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85L
2009-10-20 : photo
I got a new toy.
Sorry for the nasty photo, I wasn’t trying very hard. Even with that photo, it’s kind of hard to understand how much bigger and heavier the 85L is than the 35L, which I normally found heavy to carry around all day in the past. Thus far, it’s the only lens I’ve used other than the 70-200/2.8 IS that makes me wish I had a pro body, in terms of form factor; trying to handle the 5DII with a kilogram of nose-heavy glass out front is a bit of a chore. This lens makes me want a power booster, which is a first, since I hate them normally. Just strolling about the apartment with it out front of the mark 2 makes me wish I was doing more wrist exercises.
AF speed is excruciating, as expected. The laggy focus-by-wire is irritating, the feel of the barely damped focus ring completely silly, and the lack of full-time manual control is irritating. The rotating bayonet is just plain goofy. The thought that I’d ever be shooting in enough cross light that I’d need the hood absurd.
And, as completely impractical as it is, the thing is marvelous. I love it.
I’ve also been enjoying the Canon S90. The multipurpose ring is amazing. Canon’s menu system is still complete shit. About the biggest problem is that, with two control rings, I still need to hit the func button to change critical camera settings. Like if I’m shooting RAW or not. Otherwise, it’s got good optics, good low-light performance, good image quality otherwise, and a lot of portability. Especially compared to my kilogram of glass above. If you want a point and shoot camera right now that has a non-prime lens out front, this is the one to buy. Go, now, and get one.
Update: As long as I can shoot a picture of the 85L with the S90, I may as well shoot a picture of the S90 hand-held with only the backlight of my computer’s LCD. Because I can.
85L is longer than 35L?
And when I looked up the the Canon S90 Amazon is selling it higher than other sites by a big margin, booo Amazon.
— Lisa 20 October 2009 #
The 85 is an 85mm lens, the 35 is a 35mm lens. So the 85 is longer, yes. More important than that, it’s a half-stop faster, which is why it has so much glass. It’s also an excruciatingly sharp (in a good way) lens, even when wide open. The 35L is excellent, the 85L is exceptional, if not just downright exotic. It is, arguably, the best prime Canon makes, and is meant to be shot wide open as a portrait lens.
As to the other point. It’s (the S90) selling for $429 (subject to change, that’s what I paid) from Amazon, but for more from a third party. They show the third party because Amazon is out of stock. You can still add the Amazon-priced model to your cart from the right sidebar. But, if you want it now, there’s surely better prices out there than the $700 or so to get it “from” Amazon (via a third party). But yes, it’s a high-demand camera, and will likely be high-demand through its product cycle, and discontinued early, judging by the history of the s series. It’s not something that most people will appreciate, I suspect, being a $4xx point and shoot with a fast wide (but nomimal long) lens and not a lot of bells and whistles (to the ignorant).
— Aaron N. Tubbs 21 October 2009 #