[Klaus]

http://www.opticallimits.com/canon_eos_ff/1039-canon85f14is

[Rover]

Wow, I was expecting much worse - waiting to find what the catch was. Apparently, there's none.

Re: the hoods: so far the 83 gauge Canon hoods have all been (mostly) interchangeable so finding one that fits better (if the supplied one is not satisfying) should not be hard. Though it can lead to decidedly odd results - I once swapped the hoods on 24/1.4 II and the 100-400 for fun (it originated in the fact that for a little while I had to use the 100-400 without its own hood, and in my arsenal the only one that fit was the EW-83K hood from the 24, but it all went downhill from there).

[you2]

I think the sigma art is a better lens don't you ?

[JJ_SO]

Two sentences dragged my attention:

"The (optical) behaviour in backlit situations is better than average though."
I don't think, lens hoods can improve strictly backlit situations like shooting towards a light source. In German, one of the terms describing of this things is "stray light hood" - meaning light sources, not visible in the picture, but their light rays make their way into the front element and acting as ricochets inside the lens. For that, a dedicated lens hood can improve the picture - but not for backlight, here it's only the level of coatings.

"It is facing tough competition from the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 ART lens but the Canon lens has the benefit of providing more consistent focusing results."
For that I'd like to see some statistics, real facts. I suspect this to be a subjective opinion. Size and weight already are real disadvantages of the Sigma, but this fathom of focus inaccuracies keeps on running around and chain rattling and I never saw any clear evidence.

Especially from Opticallimits: More than once you said, AF is nothing we can test or rate.

[Klaus]

You are correct regarding "stray light".

You are not correct regarding the Sigma - RSAs.

[JJ_SO]

Whatever RSAs is... a rapper?

[Klaus]

Whatever RSAs is... a rapper?

Focus shifts when stopping down.

[JJ_SO]

Whatever RSAs is... a rapper?

Focus shifts when stopping down.

RSAs is so much shorter and clearer than "focus shift", right? And "focus inaccuracies" then are only "focus shift"? It's a sample for another confusion in the internet, but as there are already 5 gazillions of them around it probably doesn't matter...

[Klaus]

... which is why I used the term focus accuracy ...

[Rover]

Still we always manage to find a reason to bitch and argue.