I recently purchased a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM II lens to use with our EOS 5D and 1D Mark II N bodies. For us, this was a major purchase, so I wanted to verify that I have a good copy and also to see if the 85mm is a better match for the 1D and 5D bodies than Canon's new 50mm f/1.2L USM lens as many folks on the Internet have suggested.
For these tests, I printed the Nikon back-focus test chart, set each camera on a sturdy Manfrotto tripod pointed at the chart at a 45 degree down-angle (verified with a level) at a distance a bit further back than the minimum focal distance for each lens. Both camera bodies were set to use mirror lock-up. For each shot, I manually set the lens focus at infinity, pressed the cable release once to focus and flip the mirror up, waited at least three seconds for vibrations to settle, and then pressed the release again to trip the shutter.
The results below are 1px=1px crops of the left-hand side of the focus chart with no post production adjustments made except for some slight exposure equalization (done using the EC slider in Capture One LE).
| EF 50mm f/1.2L USM on a 5D (PPR's Copy) | ||||||
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| f/1.2 | f/1.8 | f/2.8 | f/4.0 | f/5.6 | f/8.0 | f/11.0 |
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| EF 50mm f/1.4 USM on a 5D (My Copy) | ||||||
| f/1.4 | f/1.8 | f/2.8 | f/4.0 | f/5.6 | f/8.0 | f/11.0 |
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| EF 85mm f/1.2L USM II on a 5D (PPR's Copy) | ||||||
| f/1.2 | f/1.8 | f/2.8 | f/4.0 | f/5.6 | f/8.0 | f/11.0 |
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| EF 85mm f/1.2L USM II on a 5D (My Copy) | ||||||
| f/1.2 | f/1.8 | f/2.8 | f/4.0 | f/5.6 | f/8.0 | f/11.0 |
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| EF 50mm f/1.2L USM on a 1D (PPR's Copy) | ||||||
| f/1.2 | f/1.8 | f/2.8 | f/4.0 | f/5.6 | f/8.0 | f/11.0 |
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| EF 50mm f/1.4 USM on a 1D (My Copy) | ||||||
| f/1.4 | f/1.8 | f/2.8 | f/4.0 | f/5.6 | f/8.0 | f/11.0 |
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| EF 85mm f/1.2L USM II on a 1D (PPR's Copy) | ||||||
| f/1.2 | f/1.8 | f/2.8 | f/4.0 | f/5.6 | f/8.0 | f/11.0 |
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| EF 85mm f/1.2L USM II on a 1D (My Copy) | ||||||
| f/1.2 | f/1.8 | f/2.8 | f/4.0 | f/5.6 | f/8.0 | f/11.0 |
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The results of these tests show three things (at least):
So, I think that I'll keep my EF 85mm f/1.2L USM II and hold off for a Mark II version of the 50mm f/1.2 that corrects the back-focus problem that the current model seems to have.