****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
The review of this lens actually gave me very mixed emotions. You probably just said emotions? Yes, and I will explain.First off here's some info:My Experience Level: Professional (Successful Photography Business, 30+ Weddings, Thousands of Portraits)Camera Body: Canon EOS R + EF adapter (needed)The 1 star for auto focus and image stabilization is due to the lens not having these features. In order for the Camera body to take photos you need to actually go into custom settings and tell the camera "Release Shutter without a Lens attached". Yes, unless it's a Canon lens the body will not even acknowledge it's existence. The lens also does not have mechanical image stabilization. If your camera body does not have digital stabilization I suggest shooting in 3 photo bursts to help with he potential shake/stutter when hand holding.With that said, lets talk about the lens itself. First of all it looks, feels and functions just as good as Canon's prime lenses. It's heavy, well made and actually looks really cool. The lenses dials have very satisfying click/tap feedback as you change the settings and the focus ring is very very smooth! I was blown away! The biggest con is you must manual focus the lens using the ring. Now, I was terrified at this. I have always auto focused, rarely using the viewfinder to take photos. My screen is always open, max brightness and I tend to always shoot this way. One huge find is that I discovered Canon's manual focus feature to highlight areas that are in sharp focus STILL functions with this lens (picture included with review). That may be a game changer for some, because it actually eliminates a lot of the uncertainty.With all that said I can now bring up the mixed emotions. First off, the lens takes absolutely stunning photos. I can't really stress how beautiful the bokeh actually is. I knew for a very long time if I wanted the creamiest, smoothest bokeh a (1.2 or 1.4) 85mm was the excalibur for portraits. The issue is Canon's version of these lenses are literally between $2300 and $2800 dollars. So, basically you're paying $2000+ more dollars for auto focus/stabilization and lens features syncing up with Canon's faster point/shoot system. Nothing against Canon, because I know they price their professional lenses with market markup taking into consideration the "returns" the lens will give. However, in my case and for many after the pandemic $2700 is just way too much money for me right now. I am so happy with the lens, and plan on putting it to great use this year!
