Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM Lens

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM: Handling and features

The size and weight of this lens is striking, especially when compared to other 85mm lenses. There is a lot of glass contained within this lens due to the fast maximum aperture, which makes it tip the scales at 1025g and it does feel a little lens heavy on the EOS 5D MkII used for testing. Although the lens has a very wide diameter of 91.5mm it flattens out on either side of the lens mount, providing a secure grip when supporting the lens and camera. The build quality is reassuring good, and the lens is sealed against inclement conditions. However, during use I found it possible to rotate the lens the wrong way on the lens mount after depressing the lens release button on the camera. Although no damage seemed to be caused by this, it was a little disconcerting the first time I did it by accident and I had to take care not to repeat this.

The filter thread is only 72mm in diameter, which may mean a stepping ring will need to be used if you have filters in the more common 77mm size. Focusing isn't performed internally and the lens extends by just over a centimetre, although the filter thread doesn't rotate, so polarisers and graduated filters can be used with relative ease.

A silent ultrasonic motor powers autofocus, although focusing isn't particularly fast. I suppose the lack of speed may be partly due to the sheer amount of glass being moved back and forth, and partly to ensure focus accuracy. Due to the very shallow depth of field possible at f/1.2 extreme care needs to be taken focusing when shooting at maximum aperture.

Although the autofocus is pretty sure most of the time, the lens can tend to judder a little on occasion before focus is confirmed. The manual focus ring feels very different in use to those on other Canon USM lenses. Although full time manual focus is possible, the ring rotates freely at all times with no feedback that you've hit either infinity or the closest focusing distance. The loose nature of the focusing ring also takes a little getting used to, but it does allow very accurate adjustments to be made, which is what is needed with a lens like this. The closest focus distance of 95cm is about 10cm further away than other, slower 85mm lenses allow, and although this is more than adequate for portraiture, it can be a little limiting for other applications, where you may wish to fill the frame with smaller objects, or crop in tight.

Add your message