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Canon FD 85mm f1.2L & Olympus 55mm f1.2 OM
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 10:49 pm    Post subject: Canon FD 85mm f1.2L & Olympus 55mm f1.2 OM Reply with quote
I know that (IMO) the Canon 85mm f1.2L EF lens is the best lens canon produce but was wondering if the older FD version was as good or near to the EF version. It will be going on a Panasonic G3 so will be heavy at the front end but image quality is key. I also appreciate it will have a focal length equivalent to 170mm in 35mm terms. I have seen a few on the bay that are affordable.

Another alternative is the 55mm f1.2 Olympus lens but have not come across one of these before.


PostPosted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:38 pm    Post subject: Re: Canon FD 85mm f1.2L & Olympus 55mm f1.2 OM Reply with quote
andyw wrote:
I know that (IMO) the Canon 85mm f1.2L EF lens is the best lens canon produce but was wondering if the older FD version was as good or near to the EF version. It will be going on a Panasonic G3 so will be heavy at the front end but image quality is key. I also appreciate it will have a focal length equivalent to 170mm in 35mm terms. I have seen a few on the bay that are affordable.

Another alternative is the 55mm f1.2 Olympus lens but have not come across one of these before.


There are two FD versions of the 85/1.2, the earlier, heavier SSC Asph and the later FD L. From samples I've seen on the net they perform very similarly, with perhaps the slight edge to the Asph. Both FD versions appear to perform also very close to the EF versions, with slightly less CA if I remember correctly. I really like my 85mm 1.2 asph.

If you consider the 55mm 1.2 Zuiko an alternative there are a lot more f/1.2 lenses like that, such as the Canon FD mount 50/55mm, Minolta 58mm, and many more I don't own, from Pentax, Nikon and Tomioka.

What is it that you are looking for in a lens? To me, it sounds like a waste of thin DoF (which is why I like these lenses) to put a Canon 85mm f/1.2 on a PanaG3. Especially since you appear to have a NEX5 as well.


PostPosted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for the reply. I no longer have the NEX as I swapped it out for the G3 which is really really nice.

I'm looking for ultimate image quality at around f1.4/f1.8 to single out what I'm focusing on and to just generally have high quality sharp images. Having f1.2 will hopefully mean super sharp images at f1.8 - f2.8 as i like images where the subject stands out from it's surroundings.


PostPosted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I hear good things about the G3, glad you like it. For singling out what you're focussing on it has a disadvantage over the NEX though. The smaller sensor means you get more apparent depth of field (DoF) at a given aperture. Roughly speaking, a 50mm f/1.4 lens would give you the DoF equivalent of a 75mm f/2.0 lens on APS and 100mm f/2.8 on fourthirds.

To get your subject to stand out from its surroundings a longer focal length helps. So a 85mm might be more to your liking than a 50mm.

I've been collecting too many fast lenses - I've got 6 different f/1.2 lenses now. When I've got some time I should test them properly.


PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Cool, thanks for the advice. I'll keep looking at the 85mm!!!
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