General
Lens Type
Prime
This lens is a fixed focal length (prime) lens, offering consistent performance and wide aperture ideal for portraits and low light situations.
Lens Mount
Canon EF
Designed to fit Canon EF-mount cameras, ensuring proper compatibility and integration with Canon DSLR systems.
Weather-Sealed
✔ Yes
The lens is protected with seals that help prevent damage from dust, rain, and water splashes—great for outdoor shooting.
Metal Mount
✔ Yes
Features a durable metal mount, offering enhanced durability and secure attachment to the camera body.
Weight
960 g
Weighing 960 grams, this lens has a solid build suitable for serious photography, especially portraiture.
Front Element Rotation
✔ No Rotation
The front element does not rotate during focusing, which is helpful when using orientation-sensitive filters like polarizers.
Lens Hood Included
✔ Yes
Comes with a lens hood out of the box to reduce lens flare and protect the front element from stray light.
Reversible Lens Hood
Unknown
The reversibility of the lens hood is not specified. If you have information about this, feel free to suggest it.
Filter Size
88.6 mm
This lens supports 88.6 mm filters—be sure to choose filters of this size for best compatibility.
General
Lens Type
Prime
This lens is a fixed focal length (prime) lens, offering consistent performance and wide aperture ideal for portraits and low light situations.
Lens Mount
Canon EF
Designed to fit Canon EF-mount cameras, ensuring proper compatibility and integration with Canon DSLR systems.
Weather-Sealed
✔ Yes
The lens is protected with seals that help prevent damage from dust, rain, and water splashes—great for outdoor shooting.
Metal Mount
✔ Yes
Features a durable metal mount, offering enhanced durability and secure attachment to the camera body.
Weight
960 g
Weighing 960 grams, this lens has a solid build suitable for serious photography, especially portraiture.
Front Element Rotation
✔ No Rotation
The front element does not rotate during focusing, which is helpful when using orientation-sensitive filters like polarizers.
Lens Hood Included
✔ Yes
Comes with a lens hood out of the box to reduce lens flare and protect the front element from stray light.
Reversible Lens Hood
Unknown
The reversibility of the lens hood is not specified. If you have information about this, feel free to suggest it.
Filter Size
88.6 mm
This lens supports 88.6 mm filters—be sure to choose filters of this size for best compatibility.
Optics
Maximum Focal Length
85 mm
A longer maximum focal length allows you to focus in on a small part of a scene, and offers a narrower angle of view than shorter focal lengths.
Minimum Focal Length
85 mm
A shorter minimum focal length allows you to get more of the scene in the photo, and offers a wider angle of view than longer focal lengths.
Optical Image Stabilization
✔ Yes
Optical image stabilization uses gyroscopic sensors to detect the vibrations of the camera. The lens adjusts the optical path accordingly, ensuring that any type of motion blur is corrected before the sensor captures the image.
Maximum Angle of View
28.5°
At the shorter end of the lens you get the widest angle of view. This allows you to fit more of the scene into the photograph (based on APS-C format).
Minimum Angle of View
28.5°
At the longest end of the lens you get the narrowest angle of view. This allows you to fit a small portion of the scene into the photograph, such as when you are zooming in on a subject (based on APS-C format).
Magnification
0.12x
A true macro lens has a magnification of 1:1. This means that the image produced is a life-size representation of the subject being photographed.
Optical Zoom
1x
The zoom range is the ratio between the longest and shortest focal lengths. A higher zoom range means that the lens is more versatile.
Aperture
Wide Aperture (Main Camera)
f/1.4
With a wider aperture the sensor can capture more light, helping to avoid blur by enabling a faster shutter speed. It also provides a shallow depth of field, allowing you to blur the background to focus attention on the subject.
Widest Aperture at Maximum Focal Length
f/1.4
With a wider aperture the sensor can capture more light, helping to avoid blur by enabling a faster shutter speed. It also provides a shallow depth of field, allowing you to blur the background to focus attention on the subject.
Aperture Blades
9
More blades generally produce better quality bokeh. A higher number allows smoother, rounder out-of-focus highlights.
Has Rounded Aperture Blades
✔
Rounded blades improve the appearance of the out-of-focus areas, delivering softer bokeh and a more pleasant blur.
Smallest Aperture at Maximum Focal Length
f/22.0
A smaller aperture reduces light reaching the sensor, ideal in bright conditions, and increases depth of field for greater focus across the image.
Smallest Aperture at Minimum Focal Length
f/22.0
Provides more depth of field and keeps more of the image in focus, especially useful in well-lit scenarios.
Focus
Can Focus to Infinity
✔
Ideal for landscape and distant subject photography, ensuring sharp focus across long distances.
Has Focus Motor
✔
Allows autofocus even on camera bodies without a built-in focus motor.
Full-Time Manual Focus
✔
Enables manual adjustment of focus while in autofocus mode for precision control.
Silent Focus Motor
✔
Ensures quick and quiet autofocus operation, ideal for video and stealth shooting environments.
Minimum Focus Distance
0.85 m
Allows close-up shooting for tighter framing and finer detail, particularly useful in portrait and macro-style shots.
Benchmarks
Sharpness
42 P-MPix
Indicates high image clarity based on DxOMark MTF measurements.
Chromatic Aberration
4 µm
Represents minimal color fringing, indicating excellent optical correction.
