Canon - EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM Medium Telephoto Lens - Black

I'll skip the sweet stuff and go directly to things I disliked: 1, The focus by wire FTM ring. I understand that the lens is actually moving ALL but one elements -- that's a lot of glass-- while focusing but I'd still prefer a stiff, heavy, mechanically connected FTM ring than the loose slippery electronic focus by wire system. Since the electronic FTM on this lens is pretty much useless I always disable the 'electronic manual over-ride ' feature in my 1DS settings menu. 2, The moving front group. I'd prefer a fixed front group or at least somehow extend the outer barrel so the front can be contained within the outer barrel while focusing. I hate to manually 'reset' the lens back to infinite after each session. And a extended outer barrel (maybe by around half an inch) will also make the lens body easier to grip while using large 1D series bodies. 3, No weather seals. 4, The AF/MF switch. It's too small and difficult to use especially with gloves on. This is a special lens, you can tell it's a 85/1.5 from the first glimpse of a picture but there's still much room to improve. so, a mk. III, please?

I read the reviews on this lens and the 1.8 and thought a long hard about making the extra expenditure. Many people wrote about the 1.8 that they could not see any reason to buy the 1.2, to them I say then you should not. This lens was meant to shoot at 1.2 and when you do it is a marvel to behold. I also read that the focus was slow and not accurate. Yes it is a bit slow but plenty fast for portraits, I also use it when photographing musicians during concerts. It also is almost a requirement for weddings. As for the inaccurate focus that really is not true but you really must know and pay attention to what you are doing when shooting at 1.2 and close to your subject because the depth of field is so very narrow, but that is why you buy a lens like this. Learn to use it right and it will reward you with amazing photographs. People just look better with this lens. As for the complaints about it being heavy I don't find it bad at all, the weight feels good and I am reminded of the words of Joyous in the 13th warrior when Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan complains that the sword they gave him is too heavy...grow stronger. Okay I am just joking here a bit. Sure it is a bit heavy but that is a lot of glass. The price, well you get what you pay for it seems a lot when you fork over the cash but after you shoot with this lens you forget all about the money. This is a specialty lens and when used within that specialty it truly shines.

Photography is my passion & my 5D Mark II my beloved. Each lens being a window to see the world in a different way, the 85mm f/1.2 offers a deeper more personal connection with the subject by allowing the rest of the world to fade from existance in a way no other lens seems to be able to do. I postponed buying this lens for too long; wouldn't be without it now!

The only reason why I still shooting Canon. I almost love everything about this lens except for the weight. But at1.2, it's unavoidable. Image is sharp, with sweet rendering. I like the loose focus ring. It is so much easier to adjust manually with loose ring without moving camera to subject distance. With tight ring, you will move camera more thus not achieving good focus. I wonder how people prefer tighter ring over this. I use this lens to shoot basketball w/o problems. This is how a lens should be. Just almost a masterpiece. I had no issue with focusing. Learn how to manual focus and you are good to go. I don't rely AF on this lens to choose my focus. It just kinda help and I adjust it many times. but when it nails, it nails hard!

This is the "be all" of all portrait lenses. The sharpness, the wide open goodness at f1.2 and the feel you have when it's plugged into your Canon DSLR is unsurpassed. This lens can be used as a walk around lens but you will soon find it has a lot of faults used like that. I rate this lens a perfect 5 stars because using this lens for portraits is just amazing. In fact this is my absolute favorite lens and I look forward to taking some incredible shots everywhere I go.