It’s weird how some lenses get to be favorites. I use to like zoom lenses, but years ago purchased the 35mm f1.8 and it quickly became my go to lens. Now it’s on my camera all the time.

The portrait of Hortensia at 5:03 is stunning. Great work as always Raymond!

@RaymondParkerPhoto

3 ай бұрын

Many thanks!

Great to hear your thoughts on this lens Ray and really nice example photos. All the best

@RaymondParkerPhoto

2 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it Martin!

Thought shall not covet thy neighbor’s lens. Hard to live up to with these amazing photos. Nice work. Happy 2024.

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

LOL! Thanks and Happy New Year!

Just beautiful,Ray.Wonderful lens ,fantastic photos.

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Thanks so much, Len. Happy New Year!

Love some of those photos Ray and a Happy New Year to you and yours... your models are wonderfully caught - particularly the English Rose!

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

LOL! She appreciates your compliment. Happy New Year!

Beautiful pictures!

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Thank you very much!

Wow fantastic photos!

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Thanks Margot! Glad you like them!

Great work Ray! and happy new year.

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Thanks! You too!

Another great Video Ray

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Thanks again!

Beautiful Lens !!

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

The best!

Thank you for your work. Greetings from a man of the same age, the same equipment, and the same passion. Keep up the good work.

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

You're welcome and thank you very much! Really appreciate the support!

Happy New Year, Ray. Thank you for the thoughtful and insightful information you provide on your channel. I watch often, but have never commented. Now is as good a time as any to say “thanks.” I absolutely love the Z 85mm f/1.2 S. Like you, I already had the Z 85mm f/1.8 S, but opted to add the 1.2. It stays on one of my cameras.

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Happy new year! Next to the 50mm f/1.8 (I'd love to own the 1.2), this lens has become my most used lens. Appreciate your comment. Thanks!

I prefer the 1.8 for overall quality, price, and reduced fatigue on longer shoots. This is the bokeh king, but that look can get old soon. The 1.8 bokeh is also great.

@RaymondParkerPhoto

Ай бұрын

I never tire of the "look" I get from the 1.2. it's not all about shallow depth of field; there's something else going on besides. Agree that the 1.8 is also a fabulous lens for the price. I'm not thinking of selling mine.

Just today I "discovered" you channel. Nice videos, I am from Colwood area closer to the lagoon, Nikon shooter as well. Maybe I will run into you someday.

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Nice to see you here. That would be cool! What do you generally like to photograph?

Very helpful Sire

@RaymondParkerPhoto

3 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

I bought this lens and still love it! It's such a great lens.

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

It really is!

Beautiful results, Ray! (I still haven't gotten around to purchasing the 85mm f/1.2, but I think it's definitely part of my future.)

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Thanks, Mike! I don't think you'd regret the investment. I was really on the fence but glad I bought it.

Impressive shots.

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@himalayareaders

6 ай бұрын

@RaymondParkerPhoto With the pleasure.

Thanks for the review. Great job as always. It’s surely nice glass but so expensive and heavy compared to 85 1.8 that I love and use with some frequency. I’ll have to try it to get swayed into that purchase. Happy New Year.

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

The 1.8 is still a great lens at a great price. But there's no denying the "special something" from the f/1.2. Is that worth the extra $2,000 (and weight penalty)? I wasn't sure when I bit the bullet and ordered it. Now I am.

The Z8 is my favorite camera and the music by Bach is Fabulous. Lauren is real Trooper. Cheers!

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Z8 is awesome! That's Pachelbel. Lauren is indeed committed to getting the shot!

Happy new year Ray! I’ve struggled to get the 85mm off the camera since the day I bought it! Wonderful lens. Thanks for your thoughts. Have a great year. All the best, Joseph

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Happy new year, Joe! It really is a thing of beauty that makes things of beauty! All the best, Ray

'tis magical glass 🙂

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

for sure

I remember the 85mm f1.4 f mount was also a top rated lens.

Great video Ray. I really appreciate you showing some real shots with different bodies. I have the Plena and have been considering getting the 85. I have thought about the 85 1.8 but it seems like the 1.2 is in a different league like the Plena. Oh well, it's only money! 😂

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

My pleasure, Darren. I'd have to agree, based on the 85 results and testing the 50, I'm wanting the latter.

I have the 1.8 and love it. So I got the 135 Plena instead.

