Canon 85mm 1.8?

[minatophase3]

I am thinking about adding a new lens to my collection. I currently have a Canon 70-200 4.0L and a Tamron 28-75 2.8. I have been taking quite a few portrait pictures and just shot a wedding last night. I think it would have been nice to have the 1.8 aperature for the wedding.

The price seems to be very reasonable, is it a good lens? I have never had a prime before so I am a little concerned about that, I really like the flexibility of the zooms!

Any input about the 85 1.8 would be appreciated. By the way, it would attach to a Canon D60.

Thanks,
Tim

[DaveG]

I am thinking about adding a new lens to my collection. I currently have a Canon 70-200 4.0L and a Tamron 28-75 2.8. I have been taking quite a few portrait pictures and just shot a wedding last night. I think it would have been nice to have the 1.8 aperature for the wedding.

The price seems to be very reasonable, is it a good lens? I have never had a prime before so I am a little concerned about that, I really like the flexibility of the zooms!

Any input about the 85 1.8 would be appreciated. By the way, it would attach to a Canon D60.

Thanks,
Tim

The 85 mm f1.8 is a great lens on a 1:1 camera but almost useless for portraits especially at a wedding on a D60 or any other 1: 1.6 camera.

This lens is going to give you the framing that a 135mm lens will, and you rarely will have enough room in someone's living room to make use of it. The 50 f1.4 would be a better choice as it's faster, cheaper and will let you frame your subject better.

[CoolToolGuy]

Its a terrific lens. I think you will like what you see when you look through it. It may be a little long for portraits, but if you want or need the speed it is great.

Have Fun,

[Mark_Cohran]

The 85mm 1.8 is a great portrait lens. On the D60 it will be a little long due to the 1.6 crop factor, but it will still work fine for what you want to do with it. Since you don't have much experience with primes, you will be surprised by the sharpness of this lens, but you should also be aware of the very shallow depth of field when using the lens wide open. Focus is critical under these circumstances, and the low light AF capability of the D60 is very poor, so you may want to consider this before choosing this combo. With a tripod and good manual focus, this combo is capable of outstanding shots, with good bokeh and great isolation of subject. My suggestion is to borrow or rent this lens you use with your D60. Experiment and test before deciding to purchase.

Mark

[roanjohn]

OMG, this lens is AWESOME!!

For weddings though, I might lean more towards the 50 f1.4.........

Check out some sample pics:

85 f1.8
http://www.pbase.com/roanjohn/last_hurrah

50 f1.4
http://www.pbase.com/roanjohn/brooklyn_bridge

It should be all over the galleries...........click on a pic and the lens should be noted.

Ro1

[minatophase3]

OMG, this lens is AWESOME!!

For weddings though, I might lean more towards the 50 f1.4.........

Ro1

Your pictures look very nice! At this moment I am not doing many weddings, just happened to do one last night as the backup photographer. As it turned out the main photographer had her gear stolen the day before so I ended up being the main photographer :shock: .

It would have been nice to have something better for low light, although I understand that my D60 has some limitations there too. Luckily I had my trusty 550 flash and there was a low ceiling to bounce the flash off of.

I would look to the 85 1.8 as a good portrait lens for close up shots.

Tim

[pcasciola]

drisley posted this link a while back with an indoor shot done with the 85mm F/1.8:

85mm sample pic (http://www.mts.net/~lftbrain/iso1600crop2.jpg)

Here's the thread (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=41416&highlight=85mm+indoor)

[drisley]

Man Nipple Alert! :lol:
Hehe, everytime I've posted that image people tell me to post an alert! heheh.

Yes, I love that lens, expecially when you consider the price. The image quality is atleast equal to L zooms, and the build is very nice. It's a tremendous lens to have in your colleciton!

[roanjohn]

OMG, this lens is AWESOME!!

For weddings though, I might lean more towards the 50 f1.4.........

Ro1

Your pictures look very nice! .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ......I would look to the 85 1.8 as a good portrait lens for close up shots.

Tim

Thanks Tim!!

You will not be sorry with the 85 f1.8.........Just one warning, this lens will give you some purple fringing on shiny objects if you shoot wide open. This is inherent of this lens............BUt!!! When you see the bokeh this lens produces, you will forget all its shortcomings..........it's just BUTTERY SMOOTH!!!

Ro1

[blacktape]

85mm on FF vs
135mm on 1.6x
- that depends on your shooting style.

however,
on a FF body, i can see that the 85mm 1.8 is very sharp. SHARPER than 70-200 2.8 IS zoom.

[cmM]

Man Nipple Alert! :lol:
Hehe, everytime I've posted that image people tell me to post an alert! heheh.

Yes, I love that lens, expecially when you consider the price. The image quality is atleast equal to L zooms, and the build is very nice. It's a tremendous lens to have in your colleciton!

Drisley, if he buys the lens, IT"S YOUR FAULT !!!

Seriously, I have heard great things about this lens, especially for portraits.

[jjguest]

the best for portrait i think
http://www.pbase.com/jjguest/image/27511485

[nat869]

I do not have the 85mm but have heard it is a good clear lense. I personally like my 50mm 1.8 lense. It was cheap and gives quite clear images, especially when compared to my 28-105 USM zoom. As was mentioned the 85mm would be hard to use in a living room, I barely have enough room in mine to use the 50mm.

