I love my camera.
Since what I love most is portraiture, I wanted to get the best possible lens specifically for that. I pondered over the camera and lens purchase for about 2 years. Finally, at the end of 2011, I got the Canon EOS 5D Mark II body and the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens. I think this lens captures the contours of the face with a gentle touch, and the big aperture allows me to photograph in almost any light.
I did all my pre-purchase investigations on this website
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/
The camera body is shown here
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos5dmarkii/default.asp
The lens is shown here
http://www.dpreview.com/products/canon/lenses/canon_85_1p2_ii
I am not rich enough to buy another lens at this time, but that’s okay. I decided to use this lens for dang near everything until I know it intimately. It works well in more situations than I might have guessed. The 85mm lens is a fixed lens, not a zoom lens, so I frame my shots by moving myself, I compose with my feet. My compact camera, the Canon G9, is still useful to get a shot in a small room where I cannot back up any farther, or for quick shots from a moving car.
I still have lots to learn about using this camera, and this lens. Since I use Photoshop to edit my shots, I make adjustments in light balance and cropping _after_ the shot. If I were a better photographer, I would learn how to make the camera itself do that for me. I figure that’s fine though, because I will likely never buy another, and have all my life to learn to use it better.