Mind-boggling performance....this 85mm f1.2 plus 135 f1.8 Plena is my dream combo but the price of these two lenses combined is over $5000

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Yep, not easy on the pocketbook, but the 85 f/1.2 can be credited with bringing in more work.

@mamo4104

6 ай бұрын

For someone who earns a living through photography makes a lot of sense but not an enthusiast like me.@@RaymondParkerPhoto

I use the 85mm 1.8 S for street types as it's a great compromise between portability, size and performance. However, I had the 135mm Plena recently to try and the samples of those images were just in a different league - so much that I am considering to add one. Guess the 85mm 1.2 is in a similar league. I like it that you showed some use in everyday situations, not just the posed portrait types. That's how I would use it and it does add a new dimension there, too!

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Yes, Marcus, the 1.8 is still a great little lens for street work. I'd like to try out the Plena, but I still think the 85 would get more use generally. I never used to think of that focal length as more than a specialty lens for portraits. Now, I pick it up more often ... because the f/1.2 makes images look so "special."

Helpful video! Thanks. I’ll try my manual Zeiss 85mm with the FTZ II as soon as I get my Nikon Z8. Of course it is not f 1.2 , non autofocus, but so sharp!!!

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Cheers, Tomas! I'm sure readers would be interested in your Zeiss test. Keep us posted.

@tomaswilde5481

6 ай бұрын

I’ll do so with pleasure!

Hi Raymond, your photos are magnificent but I still think that your blacks and whites are much deeper and more controlled. However, I myself do very little black and white (because drowning out the difficulty with color seems to me to be the right escape). Which doesn't stop me from loving Salgado's work, for example, and yours. Very happy new year 2024 from France!

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Bonne année, Jean! Thank you so much for your kind words! The B&W may well reflect the decades I spent learning Adams' Zone System, shooting, developing and printing my own work in silver. I do still enjoy B&W, though I find it harder to "see" in monochrome today. Perhaps I need to reacquaint my eye. And, I am working on a feature I hope to release in the next month or two. Salgado (and his printing team) do incredible work. I've been lucky enough to see with my own eyes prints from some of the best practitioners of the art: Manual Alvarez Bravo, Lucien Clergue, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Richard Avedon, to name just 4 masters of the genre. Those inform all my work. Happy New Year from Canada!

@jeanchonot3715

6 ай бұрын

@@RaymondParkerPhoto Salgado has some magnificent words on the b&w: "(...) When we look at an image in b&w, it penetrates us, we digest it and, unconsciously, we color it. The b&w, this abstraction, is therefore assimilated by that whoever looks at it, appropriates it.” This is why, I think, these great masters remain great masters throughout the ages. Their works overwhelm us without the need for artifice. They invade us and give rise to emotions in us that we did not necessarily expect. And that is really very strong.

I wonder what kind of footage I can get from it for cinema 🤔

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Let us know.

What picture control settings do you use to get the Zf video in the forest to look like that? Or do you do color grading in post?

@RaymondParkerPhoto

12 күн бұрын

I almost always use the Flat profile and colour grade in post. This is 10-bit SDR by the way.

@bananaman-zd4lq

12 күн бұрын

@@RaymondParkerPhoto Can the same effect be achieved by adjusting the tone curve in Nikon's picture control software or NX Studio? I was thinking that with the Z6III's new flexible color picture control that allows a custom tone curve and color grading, it would be possible to skip the post production process

@RaymondParkerPhoto

11 күн бұрын

@@bananaman-zd4lq I haven't had chance to try that. Let us know how you go.

@bananaman-zd4lq

11 күн бұрын

@@RaymondParkerPhoto I don't have a z6III, maybe someday

Why canon sony overtake the all nikon market in mirror less system, its true that nikon DSRL system were unbeatable but nikon mirror less system is very degraded in front of sony and canon mirror less system, am an proud user of nikon d810 but now i am planing to shift to canon or sony ecosystem.....

@RaymondParkerPhoto

2 ай бұрын

Your choice entirely, but that's simply not true.

Love the images from the 85mm f1.2 - A bit chubby for my Z6 but fits a Z9 or Z8 just right...🦘

@RaymondParkerPhoto

6 ай бұрын

Agree, but I think there's one in there from the Z6. Really nice with the Z9.

@roybixby6135

6 ай бұрын

@@RaymondParkerPhoto The more I use the Z9 and its lenses - I wonder where have you been all my life ? 🦘