85mm lenses - and good dealers.

A while ago I was going to buy an EF 85mm f1.2 mark 1.
The intended use was not what I would call usual, well not portrait work, my intended use was indoor sports. But the AF was slow, so I didn't buy it.

I tried the 85mm f1.8 and its AF was much quicker, so I bought it, sure it is not an "L" but it does the job for me.

I was really pleased when the new EF 85mm f1.2 was announced, but, when I tried the lens, although the quality was there, once again the AF was slower than my lowly EF 85mm f1.8.

The lesson that I learnt, thank goodness I have an understanding dealer.
No I am not knocking the new lens, but for me the AF is just not quick enough.
Did I try a "bad" lens, has anyone found anything different on the 85mm mark 2 AF ?

I have no personal experience with the 85s but everything I have read confirms your experience with the 85 1.2 mkII.

Have you considered the 135 f2 for indoor sports?

For indoor spots you made the right choice, the 85/1.2 is too slow at AF and the difference in max aperture from an exposure POV isn't worth the extra cost and sacrifice in AF speed for that purpose.

The 85/1.2 is not meant to be for indoor sports, it is meant for portraits and whilst that extra stop (approx) is an important improvement for indoor sports, it makes the shot for portraiture with the DOF difference. The 1.2 can go places where the 1.8 simply can't with DOF.

The 1.2 vI or II is a lens that all will covet until they eventually own one. I know that I will own one sooner or later.

I would have to have a really good reason to splash out on a f/1.2. the f/1.8 is vey sharp and the DOF at f/1.2 is very small. So I would usually stop down anyway. You would think however that for the money they could get a faster AF system on it.
Daniel

Agreed. Apparently the MkII version is 50% faster than the MkI but it's still not as fast as the 1.8 by a long shot I hear.

danielsan said:

Have you considered the 135 f2 for indoor sports?

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At present I use the 100-400 for other indoor work, but f2 has to be a better option. The sound you now hear is me calling my Canon pro dealer

Yeah agreed

The 85mm f/1.8 is very good value for money, it is so sharp and the fast aperture would be excellent for low light indoor shots.

I just got the Canon ef-s 17-55mm f/2.8 IS and think i'll get the 85mm f/1.8 for those times when its either too short, or I want a more OOF background....

Gary C-G said:

The 1.2 can go places where the 1.8 simply can't with DOF.

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I agree 100% on that, when I found the AF so slow I was just so dissappointed. I can't really see a good reason for it being that slow.
It was a bad day, because the new 85mm 1.2 is a wondeful piece of kit.


Maybe the mk3?

RE:Have you considered the 135 f2 for indoor sports

I second the EF135mm f2 L for indoor sports.

I have it and it is quite fast on AF.

Will T.

Thanks Will, I have been to the rentglass site.
But it is out of stock at present.
http://www.rentglass.com/itemdetail.aspx?showitem=107

Hands on experience makes sense I think.
$0.02