Canon 85mm 1.2 or Sigma 85mm 1.4?

[Brendan7]

Whichever you can afford. For most people though the 1.2 is not worth $1000 (or whatever the difference is) more.

[Fast Glass]

I'd go for the Canon.


John.

[btaylor]

I'd go for the Canon.


John.
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So would I... if I could afford it. I'll be interested to see what the Sigma is like, 85mm would be a nice focal length for me so hopefully it performs well.

[neuroanatomist]

Have you considered the EF 85mm f/1.8? It's ~2/3 stop slower than the Sigma f/1.4, and a full stop slower than the f/1.2L. But it's really a stellar lens, and at less than half the cost of the Sigma and 1/5 the cost of the f/1.2L, the price/performance ratio is excellent.


The inversion of the price/performance ratio from EF 85mm f/1.8 to EF 85mm f/1.2L is pretty much the only thing holding me back from getting the f/1.2L at this point (the EF 85mm f/1.8 was the second lens I purchased, and I still use it frequently).

[Keith B]

Did my first real shoot with my 85 1.2II yesterday. Mind boggling. AD was blown away. No one in my area has anything close to it. That in itself makes the price worth it. Most folks are shooting with 2.8 zooms at best. My 35L and 85L blew them away.

[neuroanatomist]

Keith, you're not making this any easier... [:P]

[Keith B]

Oooh, sorry.


I intentionally didn't post pics because...well nevermind...


I will say this though. I was trying to blur the background as much as possible and at 1.2 I was nailing the focus on the eyes but the nose was completely lost. So I was actually shooting at 1.8 and 2.0 quite a bit.


I still wouldn't suggest the 1.2 to someone who wasn't using it to make a living with it. I definitely wouldn't recommend it to a pro in my area either.[]