Canon EF 85mm lens

The EF 85mm lenses are a group of medium telephoto prime lenses made by Canon Inc. that share the same focal length. These lenses have an EF type mount that fits the Canon EOS line of cameras.

This 85mm focal length is perfect for portraiture as labeled by Canon and practicing professionals, due to the focal length creating just the right perspective for both the subject and the background. The 85mm is most commonly used for head and shoulder type portraiture, upper torso portraiture and selective floral photography. It will commonly be found in the kits of photographers that shoot wedding, birthdays, and other events involving people. These photographers would also carry a 70-200mm for complementing the longer focal lengths, usually for shooting full body portraiture.

Three EF 85 mm lenses have been available. Two of these are L series lenses.

f/1.2L USM
f/1.2L II USM
f/1.8 USM

Crop factor

When used with a Canon APS-C (1.6x crop) DSLR camera or APS-H (1.3x crop), the field of view of this lens is similar to a 136mm or 110.5mm on a 35mm film or full frame digital camera. There will be an apparent magnification of approximately 1.6x in the final image, since the "cropped" image will fill up the sensor. This is due to the crop factor inherent with APS-C or APS-H (crop) sensor digital SLR cameras.

An example would be taking an image of a rock using two cameras with the same lens. The first camera a 18mp full frame and the second a 18mp APS-C, both shooting the same composition in a stationary position. The first image will be more "wide" while the second image will be more "magnified". After bringing the results into an image editing program and enlarging the first image so that the rock is the same size in both images, one will see that the enlarged image is approximately 160% (1.6x) of the original.

The major advantage to this extra "reach" would be the utilizing of the full sensor space for a cropped image rather than having to crop afterwards, thus utilizing parts of the sensor that would have otherwise been wasted. The major disadvantage would be the lack of change in perspective, since the focal length has not actually changed it will be like shooting with the field of view of a 136mm lens on a full frame sensor while having the perspective of 85mm lens. The resulting image will appear to have a less pleasing background blur and unlike using an actual 136mm lens on a full frame sensor. Some users will find that the crop factor actually benefits this lens since it is hard to get a tight framing around the head without running into the 0.95m minimum focus distance.

Current Canon full-frame cameras are the Canon EOS-1D X, EOS 5D Mark III, and EOS 6D; the EOS-1Ds Mark III and EOS 5D Mark II are no longer in production, but may still be available in some markets. Canon no longer produces an APS-H camera; the last such model was the EOS-1D Mark IV. Current Canon APS-C cameras include the EOS 1100D/Rebel T3, EOS 100D/Rebel SL1, EOS 600D/Rebel T3i, EOS 650D/Rebel T4i, EOS 700D/Rebel T5i, EOS 60D and EOS 7D.

EF 85mm f/1.2L USM

The EF 85mm f/1.2L USM is a professional L series lens. Canon calls it their "definitive portraiture lens", and it is often considered^[who?] to be one of the best portrait lenses ever made.

The optical engineer at Canon who designed this lens design was a fashion photographer, and his intention was to design a lens that would be the ultimate lens for fashion photography. This required a completely new design independent from Canon's previous 85mm lens designs. A new element was placed in the lens to give bokeh that was unlike any of the other lens that existed. This new large element required a new clutched electronic manual focusing mechanism that does not exist on any other lenses to handle the specialized element. When it finally hit the market, it was the only lens in the industry that was explicitly designed for fashion photography.

It is the longer of the only two f/1.2 lenses Canon makes, other being the 50mm f/1.2L USM. This lens is constructed with a metal body and mount, and with rubber gripping and plastic extremities. It features a wide rubber focusing ring and a distance window with infrared index.

