Opinions of Canon 85mm f/1.8 SM lens

[raid]

I would also add the Summicron 90/2 first version with hood. It is superb for portaits.

Raid

 

[raid]

Raid Amin included the Canon 85/1.8 in his test of mid-tele lenses this past summer. A search of the threads would probably turn it up. Happy hunting.

Mark: Yes, I still have that thread somewhere in the RFF. The images are still there, but I may have removed the Bokeh files. Your 85/1.8 did very well in the test.

Raid

 

[jlw]

I would also add the Summicron 90/2 first version with hood. It is superb for portaits.
Raid

I can see how it would be a good portrait lens, in terms of subduing slight complexion problems and giving skintones a nice "glow." Watch out for halos in bright highlights against dark backgrounds, though.

Also, the first-version Summicron (with removable lens head in addition to the collapsible hood) is a big, heavy honker -- the Canon 100/2 is almost svelte by comparison, in addition to being sharper and rendering textures better.

 

[jlw]

One minor bummer I should have mentioned earlier about all the Canon medium teles is that they use single-helical focusing mounts -- the entire front of the lens, including the aperture ring, rotates as you focus. This construction reduces weight and complexity, but it makes setting the f/stops a bit more tedious. (This is true of many Nikkor and FSU medium teles as well.)

On the upside, all the later (mostly black) Canon medium teles have aperture stops that are fairly equally spaced. That's in contrast to most of the Nikkors and (I believe) the FSU lenses: in all of these, there's much more space between, for example, f/2 and f/2.8 than there is between f/11 and f/16. The equally-spaced aperture stops on the later Canons make it easier to set in-between stops accurately.

 

[raid]

The lenses mentioned above all are excellent.
When I am home, I use the Summicron.
When out of the house, I use the Canon 85mm/1.9 or the Nikkor 85mm/2.0.

Raid

 

[jlw]

So who got the incredible deal on the one recently sold on *bay ?

One thing that we are not accounting for I believe is the weight. The Canon seems
significantly lighter than early Summicrons and the chrome Nikkor.

The original-model Summicron had a removable lens head: You could unscrew the optical elements from the focusing mount and use them on a Visoflex via a short focusing mount or bellows. The extra parts needed to make the head removable add to its weight and size.

Early chrome Canons were about as weighty as Nikkors, but the late black ones were redesigned with aluminum outer barrels for lighter weight.

 

[xayraa33]

the Canon 85/1.9 was made in chrome and also in all black at the end of its production run.
I have both , optically they are the same and they preform alike.
the all black one is just lighter in weight and scarcer to find.

 

[jlw]

The 2nd version of the 85mm f1.8 was made until March 1975.

"Cataloged," maybe; "made," I'm not so sure (although I believe the same formula was offered for Canon FL-mount SLRs, so maybe they kept putting a few in RF barrels.)

I still can remember looking through the annual "Interchangeable Lens Guide" in Modern Photography back in the '70s and being surprised that Canon still offered so many lenses for a camera series they hadn't made for 10 years or more. But I suspect that most of these represented unsold inventory sitting around the importer's warehouses, not optics that recently had come off Canon's production lines.

 

[xayraa33]

"Cataloged," maybe; "made," I'm not so sure (although I believe the same formula was offered for Canon FL-mount SLRs, so maybe they kept putting a few in RF barrels.)

I still can remember looking through the annual "Interchangeable Lens Guide" in Modern Photography back in the '70s and being surprised that Canon still offered so many lenses for a camera series they hadn't made for 10 years or more. But I suspect that most of these represented unsold inventory sitting around the importer's warehouses, not optics that recently had come off Canon's production lines.

In his book, Peter Dechert mentions the fact that some of the latest Canon ltm lenses were available new well into the 1970s.
I remember a mailorder place called Altmans selling new Canon 35/2 screwmount for $45.00
This was around 1976.

 

[harry01562]

There have been some excellent replies to the question. It will be fairly tough to find the 85/1.8, as mentioned. The 85/1.9 is the all-chrome, and heavier. It's also softer, and still fast enough for the short DOF that you want. The upside is that it's much easier to find, and not in much demand (i.e. cheaper).

I haven't seen a direct comparison of the various 85's, but sample variations could affect those, in any case. I've never seen a black 85/1.9. I think there would be fairly active collector interest in one, that would make it not a cost effective alternative.

Harry

 

[Bill58]

$325 shipped

Nice! Congratulations.

 

[raid]

I recall from my limited test of portrait lenses that the Canon 85mm/1.8 had a better bokeh than the Canon 85mm/1.9 but that both had similar levels of sharpness. Overall, Canon lenses seem to have a harsher bokeh than, say, Nikkor lenses of similar focal length. There could be exceptions here, but it is my overall view. Roland, do you agree with me on this point?

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[raid]

Roland: You are right; it was Mark ("Dexdog") who sent me his Canon 85/1.8and not you! The 105mm Nikkor does have nice bokeh.

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[jlw]

I am not so sure about the Canon 85/1.8 and 100/2, that I never used ...
As they say, the other side of the river is always greener 🙂

Here are a couple of example pictures made with a 100/2 Canon (on an Epson R-D 1.) I was shooting at EI 1600, handheld, at f/2, so these aren't exactly the optimal conditions to demonstrate its sharpness!

The first image of each pair shows the framing as I intended it, reduced to an RFF-friendly size; the second shows a 100% crop of a section that has both in-focus and out-of-focus areas. I'm never sure what other people consider to be "desirable" bokeh, but this should give you a chance to decide for yourself.

 

[raid]

Here are some photos taken with the Canon 85mm/1.9 wide open a few days ago.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=667324


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[raid]

Referring to the 100/2 photos, the rendition of the out of focus area is creamy and very pleasant.
This is what I can see.

Raid