Mark is right. The 85mm is one of the all time greats. Slow focus is only possible by doing it manually. I use the 85mm the most of the lenses I have. It stays mounted on a camera.
For some reason the fast 35 is not being made or available now. I suspect, that when it comes back, that will be another favorite.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Ok ok. I'm convinced. B&H will have a 85mm 1.2 at my door tomorrow afternoon! I've got two shoots on Thursday, then a weeeknd workshop in Philadelphia. Should be plenty of opportunity to test it out [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
My only beef with Canon is that they haven't brought out a 50 or 55mm F0.95 len for the EOS-line. At the time, that old Canon F0.95 was the only lens that made me wonder if my trusty Nikons were the best choice.
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Owning the 85 1.2 and 135 2.0 (and they're both sooo great!), and reading through the forums here, I wasn't expecting as much from the 50 1.4... but I just picked one up love it.
It's right up there with the 85 and 135 for portrait work when you can work in close, and on a full-frame camera is a great "normal" lens. It's the best value, too, in a really fast lens, and there's a big difference between that and the 1.8...
At 1.4 and 1.6, the current 50 is getting very close to the other lenses in terms of overall look. Yes, it's not quite as amazing as the others--but it's way better than I expected. Of course, as you close it up, it sharpens up too--a fabulous lens for the money (though not as sharp as the 50 2.5 macro closed up (and doesn't do the close-ups, of course)).
I'm not sure I'd even use the old f1.0 50L. They're still available on eBay but the last one sold for about $1700 US! Talk about focus bracketing / difficulty in focusing! I even usually stop down the 85 a wee bit (depending on how close I am to subject). Nothing like razor-thin DOF for losing the tip of someone's nose [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I can only imagine how tough it would be, in a darkened room, to lock the 50 1.0 on someone's eyes!
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
reading through the forums here, I wasn't expecting as much from the 50 1.4... but I just picked one up love it.
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count yourself lucky if you got a rare good one.
mines a p.o.s. below f5.6.
I suggest a double check - get hold of a zeiss 50mm with an adapter and compare
it is jaw-on-the-floor time when you see the difference
I was speechless how poor the canon was in comparison.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Paul--yeah, so I've heard--which was a reason I wasn't expecting much with the 50mm 1.4!
But the images I'm seeing aren't a huge deal less sharp than the 85 1.2 at apertures under f2...
No--they don't have the otherworldly contrast and tonal quality (painterly, actually) of the 85, and you can't cut yourself on them, like the 135--but they're still very good for the under $500 money! By f4, mine is very sharp indeed--though not as sharp as quickly as the 50 2.5.
*But* if I see a used Zeiss for sale, I'll certainly pick it up and see... what's the exact Zeiss lens to look for? The Contax Planar T? (it's about $1500 new btw and only f3.5--like I said, the Canon 50mm f 2.5 macro is razor sharp--and while slow for AF, is still a good manual focus lens too!)
I know this is OT, but is there another Zeiss I should be looking for?
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Hmmm. You guys seem to like the 135mm f/2 a bunch. I have never really felt the need for that for some reason. I have a stellar copy of the 100mm f/2 that I use occasionally and then I jump up to the 200mm f/2.8L.
Maybe I'll revisit the 135mm length. I just really have never felt the need with having 100mm and 200mm covered.
So far I'm shocked at how good the 85mm f/1.2L is. I'm not only impressed at the sharpness (I think the only thing I've ever used that's this sharp is the 200mm f/1.8L) but the actual color that just comes out of this lens is so vibrant. I'm not one to run around shooting flowers, but found myself doing so after I picked this lens up. Just to see what "rose red" was.
I'm loving it. In contrast to this portrait lens I picked up a 14mm prime this weekend before mother's day. It's a Sigma and used. Not an ideal portrait lens, but I'm impressed with it's optical quality as well. Here's mom from last weekend. http://www.artbyphil.com/news/newsimages/momsday05.jpg
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
dont know what lens you are looking at for $1500...
its the standard 50mm planar lens for contax SLR cameras/ about $250 - 300 on EBay.
both the 1.4 and 1.8 are good. remember you will need an adapter though.
you will think your 50mm canon lens is great, until you try one of these.
do you want the blue pill or the red pill?
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
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