[minatophase3]

Man Nipple Alert! :lol:
Hehe, everytime I've posted that image people tell me to post an alert! heheh.

Yes, I love that lens, expecially when you consider the price. The image quality is atleast equal to L zooms, and the build is very nice. It's a tremendous lens to have in your colleciton!

Well, I am picking up a check today from a company I do some consulting for and then tomorrow, I will be down at my local camera store to purchase this lens! Thanks everyone for the feedback. I think that it will be a very nice addition to my very small lens collection.

The best part of this is that my wife gave me the OK to get it! Probably because it was the cheapest item on my wish list. :shock:

Look for some shots posted next week with the D60/85 1.8 combo.

Tim

[Ken Fong]

I brought a 50mm 1.4 and a 85mm 1.8 for a wedding (for portraits). The 50mm was used a lot because there were a lot of full length portraits...I even used it for some close ups, for which the 85mm might have been a better choice. But when the day was over, the 85mm lens was hardly used...maybe the 1.6x factor had something to do with it.

[minatophase3]

I brought a 50mm 1.4 and a 85mm 1.8 for a wedding (for portraits). The 50mm was used a lot because there were a lot of full length portraits...I even used it for some close ups, for which the 85mm might have been a better choice. But when the day was over, the 85mm lens was hardly used...maybe the 1.6x factor had something to do with it.

Thanks for the info. I guess I am really buying this lens for non-wedding portraits and the type of portrait I generally like to take are from the waist up. If I decide to pursue this wedding thing I am pretty sure I will be getting a 50 1.4 as well.

Tim

[imagesense]

I do weddings and portraits and have both the 85 1.8 & 50 1.8 I wouldn't do without either. If you can spend the money for the 85, the 50 is so cheap it's worth adding to your order. IMHO. They are both sharp, focus fast, and are light to carry.

I'm sure the 50 1.4 is great too but it is more money than the 1.8 and I've heard it does not focus as fast in low light, which you'd think that would be an advantage in a 1.4 lens. strange.


Lou

[cmM]

I bought it too in the meantime. Didn't get a change to try it out yet, but I might tonight... I'll see what my creative side comes up with :)

[drisley]

Yes, YES! :twisted:
My plan is coming along nicely... soon all members of this forum will succumb to the power of the primes... :twisted:

[imagesense]

Primes rock, but I also can't do without my 17-40L & 70-200L 2.8.

The zooms are very sharp and are indispensible at weddings when you have to shoot such a variety of subjects and distances.

Lou

[Mark_Cohran]

Primes definitely have their place, but so do zooms. I love primes, but I have to say I use zooms more than primes for general shooting. However, when setting up and shooting a specific scene, a prime can't be beat.

Mark

[minatophase3]

Well, I got the 85 1.8 lens on Saturday! I didn't have a lot of time to play with it but managed to get a few shots of my daughters. I absolutely love this lens! It will take a while to get used to as it is my first prime, but I know I will love it.

I was very surprised at how sharp the lens is even at 1.8. Here are a couple of my first shots with it:

Aperature - 1.8
http://www.thenationfamily.com/images/girls/sept04/kaitlyn.jpg


Aperature - 2.2 (I think)
http://www.thenationfamily.com/images/girls/sept04/mackenzie1.jpg

I had several shots of both of my daughters together that didn't turn out because they were blurry, I soon realized that you cannot use 1.8 for multiple people as it does such a great job at blurring the background. Pretty neat!

I also missed a few good shots because I forgot it was a prime and when I had the shot in focus I tried to "zoom" in or out a little and guess what, it didn't zoom :D .

Thanks to all for the recommendations, this is by far the best lens in my collection (my collection: Tamron 28-75 2.8 & Canon 70-200 4.0L).

Tim

[Andy_T]

Tim,

very nice photos of your cute daughters.

however, the second one seems to be a little bored by your efforts :lol:

Best regards,
Andy

[minatophase3]

Tim,

very nice photos of your cute daughters.

however, the second one seems to be a little bored by your efforts :lol:

Best regards,
Andy

Yes she was very bored, but at least she let me take her picture, sometimes she just turns and runs away! :D

[roanjohn]

I also missed a few good shots because I forgot it was a prime and when I had the shot in focus I tried to "zoom" in or out a little and guess what, it didn't zoom :D .



:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

GREAT SHOTS!!! You can still take group shots with this lens, just make sure you stop it down to around f5.6 or higher.........and you need to go back........WAY BACK!!! :-)

http://www.pbase.com/roanjohn/image/32672830

Ro1

[drisley]

this is by far the best lens in my collection (my collection: Tamron 28-75 2.8 & Canon 70-200 4.0L).

See! Told ya!
That second shot is just AMAZING!!! :shock:
The expression, depth of field, colour, everything is perfect!

[minatophase3]

See! Told ya!
That second shot is just AMAZING!!! :shock:
The expression, depth of field, colour, everything is perfect!

Yes, you were spot on! Thanks for the compliment on the photo :D . I have 2 photo shoots scheduled over the next week and this lens get some extensive use, I can't wait!

Tim