Featuring a circular 8-blade diaphragm, and a maximum aperture of f/1.2. This lens is capable of maintaining sharpness and image quality at low apertures. The lens' depth of field allows distinct focus on the subject, while providing a beautiful bokeh. The optical construction of this lens contains 8 lens elements, including one ground and polished aspherical lens element, which makes this lens extremely sharp when stopped down to about f/2. This lens uses a floating front extension focusing system, powered by a ring type USM motor. Auto focus speed of this lens is on the slow side when compared to most ring USM lenses, and photographing fast moving targets can be quite challenging with this lens.^[1] Manual focusing is done by wire: this lens does not have a direct mechanical connection to the focusing ring, but instead detects the rotation of the focusing ring and uses the autofocus motor to drive the lens elements. While full-time manual focus is available, the lens can not be focused when the camera is off. The front of the lens does not rotate, but does extend when focusing.

EF 85 mm f/1.2L II USM

The newer EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM version, which is aesthetically the same as the EF 85 mm f/1.2L USM, is updated with a newer CPU, 1.8 times faster autofocus, and upgraded anti-reflective lens coatings to reduce chromatic aberration, ghosting, and lens flare.^[2]This lens was used prominently in the independent feature film Marianne which was shot using a canon 7D.

EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

The EF 85mm f/1.8 USM is a consumer level lens. It is the shorter sister to the EF 100mm f/2.0 USM, and is designed very similarly. It is constructed with a plastic body and a metal mount. This lens features a distance window with infrared index. An 8 blade, maximum aperture of f/1.8, gives this lens the ability to create depth of field effects. The optical construction of this lens contains 9 lens elements, without any special lens elements. It uses an internal focusing system (meaning that the front of the lens neither rotates nor extends when focusing), powered by a ring type USM motor. Auto focus speed of this lens is very fast.

In addition to portraiture, the lens is also suited for indoor sports photography, particularly on a cropped sensor, due to its focal length, fast autofocus, and fast aperture, and for photos in social situations, due to its fast aperture (thus usable in dark interiors) and quiet operation (hence minimizes disruption).

In terms of aberrations, the lens suffers from noticeable vignetting when used wide-open on full frame cameras, though this is significantly reduced when used on a cropped sensor or stopped down to f/2.8 or f/4. The lens also suffers from purple fringing in high-contrast lighting, such as chrome, water, and black-and-white.^[3]^[4]

Specifications

Attribute	f/1.2L USM	f/1.2L II USM	f/1.8 USM
Image
Key features
Full-frame compatible	Yes
Image stabilizer	No
Ultrasonic Motor	Yes
L-series	Yes		No
Diffractive Optics	No
Macro	No
Technical data
Aperture (max-min)	f/1.2-f/16		f/1.8-f/22
Construction	7 groups / 8 elements		7 groups / 9 elements
# of diaphragm blades	8
Closest focusing distance	3.1 ft / 0.95m		2.7 ft / 0.85m
Max. magnification	0.11x (1:9.1)		0.13x (1:7.7)
Horizontal viewing angle	24°
Diagonal viewing angle	28°30'
Vertical viewing angle	16°
Physical data
Weight	2.25 lb / 1025g		0.93 lb / 425g
Maximum diameter	3.6in / 91.5mm		3.0in / 75.0mm
Length	3.3in / 84.0mm		2.8in / 71.5mm
Filter diameter	72mm		58mm
Accessories
Lens hood	ES-79II		ET-65III
Case	LP1219		LP1014
Retail information
Release date	September 1989	March 2006	July 1992
MSRP $	$1500	$2199	$430
Street Price $		$1700	$380

Similar lenses

The corresponding Nikon lenses at this focal length are the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G AF-S Nikkor, Nikon 85mm f/1.8G AF-S Nikkor, Nikon 85mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor and the Nikon 85mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor. The 85mm focal length lens is also available from third party manufacturers. Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Samyang 85mm f/1.4 Aspherical Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 ZE Planar T*

