# Canon EF 85mm f1.2 vs Zeiss 85mm f1.4 Milvus (having the Sigma 85mm f1.4)



## JoFT (Apr 24, 2016)

I love 85mm focal length. Having the Sigma 85mm f 1.4 I am not happy with it. Mainly because of autocus Problems. 


Therefore I am considering to upgrade. And the 85mm f1.2 has no weather sealing but a Slow but accurate autofocus but the Milvus has weather sealing but no autofocus - but Manuale Works with Zeiss Lenses, too.


Does anyone has experience with both lenses and can give recommandations?


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## nvsravank (Apr 24, 2016)

JoFT said:


> I love 85mm focal length. Having the Sigma 85mm f 1.4 I am not happy with it. Mainly because of autocus Problems.
> 
> 
> Therefore I am considering to upgrade. And the 85mm f1.2 has no weather sealing but a Slow but accurate autofocus but the Milvus has weather sealing but no autofocus - but Manuale Works with Zeiss Lenses, too.
> ...



Ok totally confused. Why would you look at manual focus lens if you are having auto focus problems?
Did you try using the sigma in manual focus mode?


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## Pookie (Apr 24, 2016)

nvsravank said:


> JoFT said:
> 
> 
> > I love 85mm focal length. Having the Sigma 85mm f 1.4 I am not happy with it. Mainly because of autocus Problems.
> ...



Yea, my question too.


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## JoFT (Apr 24, 2016)

nvsravank said:


> JoFT said:
> 
> 
> > I love 85mm focal length. Having the Sigma 85mm f 1.4 I am not happy with it. Mainly because of autocus Problems.
> ...







I had the Otus 85mm and 55mm on my 5D3 Body on the last Photokina http://bit.ly/1JNL4ZM


It was no problem to use it. The focus throw is long and accurate. The electrical connection in the Sigma is way too short to get an accurate focus as well. (Beside that the Otus is a definitely better lens.)


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## privatebydesign (Apr 24, 2016)

JoFT said:


> nvsravank said:
> 
> 
> > JoFT said:
> ...



And how good is the weather sealing on that Otus?


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## JoFT (Apr 24, 2016)

Weather sealing is the clear advantage of the Milvus, all other 3 (Canon/Sigma/Otus) do not have it...


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## privatebydesign (Apr 24, 2016)

My thought process is so far removed from somebody who is balancing AF against a rubber ring I can't help.


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## JoFT (Apr 24, 2016)

privatebydesign said:


> My thought process is so far removed from somebody who is balancing AF against a rubber ring I can't help.




??? Your reply sounds a bit...?


I do not balance it at all: I have problems with the inconsistency of the focusing with the Sigma lens. It produces headache. A Zeiss Lens works - and the Canon works, too. I do not care about Autofocus vs Manual focus at all. I just wanted to get opinions and experiences with these 85mm lenses....


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## georgecpappas (Apr 24, 2016)

Hello,

I did own a Sigma 85mm and now own a Canon 85mm 1.2 and did carefully field test an 85mm Milvus before making the decision; I believe that I can help.

I think I understand your autofocus vs. manual focus question but am not entirely sure. I will share my perspective on this question and then get to the lenses.

First; I use 85mm for two primary purposes - portraits and landscapes where the perspective is one of my most used as it suites me. I want a lens that auto-focuses accurately with handheld and that I can somewhat focus manually handheld but that can be sharp as a tack when focused on the tripod with live view..for reference, I use a Canon 5DSr (and love it by the way). However, it is clear that handheld manual focusing with the needed precision is not the province of today's DSLR's with focusing screens optimized for AF (among other factors). I had the original Zeiss 85mm 1.4 for years and had good results manual focusing until the resolution of my bodies grew past 21mp (5D3 territory - yes, I did experiment with 3rd party focusing screens).

With this as a preamble, I owned a Sigma 85mm 1.4 for a few years.

I tested the Sigma 85mm, Canon 85mm, and Zeiss milvus 85mm in short distance/infinity landscape situations (tripod) and handheld portrait situations.

My results: 

For handheld portrait: the Sigma and Canon AF is good if you microadjust and give care. I could see, and loved, the extra smoothing effect of the Canon at 1.2. The Zeiss at 1.4 was excellent but no better than the Canon in the corners or the center. By F 5.6 all lenses were close - slight edge to the Canon/Zeiss.

For Tripod close landscape: The Zeiss and Canon were demonstrably better at wide open across the field. The Zeiss was better somewhat in the corners (where a flat wall/etc would show this compared to a portrait). By F5.6 the Zeiss and Canon were equivalent and sightly ahead of the Sigma but not by that much.

For Tripod infinity landscape: The Zeiss, Canon, Sigma were all equally good in the center but the Zeiss and Canon pulled ahead on the corners (wide open). By F5.6 the Zeiss and Canon were ahead. This was the greatest surprise to me - I fully expected the Zeiss to be superior optically in this circumstance; it was not according to my results (please no micro-minutae questions on testing...I was tripod mounted, LV, landscape with enough flare etc. similar to my normal subject matter).

My decision: I sold the Sigma, kept the Canon, and returned the Zeiss to Lens Rentals. I am very happy with the decision. The Canon is not perfect - the AF is slow, there is some focus shift at close distances; but the lens is solid and a versatile performer for both landscape and portrait if you know it.

If it were me, I may be tempted to wait a bit..Canon is rumored to be readying a new version - their new L lenses have been exceptional. It is not un-reasonable to assume that they would address the 85's weaknesses....however more $$ will certainly be on the table.

Best of luck with your decision.


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## JoFT (Apr 24, 2016)

Thank You Georgecpappas for this detailed information!!! Really helpful.


By the way: I have the old 85mm f1.4 Planar from Zeiss As well - from my analog Times when i was Shooting with Contax gear.... And I use it sometimes today As well...


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## JoFT (Jun 5, 2016)

Meanwhile I bought the Milvus 85mm f1.4. The Canon cashback for the 85mm f1.2 expired 2 days before I had the budget to buy the lens.


The Milvus is great. Manual focusing needs a bit of training but it works.


Who ever is interested in the photographic outcome? I compared it with my Sigma:


http://bit.ly/1U2oCnp
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