Canon EF 85mm lens

Last updated October 29, 2024

The EF 85mm lenses are a group of medium telephoto prime lenses made by Canon Inc. that share the same focal length. These lenses have an EF type mount that fits the Canon EOS line of cameras.

This 85mm focal length is "perfect for portraiture" as labeled by Canon and practicing professionals, due to the focal length creating just the right perspective for both the subject and the background. The 85mm is most commonly used for head and shoulder type portraiture, upper torso portraiture and selective floral photography. It will commonly be found in the kits of photographers that shoot wedding, birthdays, and other events involving people. These photographers would also carry a 70-200mm for complementing the longer focal lengths and when extremely shallow depth of field is not needed.

EF 85mm f/1.2L USM

The EF 85mm f/1.2L USM is a professional L series lens. Canon markets it as their "definitive portraiture lens".

The lead optical engineer at Canon who led the design team for this lens was a fashion photographer, and his intention was to design a lens that would be the definitive lens for fashion photography. This required a completely new design that would take a new direction from Canon's previous 85mm lens designs. A new element was placed in the lens to give bokeh that was unlike any of the other lenses that fashion photographers had used before. This new large element required a new clutched electronic manual focusing mechanism that was only used on Canon's 50mm f/1.0 to handle the large specialized element. When it finally hit the market, it was the only lens in the industry that was explicitly designed for fashion photography.

It is the longer of the only two f/1.2 lenses Canon makes, the other being the 50mm f/1.2L USM . This lens is constructed with a metal body and mount, and with rubber gripping and plastic extremities. It features a wide rubber focusing ring and a distance window with infrared index.

Featuring a circular 8-blade diaphragm, and a maximum aperture of f/1.2, this lens is capable of maintaining sharpness and image quality at low apertures. The lens' depth of field allows distinct focus on the subject, while providing a beautiful bokeh. The optical construction of this lens contains 8 lens elements, including one ground and polished aspherical lens element, which makes this lens extremely sharp when stopped down to about f/2. This lens uses a floating front extension focusing system, powered by a ring type USM motor. Auto focus speed of this lens is on the slow side when compared to most ring USM lenses, and photographing fast moving targets can be quite challenging with this lens.^[1] Manual focusing is done by wire: this lens does not have a direct mechanical connection to the focusing ring, but instead detects the rotation of the focusing ring and uses the autofocus motor to drive the lens elements. While full-time manual focus is available, the lens cannot be focused when the camera is off. The front of the lens does not rotate, but does extend when focusing.

EF 85 mm f/1.2L II USM

The newer EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM version, which is aesthetically the same as the EF 85 mm f/1.2L USM, is updated with a newer CPU, 1.8 times faster autofocus, and upgraded anti-reflective lens coatings to reduce chromatic aberration, ghosting, and lens flare.^[2] This lens was used prominently in the independent feature film Marianne which was shot using a Canon EOS 7D.

EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

The EF 85mm f/1.8 USM is a consumer level lens. It is the shorter sister to the EF 100mm f/2.0 USM , and is designed very similarly. It is constructed with a plastic body and a metal mount. This lens features a distance window with infrared index. An 8 blade, maximum aperture of f/1.8, gives this lens the ability to create depth of field effects. The optical construction of this lens contains nine lens elements, without any special lens elements. It uses an internal focusing system (meaning that the front of the lens neither rotates nor extends when focusing), powered by a ring type USM motor. Auto focus speed of this lens is very fast.

The plastic casing of the lens has changed over the lens's production. Starting with a smooth plastic (akin to early EOS cameras like the EOS 1000). Later the casing was changed to a textured matte plastic (much like the Canon EF 50mm f1.8 STM).

In addition to portraiture, the lens is also suited for indoor sports photography, particularly on a cropped sensor, due to its focal length, fast autofocus, and fast aperture, and for photos in social situations, due to its fast aperture (useful in dark interiors) and quiet operation (which minimizes disruption).

In terms of aberrations, the lens exhibits noticeable vignetting when used wide-open on full frame cameras, this is significantly reduced when used on a cropped sensor or when the lens is stopped down. The lens also generates purple fringing in high-contrast lighting, with subjects such as chrome, water, and black-and-white scenes.^[3]^[4] These aberrations are corrected by some cameras.

EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM

The EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM is the latest addition to this series. It was announced on August 29, 2017.^[5] The lens has 1/3 of a stop less than the f/1.2 siblings, but the image stabilization gives sharp pictures with up to four stops' longer exposure. The f/1.2 versions thus have a slight edge in reduced depth-of-field and reducing subject motion blur, while the f/1.4 IS has a huge advantage in low light. ^[6]

Specifications

Attribute	f/1.2L USM	f/1.2L II USM	f/1.8 USM	f/1.4L IS USM
Image
Key features
Full-frame compatible	Yes
Image stabilizer	No			Yes
Ultrasonic Motor	Yes
L-series	Yes		No	Yes
Diffractive Optics	No
Macro	No
Technical data
Aperture (max-min)	f/1.2 – f/16		f/1.8 – f/22	f/1.4 – f/22
Construction	7 groups / 8 elements		7 groups / 9 elements	10 groups / 14 elements
# of diaphragm blades	8			9
Closest focusing distance	3.1 ft / 0.95m		2.7 ft / 0.85 m	2.7 ft / 0.85 m
Max. magnification	0.11× (1:9.1)		0.13× (1:7.7)	0.13× (1:7.7)
Horizontal viewing angle	24°
Diagonal viewing angle	28°30'
Vertical viewing angle	16°
Physical data
Weight	2.25 lb / 1025 g		0.93 lb / 425 g	2.09 lb / 950 g
Maximum diameter	3.6 in / 91.5 mm		3.0 in / 75.0 mm	3.5 in / 88.6 mm
Length	3.3 in / 84.0 mm		2.8 in / 71.5 mm	4.15 in / 105.4 mm
Filter diameter	72 mm		58 mm	77 mm
Accessories
Lens hood	ES-79II		ET-65III	ET-83E
Case	LP1219		LP1014	LP1219
Retail information
Release date	September 1989	March 2006	July 1992	August 2017
MSRP $	$1500	$2199	$430	$1599.00
Street Price $		$1700	$380
Used Price $			circa $200 (2019)