References

^ Carnathan, Bryan. "Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L II USM Lens Review". The-Digital-Picture.com. Retrieved January 27, 2012. The biggest downside to the original Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L USM Lens was the very slow focusing speed. If you were shooting portraits, it didn't matter. But, a lens this fast begs to be used for indoor action sports.
^ Carnathan: "While this lens certainly has the aperture and image quality to be an excellent indoor action sports lens, the AF performance is only "good enough" in my opinion - and not yet matching the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens' AF performance. Would I use this lens for sports? Definitely, but I would plan on a lower hit rate - especially with the tiny depth of field at f/1.2."
^ Photozone
^ Default Canon 85mm f/1.8 Purple Fringing

External links

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, DPhoto Journal – list of reviews
Canon EF 85/1.2L II USM Lens Review, by Bryan Carnathan
Canon EF 85/1.2L II USM Technical Review by Photozone
Canon EF 85/1.2L II USM Wedding Review by Wedding Photographer
Canon EF 85/1.2L II USM Lens Review, by Philip Greenspun
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens Review, by Philip Greenspun
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM - Review / Test Report, photozone – detailed performance data

[1] Carnathan, Bryan. "Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L II USM Lens Review". The-Digital-Picture.com. Retrieved January 27, 2012. The biggest downside to the original Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L USM Lens was the very slow focusing speed. If you were shooting portraits, it didn't matter. But, a lens this fast begs to be used for indoor action sports.

[2] Carnathan: "While this lens certainly has the aperture and image quality to be an excellent indoor action sports lens, the AF performance is only "good enough" in my opinion - and not yet matching the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens' AF performance. Would I use this lens for sports? Definitely, but I would plan on a lower hit rate - especially with the tiny depth of field at f/1.2."

[3] Photozone

[4] Default Canon 85mm f/1.8 Purple Fringing

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v t e Canon EF/EF-S/EF-M lenses
EF-S zoom	EF-S 10–18mm EF-S 10–22mm EF-S 15–85mm EF-S 17–55mm EF-S 17–85mm EF-S 18–55mm EF-S 18–135mm EF-S 18–200mm EF-S 55–250mm
Ultra-wide zoom	EF 11–24mm EF 16–35mm EF 17–40mm
Standard zoom	EF 24–70mm EF 24–105mm EF 28–135mm EF 28–300mm
Telephoto zoom	EF 70–200mm EF 70–300mm EF 75–300mm EF 100–400mm EF 200–400mm
Wide-angle prime	EF 14mm EF 20mm EF 24mm EF-S 24mm EF 28mm EF 35mm
Standard prime	EF 50mm
Telephoto prime	EF 85mm EF 100mm EF 135mm EF 200mm
Super telephoto prime	EF 300mm EF 400mm EF 500mm EF 600mm EF 800mm
Distorting lens	EF 8–15mm Fisheye
Tilt-shift	TS-E 17mm TS-E 24mm TS-E 45mm TS-E 50mm TS-E 90mm TS-E 135mm
Macro	EF-M 28mm Macro EF-S 35mm Macro EF 50mm Compact Macro TS-E 50mm MACRO EF-S 60mm Macro MP-E 65mm 1–5x Macro TS-E 90mm Macro EF 100mm Macro TS-E 135mm Macro EF 180mm Macro
EF-M zoom	EF-M 11–22mm EF-M 15–45mm EF-M 18–55mm EF-M 18–150mm EF-M 55–200mm
EF-M prime	EF-M 22mm EF-M 28mm Macro EF-M 32mm
Lens accessories	Extender EF
Discontinued zoom	EF 17–35mm EF 20–35mm EF 22–55mm EF 24–85mm EF 28–70mm EF 28–80mm EF 28–90mm EF 28–105mm EF 28–200mm EF 35–70mm EF 35–80mm EF 35–105mm EF 35–135mm EF 35–350mm EF 38–76mm EF 50–200mm EF 55–200mm EF 70–210mm EF 80–200mm EF 90–300mm EF 100–200mm EF 100–300mm
Discontinued prime	EF 15mm Fisheye EF 40mm EF 135mm with Softfocus EF 1200mm TS-E 45mm