Canon black 85 1.8 RF LTM - pictures + info sharing !

[menos]

I have bought a wonderful sample from Bill some days ago, have adjusted it with Brian sharing his advices and love it to death so far on Leica M bodies ;-)

I have not much information about this lens, other than the sparse info on MIR or the more elaborate bits on a German website.

Here goes some photo sharing - if you have any photos, taken with this lens or have info, to add to this thread, please continue 🙂

 

[menos]

… and 5 more:

I continue, to shoot this lens on the Leica M.
Please share your photos, knowledge and stories about the lens 🙂

 

[KEVIN-XU 愛 forever]

Oh..... Wonderful~~~!!! Great portraits~ And i am glad to see there is a people from China also enjoy with Canon ltm. Especially using Canon 85 1.8....... One of the best 85mm lenses.

Because of your pictures, I am eager to get one too.... Haha~ 🙂

Cheers.

Kevin

 

[dexdog]

I like a number of the pics, and it is clear that you have nailed the focus on these images. A great lens- I should take mine out more often! Thanks for posting

 

[menos]

Oh..... Wonderful~~~!!! Great portraits~ And i am glad to see there is a people from China also enjoy with Canon ltm. Especially using Canon 85 1.8....... One of the best 85mm lenses.

Because of your pictures, I am eager to get one too.... Haha~ 🙂

Cheers.

Kevin

Kevin, thanks for the comment - nice to see you around here ;-)
I was admiring your Canon LTM collection on flickr earlier.

I really like the lens, but it is very, very difficult, to get info about the lens.

So one of my questions is still unanswered, as nobody could give me a hint so far:

Which optical design is it?

I like a number of the pics, and it is clear that you have nailed the focus on these images. A great lens- I should take mine out more often! Thanks for posting

Thanks!
I didn't shoot the 85/1.9 much yet and am still evaluating the character and limits of the lens (resulting in cat shots and boring stuff 🙂).

I like the lens a lot though. It has an remarkably modern character, despite the low contrast, when used without hood wide open (which is to be expected of course).
I am pretty satisfied with the lens' background drawing.

I find focussing straight forward, once, the lens is perfectly matched to the camera (essential with such a thin DOF wide open).
Focus throw is not too different from my mainly used lens - a Noctilux f1.
I find, it pairs quite well, both in handling and in it's character.

Here is one of the first shots, right after having the RF coupling adjusted (I really like the tones, this lens delivers, before entirely clipping to black - very different from the modern Leica lenses):

 

[Sonnar2]

So one of my questions is still unanswered, as nobody could give me a hint so far:

Which optical design is it?

See here


Great portrait!

 

[Mackinaw]

Sonnar----Very interesting website.

Jim B.

 

[menos]

See here


Great portrait!

Thank you soo much Frank!
I really like your website, spent hours already! So much info (actually sparking my interest in the Canon RF lenses, after I tried the 100/2, I was sold …).

The 85/1.8 indeed looks extremely modern. What I like about it, is, that despite it's modern and (for it's vintage) contrasty look, it indeed is not the same contrasty, as contemporary Leica lenses, which indeed just clip shadows, where this Canon 85/1.8 really goes very, very deep into the shadows, providing endless tones.

It is in fact almost impossible, to clip shadows (correcting black point) in postprocessing - very unique behavior.

This lens also remembered me a bit in background drawing on my Nikkor-S.C 5cm 1.4 - the look of specular highlights in the image center is remarkably similar (which started the question of "Is it a Sonnar?").

The Canon 85/1.8 lives now in my bag as a short tele, when I need it.
The only issue, I have is, that is is a rather slow lens, to use for my mostly low light needs (shooting @ 1/125 f2 and higher ISO on the digital M doesn't bring you far, when a 50/1 is two stops faster AND enables slower shutter speeds).

I like the Canon, when there is sufficient light (especially with it's wonderful background drawing and smooth tones, which would be handicapped by higher ISO files with noise and limited DR, clipping highlights and destroying smooth gradients).

Thanks again for your wealth of information on your site!

Sonnar----Very interesting website.

Jim B.

Yes, it is … both, the Sonnar and Frank's webeite 🙂

 

[Sonnar2]

Thanks menos 🙂

You sold the 100/2? In my taste it behavess quite similar to the 85/1.8 performance-wise. Plus I used it a bit more, since I like it with the 100mm frames of my Canon P. But I didn't tested them together. And since the 85/1.8 design was developed out of the 100/2, the latter could be better.

Your pictures showed me that I need to use my 85/1.8 more often. It should work great on a NEX too...

 

[menos]

Thanks menos 🙂

You sold the 100/2? In my taste it behavess quite similar to the 85/1.8 performance-wise. Plus I used it a bit more, since I like it with the 100mm frames of my Canon P. But I didn't tested them together. And since the 85/1.8 design was developed out of the 100/2, the latter could be better.

Your pictures showed me that I need to use my 85/1.8 more often. It should work great on a NEX too...

Nonono - I would not sell the 100/2 ;-)

The 100/2 is too useful a lens to not keep it.
It gives slightly more reach and is not really less fast with f2 vs 1.8 of the 85mm (I found the difference in light gathering so far unimportant - both lenses are too slow for low light, but work great in dim light and of course for separating your subject from the background).

Although both lenses are rather close together in focal length, widest aperture and handling, both act rather differently.
Without scientific tests, I strongly prefer the 85/1.8 for portraiture, where the 100/2 seems more "harsh", "unflattering", "realistic".

I prefer also the slightly shorter focal length for portraits over the 100mm.

I really have to use both lenses more, to make a final verdict, but for now, I am more fallen for the 85mm.

