85mm f/1.2 manual focus question

[Jon Ruyle]

Last week I finally pulled the trigger last week and ordered the 85mm f/1.2 (at last getting past my strong feeling that I'm not worthy to own the lens...), and the lens came today. (Happy sigh).


Based on reviews and descriptions I had read, I was under the impression that the 85mm had full time manual focus override- which I *though* meant that the lens could be focused manually at any time, even while in af mode. However, while the electronic focus on my lens works fine in mf mode, it does not work at all in af mode. Is this a defect, or did I misread the reviews?


Thanks for any info.

[Jon Ruyle]

Ah, never mind. I figured it out. You gotta press the button [:$]

[neuroanatomist]

Hi Jon,


Congrats on your new purchase!


Whether switch on the 85L is set to AF or MF, you can manually focus and it will focus (as long as the lens is mounted on a camera and said camera is powered on).


You gotta press what button? Do you mean if the camera is in standby mode?


--John

[Jon Ruyle]

Thanks, John.


Mine does not manually focus at all in af mode unless I halfway depress the shutter button (in mf mode it focuses when I turn the ring, button or no). Is that not how it is supposed to be? If it is a malfunction, it seems like a strange one. Maybe I have my camera in some funky mode I don't even know about.

[neuroanatomist]

Mine will manually focus just fine in AF mode, on both my 7D and my 5DII, without pressing any buttons. But I went back to try one more thing, and you're right - it's a setting difference between our cameras...but I won't call yours or mine funky. []


I use back-button AF (on the 5DII, that's C.Fn IV-1 set to 2) - the AF-ON button on the back is for AF+metering (same as the shutter half press for you), while the shutter half press just starts metering with no AF. When I change it to the default (0) where the shutter button does both AF and metering, if behaves as you describe - with the lens set to AF, MF only works when the shutter button is half-pressed.


That's not a behavior I would have expected (logic would say if you need to half press the shutter, I'd need to press the AF-ON button for MF to work on the 85L, right?), but I like it the way it is!


--John

[Jon Ruyle]

Ah, just so. I indeed had C.Fn IV set to 0, and if I change to 2, the thing works as you describe. Thanks!

[Jon Ruyle]

Hold on... you got the 5DII? How do you like it?

[andnowimbroke]

Hold on... you got the 5DII? How do you like it?

See how he just snuck that in there and then left us hangin'?!