I needed the perfect lens to rent for a newborn shoot, I am a new & growing photographer. This lens exceeded my expectations! The photos turned out amazing! When I invest in my next lens THIS will be it! I was able to use it for SO much more than the newborn shoot! Pros: * It's completely silent.

It's completely silent; Quieter than the f/1.4

I needed the perfect lens to rent for a newborn shoot, I am a new & growing photographer; This lens exceeded my expectations! The photos turned out amazing! When I invest in my next lens THIS will be it!

Compared to the Nikon AF-S 85/1.4 this lens is rather soft and not as contrasty. From f/4.0 on this lens will satisfy my needs but gets never tack-sharp. Rather disappointing for this high price. I tested this lens against the older Canon 85/1.2 and the Nikon AFS 85/1.4.

sufficient AF and built quality

poor IQ wide open to f/4.0; very soft from 1.2 to 2.8; never gets tack-sharp

This is not a lens for begginers or impatient photographers. This lens is very heavy and in my opinion this is a good thing, without IS it would be very difficult to use slow shutter speed when hand holding. I would strongly suggest to do your homework before you invest in this lens.

Nice Bokeh; Rugged; Strong Construction

Heavy; No Image Stabilization; Slow Focus

Gary Wolstenholme reviews the new version of Canon's flagship medium telephoto lens, the EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM.

Outstanding sharpness in the centre of the frame; Beautiful out of focus blur; Very good build quality; Very low level of chromatic aberrations

Manual focus ring could be better damped; Autofocus is slow when compared to slower aperture lenses; Lens can be rotated in wrong direction on the lens mount when lens release button is pressed

Great looking images with this lens. A little heavy, but well worth it.

Fast / accurate auto-focus; Nice Bokeh; Strong Construction

Heavy

Camera-tech comes and goes, but photography is really just about light. That's why you should buy the best lenses you can afford. They will probably last longer than you.

35f1.4L, 85f1.2L, 135F2L - these are the Trinity of Canon lenses; There is no better portrait lens made, period; Due to the depth of field, pairing it with a 5dmkii, 50d or 7d is HIGHLY recommended - micro focus adjustments will allow you to calibrate the optics to your camera body

None

Here is a copy of the Canon press release on the new EF 85/1.2L II. It's very similar to the original version, except that it now transmits distance information to the camera to support E-TTL II flash and AF speed has been much improved.

At nearly $2000, anyone considering this lens must consider this lens to be a specialty lens. When looking at this lens, the two immediate uses for this lens for me were portrait photography and low light/indoor sports photography.

f/1.2 is fantastic if you know how to use it; So much light and bokeh

f/1.2 is horrible if you don't know how to use it; Heavy; Focus really difficult

The 85 mm lenses are very interesting instruments – especially today. Their kind of focal length is perfect for portrait photos and it doesn't matter whether we use a full frame or an APS-C/DX sensor camera. It is worth notice that no other classic focal length offers us similar comfort.

solid workmanship and a very robust barrel; sensational frame centre image quality; very good frame edge image quality on the APS-C sensor; good frame edge image quality on stopping down to the range about f/2.8-4.0; very good chromatic aberration correction; low distortion; low astigmatism,...

high price; the manual focus ring works too loosely; too limited accessory kit; significant vignetting on full frame near the maximum aperture; too high coma level

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM, released in early 2006, is one of the fastest prime lenses in Canon's modern arsenal (the other lens that offers as fast aperture is Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM) and replaces the first generation EF 85mm f/1.2L lens.