That wonderful Canon 85/F1.5 lens ...

<p>I went to a casual photo shoot today -- mostly to help out but I did bring some old cameras, old lenses and my Sony NEX-7. I wanted to see how an older adapted lens would perform and I have to admit, I'm very, very impressed. I'm including the 50% image size (which is still pretty large) to show off detail of the model's face. No post-processing except white balance.</p>

<p>I realize I could post this in the Mirrorless forum but I'm really showing off the lens here, not the camera.</p><div></div>

<p>Here's another, cropped, shot at F1.8.</p><div></div>

<p>In the second you seem to have focussed on the mouth, so the eyes are a bit off.</p>

<p>I can testify that the Canon 85/1.5 is a wonderful lens. I wrote an article about using it with the M8 a few years ago.</p>

<p>Good point, Mukul. The NEX-7's focus peaking is handy, but can be imprecise. When narrow DOF is present, I've noticed that the highlighted pixels represent too large a range of focus. As I was handholding, my focusing efforts were a bit off on that shot.</p>

<p>Alex: I'd like to read your article. Can you post a link to it?</p>

<p>Carl, thanks for posting these! That lens is very nice at f/4 but much too soft wide-open. This softness is obvious even at smaller image sizes. I would avoid that aperture IMO. But the colour is certainly lovely. I used to want one - I think I still do. :-) I'd love to see this lens used with the Metabones speed booster.</p>

<p>BTW when I can, I use the magnification buttons to get better focus. I have an NEX-C3 - what a camera! I'm considering the 7 but if it's due to be replaced soon, I might wait. Then again, the 7 won't match the C3 for output, which matters if I'm using two cameras at the same time (e.g. weddings). Hmm.</p>

<p>This lens can be a great portrait lens. The new digital cameras make focusing much easier.</p>

<p>Raid</p>

<p>Here is a photo of my 85/1.5.</p>

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