All the hype is true. This lens is magic. I have never experienced a lens like this before. The lens renders pretty images even in bad light. My 135L stopped getting used for portraits, so I replaced it with the 300mm f/4L IS for more reach. At f/1.2, if you're close enough, the lens seems to render paintings rather than photos. The ugliest backgrounds are transformed into impressionist paintings. The skin tones are excellent. I was a little scared of achieving focus on the full-frame 5D @ f/1.2, but keeping both sets of eyelashes in the focus plane greatly increases the chances of getting a keeper. AI Servo, continuous drive mode, choosing the closest AF point, and focus bracketting also help, particularly if the subject is moving a little. f/1.2 is pretty addicting, albeit challenging up-close. At f/2 and higher, the lens has amazing color, contrast, and sharpness. The subject appears 3D and seems to pop out of the page more than I've seen with my other lenses. The images look so good out of the camera, I'm afraid to mess with them in Photoshop, but I still do a little fine and coarse sharpening. I had very high expectations for the colors, and they did not disappoint one bit. The bokeh, even at f/2, is in a different league. The sharpness and contrast exceeded my expections, but don't expect this lens to beat the 85/1.8 in raw sharpness alone.

At 2.25 lb, the 85/1.2L is a serious piece of glass. It feels heavier than I had expected, but it's well worth its weight and its price ($1700). The focus mechanism on this Mark II version is fast enough and tracks most accurately, and I'm glad I can hear it because it's easy to know when I've stepped inside the minimum focusing distance (MFD) of 3.2 ft. If there's one complaint, I wish the minimum focusing distance were more like 2 ft. I bought a 12mm extension tube ($80), which reduces the minimum to 1.6 ft. but also shortens the maximum from infinity to 2.3 ft. and reduces DOF to such shallowness that it pretty much has to be used around f/4, but the bokeh is still great.

I recommend the The-Digital-Picture.com for comprehensive reviews.