re: Canon 85mm, 1.2L (not the newer II)

The focus ring on my copy has always been too easy to spin which makes it more difficult to manually focus. This lens is known for its slow auto-focus. So I often manually focus. A focus ring with more resistance would help. (Say, something like the resistance on the Canon 24-70mm, 2.8L.)

Is this normal with this lens?
Can the spin resistance be adjusted?

Yes it is normal, at least in my sample. I also find it a little too loose for my taste. It is an incredibly sharp lens when shot between f5.6 and f8. It has very litle distortion. A great performer when your are not speed shooting.

It's normal. The manual focus is actually a fly-by-wire auto focus, so when you are turning the ring the autofocus motor is still moving the glass.

It's normal for the lens, and cannot be adjusted. It works the same in the version II of the lens as well.

What's the point of having this lens if you shoot at those apertures? Wouldn't the 1.8 do you just as well at 1/5 the cost?

I own a 1.2II and rarely go lower than f4.0. The point of this lens is the stuff it does from f4 on up to 1.2.

The manual focus, as already answered, is the characteristic of this particular lens.

Ken

I shoot at f/2.2 with this lens. Of course at f/8 it is stellar but so is my 85mm f/1.8

I bought my 85 so I could shoot at 1.2, but many times I need more depth of field. Is it o.k. if I stop down to 4,5.6,8 or 11 or am I a fool.

Whilst I have the 85/1.2 I've also bought a Leica R 80mm f/1.4 - a somewhat different lens and extremely good. With an adapter it works superbly on Canon FF cameras and offers excellent manual focus (and even focus confirmation if you buy an appropriate adapter). Wide open it delivers glorious images; stopped down it is stunning too. Only downside is stop down metering, but given the price of R glass at the moment 80s can be picked up for silly money. Just a thought!

I hope this isn´t too far off as to be redundant, but I had a similar problem with my Nikkor 4.5/300IFED. It was always difficult to control for the same reason that you have: so sensitive that just releasing the focus ring was enough to shift the thing away from where it should have been.

I did contact Nikon and they told me that it could be fixed by sending it back to them, and that it would then match the other lenses for feel. I never did that as I was about to embark on a terrible gear change to Pentax 67. Anyway, they did say it wasn´t serious and was fixable.

I don´t know if this applies to a/f lenses or not, but maybe an official response from the maker would be a good step in the right direction. I´m sure Canon knows the answer.

Good luck

Rob C