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Samyang make an 85mm F1.4. I have a Samyang 24mm F1.4 I got for night time lapses. I had to send the first copy back as sometimes left was out of focus on stars with right in focus. I got another copy. So far it seems fine.
I compared it against my fabulous Nikon 24-70 F2.8 which I find superlative. It is very slighty better in landscapes and in panoramas. So that is a great result.
The Samyang 85/F1.4 gets a good review at photozone.de which I use to evaluate lenses.
I used a cheap Nikon 70-210mm F4 lens at Christmas for some portraits and I was very happy with the subject isolation and framing you could achieve with that lens. Its likely Canon also have an older version of the 70-200. F2.8 is probably not that important over F4. I researched this F2.8 versus F4 a lot lately as I am deciding on which lens to get in the future. F4 is fine with modern low light performance. Your 5D2 images fine at ISO3200 so F4 indoors should not be an issue. Canon 70-200 F4 is a famous lens. Weight and cost becomes an important factor in 70-200mm lenses. My little Nikon lense cost me a massive $160, has AF and is very very sharp on my unforgiving Nikon D800E. So there are bargains to be had.
My choice would be a 70-200mm F4 type for its versatility and subject isolation, low weight and portability and of course cost.
I have the superb Nikon 85mm F1.8g which is one of Nikons sharpest lenses. Its a new lense. I like it/don't like it. If you are a pro 85mm is probably great. For a walk around portrait lens I think you'd get way more keepers with the 70-200.
Perhaps a good 2nd hand famous Canon 70-200 F4 is the go. One with IS would be ideal. This lens is very well known. So much so Nikon just released a competing version as it was a reason some Canon shooters would not switch to Nikon because Nikon did not have a modern version of 70-200mm F4. Now they possibly have the best with a new generation of IS that is supposed to be 5 stops better. So that is my research on this topic. 85mm, 100mm, 135mm are the classic portrait lenses. F2 or better for subject isolation but 70-200 probably does that just as well and is more versatile. It can also double as a superb landscape lens (although it may not be that great for astro work).
Greg.
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