Thank you for your kind remark ;-)
It happens, that just over the last few weeks, I have bought several very interesting fast tele lenses from different vintage and manufacturers, which I did not sufficiently use so far.

I plan, to use them all over a longer period each and find, which one might fit best for a specific purpose.

The Canon 85/1.8 so far shows it's strengths in not clipping blacks, providing smooth tones, deep, deep into the shadows, while rendering a very pleasant, natural focus falloff, not distracting the viewer with abrupt separation, while showing impressive detail and modern performance across the frame.

I can understand, why some people refer to it as "probably the best 85mm RF lens ever made".

 

[SimonPJ]

How did you adjust the focus to your M bodies?

How did you adjust the focus to your M bodies?

Thanks for posting some beautiful pictures.

I'm interested in what you say about adjusting the lens to your M bodies. How did you do that? Is there a previous post about this that you can point me to?

Many thanks,

Simon

 

[menos]

Thanks for posting some beautiful pictures.

I'm interested in what you say about adjusting the lens to your M bodies. How did you do that? Is there a previous post about this that you can point me to?

Many thanks,

Simon

Simon, yes, there is a thread about this in the "Mad Scientist" part of the forum here:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109041

If you ever should forge ahead and have a lens adjusted (or even do it by yourself), please do yourself and any future owners of this lens a huuge favor and get the job done cautiously and professionally with the right tools and correct procedures.

Please also document it somehow, if possible - it would be very interesting, to know details like the exact shim thickness or noted focal length, once, you can obtain such information.

 

[SimonPJ]

Thanks

Thanks

Many thanks menos.

I can see that I am straying into deep waters here!

Simon

 

[KEVIN-XU 愛 forever]

Kevin, thanks for the comment - nice to see you around here ;-)
I was admiring your Canon LTM collection on flickr earlier.

I really like the lens, but it is very, very difficult, to get info about the lens.

So one of my questions is still unanswered, as nobody could give me a hint so far:

Which optical design is it?



Thanks!
I didn't shoot the 85/1.9 much yet and am still evaluating the character and limits of the lens (resulting in cat shots and boring stuff 🙂).

I like the lens a lot though. It has an remarkably modern character, despite the low contrast, when used without hood wide open (which is to be expected of course).
I am pretty satisfied with the lens' background drawing.

I find focussing straight forward, once, the lens is perfectly matched to the camera (essential with such a thin DOF wide open).
Focus throw is not too different from my mainly used lens - a Noctilux f1.
I find, it pairs quite well, both in handling and in it's character.

Here is one of the first shots, right after having the RF coupling adjusted (I really like the tones, this lens delivers, before entirely clipping to black - very different from the modern Leica lenses):

I am on my trip in Europe now. So i forget to check your reply. I am sorry for that...

Talked about your question,I think i can find some information for your because i bought Peter Kitchingman's Canon Lenses Book . Welcome any questionabout this lens. Wish i can help you.🙂 (I will back to China on 29,Aug)

 

[kermaier]

I just bought one of these lenses, but haven't done any focus tests yet. My first impression is that its ergonomics are similar to the Nikkor-P 85/2 LTM lens: heavy, long focus throw, single-barrel mount construction (i.e., aperture ring rotates with focusing mount). Similar to the early versions of the Nikkor, the aperture ring markings are only on one side of the barrel which, on a long-throw lens, means that they rotate out of sight as you turn toward minimum focus. (On later versions of the Nikkor, they started engraving the aperture markings on both sides.)

Does anyone have an opinion on how the Canon 85/1.8 compares to the Nikkor 85/2 performance-wise? (I have both, but I haven't gotten to exercising my sample pairing of size=1.)

::Ari

 

[uhoh7]

I just bought one of these lenses, but haven't done any focus tests yet. My first impression is that its ergonomics are similar to the Nikkor-P 85/2 LTM lens: heavy, long focus throw, single-barrel mount construction (i.e., aperture ring rotates with focusing mount). Similar to the early versions of the Nikkor, the aperture ring markings are only on one side of the barrel which, on a long-throw lens, means that they rotate out of sight as you turn toward minimum focus. (On later versions of the Nikkor, they started engraving the aperture markings on both sides.)

Does anyone have an opinion on how the Canon 85/1.8 compares to the Nikkor 85/2 performance-wise? (I have both, but I haven't gotten to exercising my sample pairing of size=1.)

::Ari

I would have thought the Canon is lighter, but I may be wrong. In terms of pure sharpness the Canon should be better, esp wide open. But some side by side image comparisons would be interesting.

Some might say the 85/1.8 is the best of all the Canon RF lenses-- certainly it's the "most modern".

above wide open after sundown

I do love the older 85/1.5, however

but it is VERY hard to focus at 1.5 (2nd shot), So I often pull it back to near f/2. (first shot)

But both are hunks, so my day bag has a CV 75/2.5 and a tele-elmarit, which together weigh about as much as the 1.8 🙂

 

[Koni Kowa]

The BW portraits on this page are beautiful, really.

 

[KEVIN-XU 愛 forever]

I got mine Canon 85mm f.18 LTM finally~!
Wish I can take some nice photos through this lens.


Flickr 上 KEVIN is listening Begin...... 的 Canon 85mm f1.8 LTM <Rare>

 

[axiom]

I got mine Canon 85mm f.18 LTM finally~!
Wish I can take some nice photos through this lens.

I didn't know you could have chinese characters in the name field.
That's c00l

 

[KEVIN-XU 愛 forever]

I didn't know you could have chinese characters in the name field.
That's c00l

Haha~ I just add it into my name and it works. 🙂