In this hands on review i´m taking the Canon 85mm 1.8 classic on a testride on the Sony A7rII. Watch the review video now and also see how great the video looks in 4k with this lens!
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The lens feels pretty good in the hand, and well built for its very affordable price, the focus ring is a bit stiff though. Its not as big as i thought it would be and its lightweight, it balances very well on the Sony A7r2 & A7II + it even fits in my small Cosyspeed Camslinger Bag with the Sony A7r2 and A7II.
Here is the specs about this lens:
| Focal Length | 85mm Comparable APS-C 1.6x Focal Length: 137 mm |
| Aperture | Maximum: f/1.8 Minimum: f/22 |
| Camera Mount Type | Canon EF |
| Format Compatibility | 35mm Film / Full-Frame Digital Sensor Canon (APS-C) |
| Angle of View | 28° 30′ |
| Tilt/Shift | None |
| Minimum Focus Distance | 2.79′ (85 cm) |
| Magnification | 0.13x |
| Maximum Reproduction Ratio | 1:8 |
| Elements/Groups | 9/7 |
| Diaphragm Blades | 8 |
| Features | |
|---|---|
| Image Stabilization | No |
| Autofocus | Yes |
| Tripod Collar | No |
| Physical | |
|---|---|
| Filter Thread | Front:58 mm |
| Dimensions (DxL) | Approx. 2.95 x 2.81″ (75 x 71.5 mm) |
| Weight | 14.99 oz (425 g) |
First thing of course i have tested was the autofocus, with the MC11 adapter, AF is very useable but the performance is not as good as on the Canon 70-200 F4L for example.
Sigma has recently released a firmware update 1.02 for its MC11 adapter, which wasn´t availble yet during my test, so make shure to update your Sigma MC11 since it promises to give enhanced AF accuracy with Canon EF lenses!
I have also tested 3 affordable Adapters, the Commlite, the Viltrox and the Fotga with the Canon 85. Unfortunately all 3 adapters are not working good with this Canon lens. there is a LOT of hunting back and forth and autofocus with it is pretty much unusable. I compared the Autofocus of the 85mm with my Canon 70-200 F4 L which i love on my Sony A7II, and the 70-200 feels like lightning fast and gets autofocus all the time with pretty much no hunting in good light, compared to the performance i got with this Canon the 85mm 1.8 is just unusable with the 3 adapters i have tested. Same result with Contrast and Phase detect AF, tried all modes.
You can read my Review for the Canon 70-200 F4 L here:
Maybe the Metabones Mark IV Adapter could work better with this lens and also give you eye af, but i think it´s not worth investing in this expensive adapter unless you have a LOT of good Canon glass, allthough the Sharpness and image quality of this 85mm is really good allready from 1.8 and very sharp at 2.0 with beautiful bokeh.
Here are some testshots with the Canon 85mm 1.8 +A7r2, i have noticed quite a lot of purple and mangenta ca´s on 1.8 , 2.0 but that can be fixed in lightroom
And here are some shots with the Canon 85mm 1.8 + Sony A7II shot manual
CONCLUSION
The Canon 85mm 1.8 is a very affordable sharp lens, you can get it for about 350$ allready. Such a lens is highly missing in Sony´s lens lineup, you have the extremly expensive 85mm 1.4 GM, which is very heavy and big and there is the Zeiss Batis which is also quite expensive, but nothing affordable like the Canon 85 1.8.
If you can live with the limitation that you don´t have Eye AF but Face AF with the Sigma MC11 yet than this Canon 85mm 1.8 is another great affordable lens which you can use on your Sony.
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