new lens

I am wanting to buy a prime lens:

in your opinion which is the 'most versatile' 35 - 50 or 85?

I know this is a fairly wide open question - i mainly shoot landscape and children

What camera(s) do you have? Are they APS-C or full-frame? What do you have now? If they are zooms, what focal lengths you most commonly use?

Get a prime that matches your favorite focal lengths.

35 is good for medium landscapes and still children. But you need the expensive f/1.4 to capture fast moving kids. The 50/1.8 is cheap, usable, but limited for landscape use. The 85/1.8 is great for fast kids (or other fast action)... but for landscape it would only be useful for relatively far shots.

Then there is the 18-135/3.5-5.6, a kit zoom with a fairly wide usability ... as long as there's enough light.

I hardly ever use my 50, a 35 would probably be my most used if I had primes (I use 24-70 for most of my photography) and the 85 is fantastic for portraits but otherwise I'd also not get much use out of it I think. Any particular reason you want a prime, and what do you have in lenses right now?

Most versatile prime? Oxymoron. If you want versatile, shoot a zoom. If you want to do something specific, buy the prime that accomplishes your mission. If you don't have a mission, it is cheaper to stick with the zoom. Of course, if you want a prime, just pick one and go with it. Fast primes open up a whole new world. I have been acquiring used primes for about a year. So far I have: 28 1.8, 35 IS, 50 1.4, and 100 2. I really like the 28 and 100 on full-frame, and the 35 on crop, but I use all of them on both formats.

My 50 is my walk around lens and I love it. However, at times I feel that the 35 would be beneficial more-so. This is why I purchased a 24-70.

hang your cross wrote in post #17213296
My 50 is my walk around lens and I love it. However, at times I feel that the 35 would be beneficial more-so. This is why I purchased a 24-70.

I have a 35 IS and a 50 1.4. The 50 gets used more on crop than on full-frame. I love the 35 on 6D. No interest in any flavor of 24-70.

This depends entirely on who you ask... for my, 50mm (or it's FF equivalent) is my preferred focal length.

GeoKras1989 wrote in post #17213271
Most versatile prime? Oxymoron. If you want versatile, shoot a zoom. If you want to do something specific, buy the prime that accomplishes your mission. If you don't have a mission, it is cheaper to stick with the zoom. Of course, if you want a prime, just pick one and go with it. Fast primes open up a whole new world. I have been acquiring used primes for about a year. So far I have: 28 1.8, 35 IS, 50 1.4, and 100 2. I really like the 28 and 100 on full-frame, and the 35 on crop, but I use all of them on both formats.

Not true. A 50mm 1.2 lens is much more versatile in dark locations than any zoom

davidfarina wrote in post #17214229
Not true. A 50mm 1.2 lens is much more versatile in dark locations than any zoom

Being specifically useful in one situation is exactly the opposite of versatile. Having the ability to do one thing well is not versatile. How is your 50L at wide landscapes, distant wildlife, AF tracking in something like basketball or ice hockey? The 50L may be a lot of things: fast, excellent, slow-focusing, sharp across the frame, weather sealed, minimal distortion, CA and vignetting. None of that makes it versatile. That just makes it good. Which is not a bad thing. If I could afford one, I wouldn't own a 50 1.4.

50 is the most versatile. Get 50 or 35 and 85.

I guessing based on your other 3 posts that you have a 24-105 and either a 6D or 5D3 now. I would run a program called exposure plot, which can be downloaded for free, on your current photo folder and see what focal length you use most. Everyone here is going to have a different opinion that might not meet your needs. Use actual data and your decision will match your needs far better than we can predict.

FEChariot wrote in post #17214677
I guessing based on your other 3 posts that you have a 24-105 and either a 6D or 5D3 now. I would run a program called exposure plot, which can be downloaded for free, on your current photo folder and see what focal length you use most. Everyone here is going to have a different opinion that might not meet your needs. Use actual data and your decision will match your needs far better than we can predict.

Or you can just look at your apertures in Lightroom, if you have it.

GeoKras1989 wrote in post #17214716
Or you can just look at your apertures in Lightroom, if you have it.

He is talking about something different. Not aperture.

sorry, I should have been more specific..
i have a 5Dmk3 and a 24-105L

the 24-105L is a beautiful lens for good light - but the f4 is limiting.

i was set to go for the 50L 1.2 but wary of the negative comments re focussing.