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Canon 85mm f/1.2L II and 70-200mm f/4L IS II the latest victims in EF mount DSLR lens purge

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Pentax might be clinging onto DSLRs for dear life, but if it wasn’t already clear the Canon had pretty much abandoned its DSLRs – what with the 7D line discontinued and the EOS R5 and EOS R6 effectively becoming replacements for the 5D and 6D DSLR lines respectively – I think their decision to kill off a number of popular higher-end lenses speaks volumes.

According to a report on Canon Rumors, who is also running a tally of recently discontinued Canon lenses, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM II and the somewhat legendary Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM II are now also discontinued. Unlike previously killed off EF lenses, though, at least the two new ones on the list have RF equivalents.

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Canon RF 85mm f/1.2 vs Canon RF 85mm f/1.2 DS – Is it worth the extra cost?

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Canon’s announcement of two RF 85mm f/1.2L lenses for their mirrorless camera system was quite surprising. One of them has that “DS” moniker, or “Defocus Smoothing” and the other does not. It was announced early last year, but what does it actually do? And how do the two lenses stand up side-by-side?

The DS version of the lens costs significantly more than the non-DS version, at $2,999 vs $2,599. But is it worth the extra cost? Does it really make a difference? In this video, photographer and YouTuber Christopher Frost takes a look at the two side-by-side in order to find out.

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This is what Canon’s “Defocus Smoothing” coating does to bokeh

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Canon recently announced the new RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS lens for the EOS R mirrorless system. But what exactly does DS mean? Sure, it means “defocus smoothing”, but what effect does that actually have on the image? How does it make the bokeh look? Well, Canon has put out a video showing exactly how it looks.

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Canon’s new RF 70-200mm f/2.8L and 85mm f/1.2L DS lenses are now available to pre-order

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Along with the development announcement for the 1DX Mark III, Canon has also announced availability for two new lenses. These aren’t EF mount, though. They’re RF mount for Canon’s EOS R mirrorless system. They’ve been mentioned before, but now they’re official. The Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM and Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS lenses.

Canon did already release an 85mm f/1.2L lens for the EOS R system, although this new one adds what they’re calling “Defocus Smoothing” which they say helps to soften and smooth bokeh when working at wider apertures, improving the aesthetic of super shallow depth of field shots.

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Canon is releasing six new RF mount lenses this year

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Along with the new Canon EOS RP, Canon has announced six new lenses. Sort of. They haven’t announced that the lenses are available, or when they’ll be available (other than “later in 2019”), just that they’re under development.

Five of the lenses are clearly aimed at professional users, offering the “Holy Grail” with 15-35mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm f/2.8 zooms, as well as two 85mm f/1.2 lenses. But they’re not forgetting those who love their superzooms, either, with a 24-240mm f/4-6.3.

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Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art vs. Canon 85mm f/1.2L II: how does it stack up?

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If you’re in the market for a new lens, it may be hard to decide whether to go for a third-party option, or stick with the same brand as your camera. The Sigma Art series has received a lot of praise, and photographer Julia Trotti put it to a test. She used the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art and compared it to the Canon 85mm f/1.2L II. In the video below, you can see how the lenses compare on Canon and Sony bodies.

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The Canon 85mm f/1.2 vs f/1.4 vs f/1.8 showdown shows there’s no clear winner

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One of the most popular portrait focal lengths out there is 85mm. Most of us have one in our bag, or at least a zoom capable of 85mm. We’ve seen comparisons of 85mm lenses before, although they’re typically from different manufacturers.

But how do Canon’s 85mm f/1.2, 85mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.8 lenses stack up against each other? What are each of their strengths and weaknesses? Is there really an advantage to buying a $1,849 lens over a $349 one? That’s what photographer David Flores wanted to find out, so he made a video.

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Samyang kicks off its new Premium line of lenses with an 85mm f/1.2 and 14mm f/2.4

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Samyang have today announced two new lenses to start their Premium range. An 85mm f/1.2 and 14mm f/2.4. These new lenses, Samyang say, offer “unprecedented resolving power”, built for 50MP stills and up to 8K video productions. Also known as Rokinon, Samyang has become quite a formidable competitor lately.

Both of the new lenses are full frame manual focus lenses. This may disappoint some folks who were hoping for autofocus. Though, personally, I don’t see it as a problem. Lenses as wide as 14mm are typically manually focused anyway. When everything a few inches past your lens is in focus anyway, it’s not an issue. For the 85mm.. Well, given the notoriously slow AF on Canon’s 85mm f/1.2, you might as well manual focus anyway.

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Zenit are rejoining the race with their new 50mm f/0.95, 50mm f/1.2 and 85mm f/1.2 lenses

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Russian manufacturer KMZ has a long history in the photographic world, having produced cameras, lenses and enlargers under the Zenit brand since 1952.

Having been relatively quiet for a number of years, they’re now making a big comeback with the announcement of three very interesting new manual focus lenses; 85mm f/1.2, 50mm f/1.2 and 50mm f/0.95.

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