Considering the 85mm 1.8

Hi all,

I'm wanting to improve my family snaps I guess, my sig has my current lens line up (minus the 1-00-400 but I don't think that counts here although I have used it as such ).

I don't want to break the bank, but equally don't want to just skip through lenses until I get what I should have in the first place, again that said my better half has noticed my lenses getting increasingly expensive

Here are a few candids I've got while out trying to get birds in flight to give you an idea of my skill level and general composition

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/magsnorton/5673​486236/

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IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/magsnorton/5627​234361/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/magsnorton/5673​418820/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/magsnorton/5215​107932/

Im also considering the same lens. i'll just wait for someone who actually have one to chime in.

I have the Canon 85 mm f/1.8 lens, and I think it is a great portrait lens, especially outdoors. The lens is a little soft at f/1.8, but is very sharp from f/2.8 up. By a "little soft" I mean if you do 100% blowups of critical features and compare shots taken at f/1.8 and f/8 from a tripod, you can see that the f/1.8 lacks some of the fine detail. You would never notice this in normal use unless you were doing huge blowups or extreme crops. All fast prime lens I know of are a little softer at maximum aperture. This is perfectly normal. The DOF is shallow at f/1.8 so I usually use it around f/2.8 anyway.

I like this lens a lot for outdoor work. You can get a nice bokeh with it. You can use it indoors too, although there sometimes is not enough space indoors to get far enough away to fame the shot you want. This is not a problem with closeups of the face, but can be for whole body shots or groups. I use the 50 mm f/1.4 in those situations.

Although I have never tried it, the Sigma 85 mm f/1.4 is suppose to be slightly sharper at maximum aperture. Unfortunately, it also costs twice as much as the Canon f/1.8. I think the Canon 85 mm f/1.8 is great value.

If you are thinking about purchasing this, I would not think too long. Canon and other Japanese manufactures are having problems caused by the earthquake and tsunami. Their part supply chains are disrupted and there are still rolling electrical blackouts in Japan. Canon lens are getting in short supply in the US and some retailers are marking prices up on their small remaining inventory.

I don't know man, I think I'm in the same boat. A lot of my pics now seem to be of my two year old son. I just bought an 85mm this week that is currently inbound. I'm hoping I'll get some killer portraits with it.

Nice photos of your girl by the way...

An 80 or thereabouts is the typical fl for portraits on a full frame 35mm, but with the 7d's 1.6 crop factor you might consider a 50mm 1.4. The Canon 85 1.4 gives very nice results though if you like that fl.

When outside, I pretty much always use the 85mm with my daughter. I love it. Fast, accurate AF, lovely bokeh. Go for it. Here's an example:

ISO: 200
Exposure: 1/3200 sec
Aperture: 1.8
Focal Length: 85mm

I used 85mm as my only lens when we visited our local arboretum about a month ago. It worked great and pictures were amazing! It has been my favorite lens for outdoor shots. For indoor shots, I stick with my 17-50!

So I just picked this lens today. I had the 50 1.4. I have to tell you this lens is considerably more sharp WO. These are seriously a few of the first shots I took with it this afternoon. All at 1.8. Out of the first batch of test shots, I would say I had a 95% "on the money" with the focus. I was not getting that with the 50mm. The USM is WAY quieter and faster than the 50. The Bokeh is better. I think I am going to love this lens. It sounds like you will use it for the same type of stuff. I'm personally very stoked! These are straight of the camera. Only re-sized.

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Dangit!!! Every time I think of selling this lens and replacing it with something else I see a thread like this and think my 85 needs a little more love.

The Sigma 85 was thrown out there, so how about the Samyang 85? I'm giving the Samyand/Vivitar/pickan​ame some serious consideration considering the cost and images I find. I'm not shooting action shots, so manual focus is fine. What do you 85mm 1.8 canon users think of the Samyang 85 1.4??

White snow and black dog...not an easy shot.

To the OP..... personally I think that 50mm is a better focal length on a crop than 85mm but there doesn't appear to be an AF 50mm that can approach the 85/1.8...so with that said, the 85/1.8 is sharp, even at f1.8. At least mine is. I think the comments that it isn't is based on the fact that at f1.8, you have little DOF at typical shooting distances and if you don't nail it, or shoot too wide for the shot (one eye in focus), you might well think it is soft wide open.

I've posted this image far too often here but I will do it, one more time.

This is at f1.8, with some cropping. The face is in focus and you can see the tiniest detail at 100%. I use very little sharpening for web images, primarily since I haven't developed a good workflow for sharpening small images. I've printed this at 11 x 16, later 16 x 20 and it is quite sensational, imo.

So, do not believe this lens cannot produce at f1.8 It gets a bit better when you stop down but I do not hesitate to shoot it wide open. This was on a FF, btw.

I went back and forth between the 50mm f/1.4 and the 85mm f/1.8 and bought the 50mm. I regret it to this day--I really want the USM, but 85mm would be too long for what I normally do with it. Guess I need a 5D, no?

Anyway, why not use the 50mm f/1.8 you already own? I shot running children all the time with my 50mm f/1.8 mkI before it failed to bounce. Save you a few hundred dollars for sure.

I've owned my 85 1.8 for a total of 2 days and it has blown me away, someone said it was soft at 1.8, but that's not the case with my copy. Yes the purple fringing can pretty bad wide open but I'm finding it easy to fix in LR & PS5. It's a deadly sharp lens and it focuses lightning fast. I went to B&H to test out and possibly buy the Sigma 85 1.4 and walked out with the 85 1.8 and I'm not disappointed, especially with the ~$500 still in my bank account..lol Get it, you won't regret it.