Related Research Articles

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References

↑ Carnathan, Bryan. "Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L II USM Lens Review". The-Digital-Picture.com. Retrieved January 27, 2012. The biggest downside to the original Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L USM Lens was the very slow focusing speed. If you were shooting portraits, it didn't matter. But, a lens this fast begs to be used for indoor action sports.
↑ Carnathan: "While this lens certainly has the aperture and image quality to be an excellent indoor action sports lens, the AF performance is only "good enough" in my opinion - and not yet matching the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens' AF performance. Would I use this lens for sports? Definitely, but I would plan on a lower hit rate - especially with the tiny depth of field at f/1.2."
↑ Photozone
↑ Default Canon 85mm f/1.8 Purple Fringing
↑ "Canon U.S.A. Expands Its Lens Portfolio With The New Ef 85mm F/1.4l Is Usm Lens And Their First-Ever Macro Tilt-Shift Lenses". usa.canon.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
↑ "EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM". usa.canon.com. Retrieved August 30, 2017.

EF/EF-S lens chart Archived 2004-09-08 at the Wayback Machine
Canon Camera Museum

External links

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, DPhoto Journal – list of reviews
Canon EF 85/1.2L II USM Lens Review, by Bryan Carnathan
Canon EF 85/1.2L II USM Technical Review by Photozone
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM - Review / Test Report, photozone – detailed performance data

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[1] Carnathan, Bryan. "Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L II USM Lens Review". The-Digital-Picture.com. Retrieved January 27, 2012. The biggest downside to the original Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L USM Lens was the very slow focusing speed. If you were shooting portraits, it didn't matter. But, a lens this fast begs to be used for indoor action sports.

[2] Carnathan: "While this lens certainly has the aperture and image quality to be an excellent indoor action sports lens, the AF performance is only "good enough" in my opinion - and not yet matching the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens' AF performance. Would I use this lens for sports? Definitely, but I would plan on a lower hit rate - especially with the tiny depth of field at f/1.2."

[3] Photozone

[4] Default Canon 85mm f/1.8 Purple Fringing

[5] "Canon U.S.A. Expands Its Lens Portfolio With The New Ef 85mm F/1.4l Is Usm Lens And Their First-Ever Macro Tilt-Shift Lenses". usa.canon.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.

[6] "EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM". usa.canon.com. Retrieved August 30, 2017.

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v t e Canon EF/EF-S/EF-M lenses
EF-S zoom	EF-S 10–18mm EF-S 10–22mm EF-S 15–85mm EF-S 17–55mm EF-S 17–85mm EF-S 18–55mm EF-S 18–135mm EF-S 18–200mm EF-S 55–250mm
Ultra-wide zoom	EF 11–24mm EF 16–35mm EF 17–40mm
Standard zoom	EF 24–70mm EF 24–105mm EF 28–135mm EF 28–300mm
Telephoto zoom	EF 70–200mm EF 70–300mm EF 75–300mm EF 100–400mm EF 200–400mm
Wide-angle prime	EF 14mm EF 20mm EF 24mm EF-S 24mm EF 28mm EF 35mm
Standard prime	EF 50mm
Telephoto prime	EF 85mm EF 100mm EF 135mm EF 200mm
Super telephoto prime	EF 300mm EF 400mm EF 500mm EF 600mm EF 800mm
Distorting lens	EF 8–15mm Fisheye
Tilt-shift	TS-E 17mm TS-E 24mm TS-E 45mm TS-E 50mm TS-E 90mm TS-E 135mm
Macro	EF-M 28mm Macro EF-S 35mm Macro EF 50mm Compact Macro TS-E 50mm MACRO EF-S 60mm Macro MP-E 65mm 1–5x Macro TS-E 90mm Macro EF 100mm Macro TS-E 135mm Macro EF 180mm Macro
EF-M zoom	EF-M 11–22mm EF-M 15–45mm EF-M 18–55mm EF-M 18–150mm EF-M 55–200mm
EF-M prime	EF-M 22mm EF-M 28mm Macro EF-M 32mm
Lens accessories	Extender EF
Discontinued zoom	EF 17–35mm EF 20–35mm EF 22–55mm EF 24–85mm EF 28–70mm EF 28–80mm EF 28–90mm EF 28–105mm EF 28–200mm EF 35–70mm EF 35–80mm EF 35–105mm EF 35–135mm EF 35–350mm EF 38–76mm EF 50–200mm EF 55–200mm EF 70–210mm EF 80–200mm EF 90–300mm EF 100–200mm EF 100–300mm
Discontinued prime	EF 15mm Fisheye EF 40mm EF 135mm with Softfocus EF 1200mm TS-E 45mm