens is the construction, when I was a kid I had toys that were made better than this. It really does feel like crap and if you drop it, it will probably break, but then it is only around £100 so you can’t expect the best. The image quality was really nice so I couldn’t really complain. The autofocus was virtually unusable, I shot mostly in low light and it could never find focus so I was on Manual 100% of the time. After a year the autofocus just stopped responding all together and I decided to upgrade to the Canon 50mm f1.4.
The 50 f1.4 was a great upgrade, the ability to shoot at 1.4, the reliable and fast autofocus and the colour was just superior in my experience to the 1.8. It helped so much with shooting bands and shooting in low light in general. My images started to get better and the lens would just respond and render images the way I needed. The build was far superior and I didn’t feel like I had to baby it as much, it just worked and worked very well. The 1.4 is still my workhorse lens and I use it about 70% of the time but I have recently been thinking about upgrading to the 50 f1.2. My reason is that there are a few times I have found the f1.4 not fast enough(aperture) for some lowlight situations in pubs, venues and other places where I had no artificial lighting available. I know that the difference between 1.4 and 1.2 is not much but if you have been in the situation where you could use that little bit of extra light then you know that it would be invaluable. Also for portraits that background at f1.2 would be nice.
When I put the 50mm f1.2 on my camera it felt awesome. It was light, not as light as the other 50’s though, it felt solid and to be honest just looked damn good. The autofocus was quick and accurate, the manual focus ring was nice to use and the construction is really nice. I tested this after the 85 1.2 and I instantly liked the wider view (I am used to the 50 view so thats probably why). Again I shot my girlfriend and the images were incredible. The sharpness on the eye, the background blur (Bokeh), the focus accuracy and the colour. I was amazed at the colour straight out of the camera. This was by far superior to my 50 f1.4 in all aspects. It wasn’t as sharp as the 85 f1.2 but this isn’t a problem for me as they have very different uses. This 50 in my opinion would be a great documentary, wide/group portrait and band/gig lens.
I really wasn’t expectimg this lens to perform as well as it did, so many people online were bashing it but I can say that for me anyway this is the best Canon 50 out there. This lens does cost a lot at around £1250 compared to the £299 of the 50 f1.4 so I think you really have to know you need it before purchasing. Like I said about the 85 I really think that investing in this lens will give you a return as the images will stand out so much more if used correctly and to its full potential.
Sigma 85 f1.4
The last lens I tested was the Sigma 85 f1.4 which is a lens I have seriously been looking at as it is about £1000 less than the Canon 85 f1.2 and people have been saying that it rivals the quality of Canon. I thought I would test it for myself.
The lens felt nice and was quite heavy, It has some big glass in it, I liked the shape and it looked good when mounted to the camera. One thing I instantly noticed is that the AF/Manual switch sticks out quite a lot and could easily be knocked accidentally and looks…..well….quite crap, but I’m looking for image quality and can deal with these niggles if it delivers in the final images. The focus was very fast, I would say faster than the Canon 85 and it was also very accurate. I have heard a lot of focusing problems with the sigma lens line but this one was dead on. The sharpness was good, not as good as the Canon but pretty good and the colours were good. The background blur at 1.4 was also very nice. One big problem for me was the manual focus ring which was very stiff and just didn’t feel good when moved which is kind of a deal breaker for me as I manual focus a lot. I only tested one lens so i’m not sure if this is the same on all or just this one but something did not feel right with the manual focus ring.
The thing I found with this lens is that it was good, not great but good. Well apart from that damn manual focus ring, really disappointed with this but other people may like it. The images came out nice but not as good as the Canon 85, the bokeh was good but again not as nice as the Canon’s and also the colour straight out of camera wasn’t quite as nice as the Canon’s. I have to take into account that there is a £1000 price difference here too which is massive. If there is no way you can afford the Canon then the Sigma would be a great alternative but Canon also do a 85 f1.8 which is highly regarded by many pro’s and is around £320 which is a lot less than the Sigma. You could save the money and buy the Canon 85 f1.8 then save up for the Canon 85 f1.2. I think If I couldn’t get the Canon 85 f1.2 I would go that route as the Sigma is a little pricey for a stop gap lens, I would have to want the Sigma and want to use it for a good few years instead of the Canon 85 f1.2 which just isn’t the case.
