This is the BEST lens Canon has EVER made

Canon has made some amazing lenses for the RF Mount and through this channel I've been lucky enough to try most of them but in terms of Pure Performance I think the RF 85 mm 1.2 prime lens is the best lens that Canon has ever made and this is my long-term review of the portrait King all right so why is the rf85 mm 1.2 the best lens Canon has ever made well there's a couple of reasons for example it's absolutely uncompromised image quality and the fact that it has beautiful rendering and character and it's also an extremely versatile focal length for shooting people and it's very wellmade too but first and foremost let's cover the most important thing which is of course image [Music] quality this lens is probably the only lens that I have ever used that is absolutely stunningly sharp from the center of the frame right out to the absolute extremities of the frame right from wide open and wide open on this lens is a staggeringly fast f1.2 aperture which is no easy feat to achieve this lens renders head shots in incredible [Music] detail and of course 85 mm renders a really flattering headshop but this lens captures skin detail and eye detail in ridiculous quality no small details are missed with this lens so prepare for a lot of retouching I've used this lens extensively on my high megapixel Canon R5 and let me tell you this lens eats this 45 megapixel sensor for breakfast right from f1.2 [Music] and this level of sharpness gives images tons of 3D pop as the INF Focus areas are rendered ridiculously sharp whilst the outer Focus areas are rendered creamy smooth giving you the ultimate separation between subject and background with beautiful Focus fall off 2 this makes ful length portraits for example Absolut absolutely pop and it's one of my favorite ways to use this lens and I think part of what makes images from this lens pop so much is the absolute absence of any kind of chromatic aberation and to the level to be honest I haven't seen in any other lens that I have tested this lens is seriously clean and well corrected again right from f1.2 but despite how clean this lens is it still has beautiful character and the bouquet from this lens is some of the best that I have ever seen it's worth noting that there is a more expensive defocus smoothing version of this lens that again Smooths the book out a little bit more at the cost of some light transmission but I've yet to try out that version of this lens regardless the Boke from this lens is super smooth and creamy but it is the focus falloff between the in Focus areas to the out of focus areas that renders an almost medium format look for portraits this creates some painly almost dreamlike looking portraits especially for head shots but another thing I love about this lens which is often overlooked when people talk about the character of lenses is how it renders outer Focus areas in the foreground although often a weak spot in other lenses this lens renders out of focus areas in the foreground really beautifully too again despite being razor sharp sometimes these elements on other lenses can get quite busy and distracting but not on this 85 mm [Music] 1.2 despite being a short telephoto lens well suited for that classic headshot look of course it is still an extremely versatile focal length for shooting people in general full length shots have that amazing pop off the background 3D look that I mentioned earlier you do have to have a decent amount of space to work with to get this look which Outdoors is no problem and it still keeps you in the range where it's easy to communicate with your subject you do still capture some of the background when shooting full length shots at 85 mm but there is just no over lens that gives you this 3D look when shooting F length portraits of people and yeah this lens is amazing for head shots of course like I mentioned earlier but it's also one of my favorite lenses is for taking midlength shots of people this lens obliterates busy backgrounds at this kind of working distance and allows you to pick out say some small patches of interesting backgrounds and turn them into out of focus painterly backdrops you don't even have to shoot wide open at 1.2 to get this kind of look you can step down to F2 f2.8 and this lens still does an amazing job of taming those busy backgrounds and we all know that 85 mm is a great focal length of head shot so here is a few examples of the beautiful flattering rendering you get with this [Music] lens and an 85 mm Prime is an absolute staple among wedding photographers too for capturing emotions candids off for ceremonies where you need that little bit of extra Reach This lens is exceptional and pairs wonderfully with say a wider angle prime lens like a 35 mm for example for weddings or say indoor sports or just events in general this kind of lens is going to really make your work Stand Out amongst the rest and this lens despite moving around some really big and heavy glass actually has really fast and reliable autofocus too it's not the fastest on the RF Mount but it's definitely say Leaps and Bounds ahead of the EF equivalent of this lens and I've always found it to be really reliable and accurate before we carry on with the rest of the video I'm just going to take a minute to let you know that this video is