Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

Great lens and I wish I can keep it on all the time on my 400D, good for portraits but not so good as a walk around lens because it is just too long or even in a small studio.

Mine finally came in Monday afternoon and of course hasn't come off my 20D since. Happy birthday to me! 8) Still adjusting to it but I am in love with the lens and my first prime. Now I just want to get the Sigma 30mm 1.4 and the 200mm L marked off my list. Oh and the 100mm macro and....lol But the 85mm will keep me content for a while I think. Lord knows it has to. I am in debt since I started this hobby Now I just need to get out and shoot something other than the dogs and cat! Great lens and great price and I think it is going to be a great learning tool for me as a newbie as well as a lens I am sure I will keep for a long time to come.

TheHoff - I LOVE your dog portraits.

mom22 wrote in post #5299818
I just bit the bullet and ordered with B&H.

ForHisGlory wrote in post #5265466
i ordered it this morn. from adorama for 339 bucks. not bad.

Congrats to both of you for picking up one of these lenses. It really offers great bang for the buck.

ForHisGlory wrote in post #5265466
My concern is I will have to stand so far back. How far do you usually stand for family portraits out door?

Are you looking to do a group shot of 15 to 20 people, or 3 to 5 people? On a crop camera, you're definitely going to have to back up a bit, but it really depends on how many people across there are.

ForHisGlory wrote in post #5265466
What aperture do you usually recommend for these? can you do wide open on a 3 person shot?

For tight portraits, I won't even use this lens with one person. You'll wind up with eyes in focus, nose and ears OOF. Not a great look IMHO. The good news is that even stopped down a bit you can easily manipulate the amount of background blur you'll get by moving closer or further away, and/or placing your subjects closer or further away from the background.

ForHisGlory wrote in post #5265466
I like to have a nice bokeh. where would you place the center focus point...whose eyes? always nervous trying a new lens....

If you're going for tight, wide-open, super shallow DOF, focus on the eyes. If you focus on their nose, the eyes will be OOF.

Have fun!

aquagrl wrote in post #5300075
TheHoff - I LOVE your dog portraits.

Thanks, Jessica!

I was wondering why my keeper % was low... I thought I was just bad with the short DOF; nope, my 85 is slightly backfocusing. Off to Irvine it goes.

TheHoff wrote in post #5300128
Thanks, Jessica!

I was wondering why my keeper % was low... I thought I was just bad with the short DOF; nope, my 85 is slightly backfocusing. Off to Irvine it goes.

Just an observation, but are you sure this was taken at a 45* angle? It just looks a little flat to me and could slightly skew the results.

TheHoff wrote in post #5258800
Also wide open, 1.8

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/alexfirmani/2​307402827/

So amazing.

Its an awesome and VERY sharp lens! The only way I would sell mine it to upgrade to the 85L. Otherwise its a definite keeper!

gvg45 wrote in post #5300245
Just an observation, but are you sure this was taken at a 45* angle? It just looks a little flat to me and could slightly skew the results.

I think you're right but it was just confirming what I saw in my real world results. I should probably do another at the proper angle to send with the lens. It is only off by a hair; the previous owner didn't notice it but I've never had it above f/2 doing portraits so it was annoying me.