85 1.8 vs 100 2.8 Macro ... sharpness?

[elipkin]

I am drooling over the images people take with the 85 but would not be able to efford both it the 100 macro and I would like some macro capability. How does 100 compare to the 85 in terms of sharpnes?

[grego]

Does it matter if you want a lens that has macro capabilities? What's your priority?

The 85 is a much better low light lens and has great bokeh with fast AF. Both make good portrait lens, so you couldn't go wrong with either, but only one will give you a macro.

[ddelallata]

They are both great for portraits, but as Grego stated above..... the 100 will double-up as an excellent macro lens.

[blinking8s]

the 85 is the best bang for your buck i think, its not too expensive, quality and build rock

[grego]

Originally Posted by blinking8s

the 85 is the best bang for your buck i think, its not too expensive, quality and build rock

Not, if he wants macro capabilities.

[tim]

If you want or need macro, get the macro lens. I use it for portraits sometimes, it does a great job, so long as you have enough space to use it. The 85mm will be better for low light or narrower DOF. I used the 100mm macro to do this shot, one of my all time favorites. It's an incredibly sharp lens.

[Reminisce]

The 100 is amazingly sharp, fast, and built like a tank. I use it a lot when Im doing portraits outdoors or anything of the sort. I've also used it at the beach tracking seagulls over my other lenses as it seems to be my fastest and most accurate lens at the moment (L on the way baby!).
If you're even slightly interested in macro, then you should definitely pick it up, it gets really close (1:1 lifesize magnification), focuses really fast, and of course you can get even more magnification with the right tools.

[thw]

I had both at one point. Both are equally sharp, but the sharpness of the 100 f/2.8 macro is better than the 85 f/1.8 wide-open. Also, the 100 f/2.8 focuses more reliably on my XT than the 85. When the 85 focuses accurately, it is very impressive. I am keeping the 100 f/2.8 for versatility and focus accuracy reasons.

[genewch]

The 100mm macro is a very sharp lens. In dim light, I have the experience that it sometimes hunts. The pictures produced are not as sharp as expected, but it performs excellent in daylight. No idea on 85mm f1.8, but I believe it beats the 100mm macro in dim light due to wider aperture and shorter rotation of the focusing ring.