sponsored by wespace your photography work deserves an amazing website to Showcase it to potential clients and for me there is no better option out there right now than Squarespace the reason I'm always recommending Squarespace to friends and colleagues is that you don't need any prior experience in website design or coding or building to get started and build your own amazing website thanks to squarespace's intuitive fluid engine most changes you're going to want to make to your website are as simple as drag and drop Squarespace in my opin opinion offer the best customizable photo galleries that are so easy to set up so you will be up and running and showcasing your work to potential clients in no time and if you have products to sell whether that be physical or digital well Squarespace has all of the tools you need to build and design your own shopfront quickly and easily so if you're ready to dive in and create your own perfect website head on over to squarespace.com sljames reader and use the code James reader to get 10% off your first purchase of a domain or website thanks to Squarespace as always let's get on with the rest of the video so this is an expensive lens and all of that quality and the f1.2 maximum aperture comes at a heavy cost so is it worth it let's look at what that f1.2 aperture gets you so here is a comparison at 85 mm of course comparing f1.2 against F2 and f2.8 so you can see the huge difference in how the background is absolutely obliterated at f1.2 even compared to F2 and now here's the same comparison this time with head shot where the 1.2 looks amazing sure but you only have a very small amount of the face in Focus now because of that super fast aperture which provides an extremely shallow depth of field at this kind of working distance here's another comparison against another extreme ly popular lens for portrait photography the 70 to 200 2.8 zoom lens at 200 mm at 2.8 versus the 85 mm at 1.2 and even despite the vast difference in focal length between 85 mm and 200 mm the 85 mm 1.2 still renders a smoother background it is of course a very different look but one that can be achieved at a much closer and more convenient working distance compared to how far you have to be away from your subject at 200 mm now here is the lens's closest competitor the 135 mm 1.8 RF lens which is almost as sharp as the 85 mm and does render a very similar look but still side by side I do generally prefer the rendering of the 85 mm 1.2 which does have the slightly smoother Focus fallof thanks to that faster aperture and here's a quick look at my personal favorite lens the RF 50 mm 1.2 up against the 85 mm 1.2 for something like a ful length portrait and you can see just how much more the subject stands off of the background with the 85 mm lens which is also a little bit more clinically sharp than the RF 50 mm 1.2 in my opinion which although is not as sharp and not as clean does have a little bit more character to it still by the way I have put together a Dropbox folder full of raw files from this lens so you don't have to to take my word for it you can download the raw files and take a look at the stunning image quality of this lens for yourself the link to that Dropbox folder is down in the [Music] description now onto the build quality of this lens and if there is a downside or a flaw to this lens it is definitely the fact that it is a big heavy lens on a fullframe camera with a decent grip like the Canon R5 it is pretty comfortable to use despite being a little bit front heavy thanks to that massive front element I would suggest renting this lens and trying it out for yourself especially if you plan to use it for say weddings or events as it can be a little bit fatiguing to use over long periods of time other than that the lens has a pretty simple design it just has switches for limiting the focus distance and for toggling between manual and autofocus it does have a command wheel of course being an RF lens and it has a smooth Focus ring but no over function buttons or lens stabilization here I'm afraid overall over all this lens is extremely well built it feels really solid in the hands and is definitely designed to withstand the elements and perform for many years to come so if you are looking for the absolute best portrait lens on the RF Mount or pretty much any mount for that matter well then in that case the rf85 mm 1.2 may be your answer this lens has Sublime image quality and sharpness while still retaining beautiful rendering and character this is a really expensive lens don't get me wrong it is a huge investment to make in a single lens but if you are a working professional then a lens like this can really make your work Stand Out amongst the rest and it is very versatile to whether you shoot in the studio or you shoot couples portraits or weddings events or Indoor Sports this lens performs incredibly well but anyway that's just my opinion let me know down in the comments what is the best lens that you have ever used anyway thanks as always for tuning in I hope you enjoyed the video and I will see you guys in the next [Music] one

Channel: James Reader

Views: 70,199

Keywords: rf 85mm 1.2, canon rf 85mm, canon rf 85mm 1.2, canon 85mm

Id: 4ibSAH83kbc

Length: 12min 17sec (737 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 13 2024