DxOMark Score
49
An overall score indicating strong all-around performance.
Distortion
0.1%
Very low distortion, ensuring straight lines appear true in your images.
Transmission
1.6 TStop
Efficient light transmission for accurate exposure and better performance in low light.
Vignetting
-1.8
Mild light fall-off at corners, common with wide apertures, but minimal in this lens.
The Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM Review: Why This Lens is a Portrait Photographer’s Dream
Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM.
The Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM isn’t just a lens—it’s a reliability blanket. Whether you’re shooting a tearful vow exchange or a moody editorial, it delivers sharpness, speed, and versatility. Could you save money with the Sigma 85mm Art? Sure. But for Canon shooters, the native performance and IS are worth every penny.
excellent
Key Features That’ll Make You Swoon 17
- f/1.4 Aperture + 4-Stop Image Stabilization: This combo is like having a superhero duo in your camera bag. Shoot wide open for creamy bokeh and nail sharpness in low light. I’ve handheld shots at 1/60s in a dim church—no tripod, no problem.
- Ring USM Autofocus: Faster than a caffeinated cheetah. Say goodbye to the sluggish AF of the older f/1.2L II.
- Weather-Sealed Build: Dust? Moisture? This lens laughs in their faces. I once shot in a drizzle (accidentally, oops) and it didn’t flinch.
- 9-Blade Diaphragm: Buttery-smooth bokeh that’ll make your clients say, “Take my money.”
Sharpness That Cuts Like a Knife
Wide open at f/1.4, this lens is tack sharp. I compared it side-by-side with the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art, and while Sigma’s no slouch, the Canon consistently delivered crisper edges and zero focus hunting. Even at f/1.4, there’s no “haze” or softness—unlike the older f/1.2L II, which felt like shooting through Vaseline wide open.
Pro Tip: Pair it with Canon’s Eye AF on the EOS R5, and you’ll feel like a portrait wizard. Even when your subject sways after one too many champagne toasts, the focus locks on like glue .
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Bokeh: Smooth Operator or Party Crasher?
The bokeh here is good—creamy and dreamy. But let’s keep it 100: it’s not as “characterful” as the f/1.2L II. That lens has a cult following for its almost 3D-like backgrounds, but hey, you trade that for slower AF and no IS. For most shooters, the f/1.4L’s balance of speed and smoothness wins .
Fun Experiment: Try shooting autumn leaves with this lens. The way it renders out-of-focus colors? Chef’s kiss.
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The Not-So-Perfect Stuff (Because Nothing’s Flawless)
- Price Tag: At 1,600,it’snotcheap.Butcomparedtothe1,600,it’snotcheap.Butcomparedtothe2,000 f/1.2L II, it’s a steal for the added IS and modern optics .
- Vignetting at f/1.4: Yeah, it’s there. But fix it in Lightroom with one click, or embrace it for moody portraits.
- Lens Hood Feels Cheap: Canon’s included ET-83E hood is comically short. I swapped mine for a third-party deeper hood—problem solved.
- Weight: At 950g, it’s no feather. But after shooting 10-hour weddings, my arms forgave it because the results were that good.
Battles Royale: f/1.4L vs. the Competition
vs. Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II
The f/1.2L II is like a vintage sports car—beautiful but finicky. Its bokeh is legendary, but the AF is slower than dial-up internet, and there’s no IS. For working pros, the f/1.4L’s speed and stabilization make it the clear winner .
vs. Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art
Sigma’s ART lens is sharp and $400 cheaper, but it’s a chonky boy (1,139g vs. Canon’s 950g). Plus, the Canon’s IS and weather sealing tip the scales. Oh, and Sigma’s AF can be hit-or-miss on Canon bodies—no thanks .
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vs. Tamron SP 85mm f/1.8 VC
Tamron’s a budget-friendly option with solid VC (vibration compensation). But f/1.8 vs. f/1.4? For low-light warriors, that extra stop is worth the splurge .
Real-Life War Stories (and Why This Lens Shines)
Wedding Disaster Averted: During a reception, the DJ’s lights died. I cranked the ISO to 6400, dropped the shutter to 1/60s, and shot wide open. The IS kept things sharp, and the f/1.4 aperture saved the day. Client never knew the chaos—they just saw magic .
Pro Tip: Use the IS for video! Paired with a gimbal, this lens delivers buttery-smooth footage. Just don’t forget to turn IS off when on a tripod (learned that the hard way).
Specs at a Glance 57
- Focal Length: 85mm
- Aperture: f/1.4–f/22
- Stabilization: 4-stop IS
- Weight: 950g
- Filter Size: 77mm
- Weather Sealing: Yes (dust/moisture)
- Minimum Focus Distance: 0.85m
Who Should Buy This Lens?
- Wedding Photographers: IS + f/1.4 = low-light savior.
- Portrait Artists: Flattering compression and razor-sharp details.
- Content Creators: Killer for YouTube portraits or cinematic B-roll.
Who Should Skip It:
- Budget Shooters: The EF 85mm f/1.8 USM is a solid $400 alternative.
- Macro Fans: This ain’t a macro lens (min focus is 0.85m).
Final Verdict: Is It Worth the Hype?
In a word: absolutely. The Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM isn’t just a lens—it’s a workhorse that’ll elevate your photography. Sure, it’s pricey, but for pros, the ROI is real.