I would like to test another copy of the Sigma as I have heard that qaulity can vary from lens to lens and I would like to try the manual focussing ring again to see if it was just that copy that was really stiff. So Sigma if your reading, feel free to send me a copy of the 85 f1.4 and I’ll do another review.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed testing out these three lenses which I have been very interested in buying. I feel it is much better to get your hands on the items and test them for yourself, you might find that one just feels right.
I was secretly hoping that the Sigma was going to blow me away and match the Canon’s quality and at £1000 less but i’m afraid it didn’t. The extra money on the Canon 85 f1.2 in my eye’s at least does give you that something more, that something special in the images. £1000 is a lot of money but sometimes the difference between good and great is very small and the Canon just has that little something extra that I feel is very important, It will last you a long time and it’s resale value will stay high if you ever decided to get rid of it for whatever reason.
A surprise though was that the lens I liked best out of all three was the 50mm f1.2. I originally wasn’t going to test this one as I was looking for a 85mm focal length, I just decided on a whim to give it a go. It’s not as sharp as the 85 f1.2, it’s probably on par if not better than the Sigma. I really liked the colours it rendered and the ability to shoot at f1.2 for low light and would be great for 3/4 portraits on location.
I am not stinking rich and can only choose one lens out of the three, I think I will try and get the Canon 85 f1.2 as I need a portrait focal length more than any other at the moment for my business. I already have the Canon 50mm f1.4 which is a great lens and I am happy with its results so buying the 50 1.2 would be more of a luxury than a needed purchase. Although if you are looking for a 50 and are considering the canon 1.2 I say go for it and never look back.
UPDATE!
Since doing these tests and this review I decided to give the Sigma another chance and tried a second copy. True it is not quite as sharp as the Canon 1.2, nearly but not quite, the Sigma does not have 1.2 which would be nice but 1.4 would be fine for most low light situations and for this price you cannot complain. The thing i loved this time round is the focus speed which is very fast, I would say about twice as fast as the Canon 1.2. the focus on this copy is very accurate even in low light. The lens is nice and weighty and looks good on the camera, it looks like a nice Nikon lens to be honest. The manual focus ring is still too stiff for my liking and can be a pain to use but with auto focus this decent I might not need to revert to it nearly as often. Most importantly images that it produces are really really nice. I am very impressed with this lens after spending a bit more time with it. I did a test by putting a few images taken with the Canon 85 1.2 and the Sigma 85 1.4, I processed them as I usually process my images (white balance and contrast adjustments) and put them into a slideshow, I got a few people (including myself) just to watch these images loop around in the slideshow and the results were very interesting. They could not tell any difference in the images, this is after about ten minutes staring at them. When I looked at them closely I also could not see any difference, now that is amazing considering the Sigma is £1000 cheaper. Now I really was going to go for the Canon 85 1.2 but after spending more time with the Sigma I have changed my mind. I would like the Canon purely because of its image quality, good looks and the 1.2 but if I (and a good few others, who are also quality freaks) cannot tell the difference in the images between the Canon and the Sigma, the Sigma has much better autofocus, it is a bit lighter and costs around £1000 less then Its a no brainer in my opinion. I actually now think that overall the Sigma is the better lens, that was not easy to say. I actually liked the Sigma so much that today I purchased one and have been shooting with it all day. and with £1000 extra still in the bank to spend on another lens, maybe the Canon 135 f2. In the end the quality of the images I deliver to clients is the most important thing and you can't go wrong with either the Sigma or the Canon.
I hope this helps anyone that is in the same position as I am at the moment.
Canon EF 85 f1.2 II
Not the best image to show the bokeh as the background was so sunny I had to blow it out. I love the sharpness on the left eye.
Sigma 85 f1.4
Colour not as nice, focus not as sharp. The background looks better here as I was further away from Cat and got more of it in. In direct comparison images the Canon has the better bokeh.
Canon EF 50mm f1.2
I really like both these shots. The sharpness on the left eye on the second one is great and I love the colour rendition of both. My favourite lens out the three.
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