does it make sense?

You will really like the 85mm 1.8. Also consider the 50mm 1.4, it is a great lens also. My primes are my favorites and seem to get used more often than my other lenses. IMO fast primes are a must have. They really compliment any zoom out there.

I feel the same way. I guess if I was into really long teles I would not have a choice, but I'm not.

Behzad, my $.02: it depends on the budget you wish to allocate to this addictive hobby. If unlimited, look into so called "holy trinity" (35L, 85L, 135L) - people rave about those. Meanwhile folks who have 85 1.8 also love it. You can also look into three zooms: 16-35, 24-70 & 70-200 IS. This will cover a good focal length as well as your kids' sporting activities inside and outside.

Hope this helps, Chancellor

I have the Tamron and it's a cracking lens. I have the 50mm which is a great indoor lens but I wish now I'd held of and bought the 1.4 instead of the 1.8 version that I have. I just tried the 85 1.8 and it is indeed superb, but I found a little long range given that most of the portraits I've taken have been indoors.

You can always sell the 50 1.8 and put that money towards the 1.4. They sell pretty well, and some people get equal value back, as evident by some crazy buyers on ebay.

thanks guys, much appreciated!
I decided to get the 85 although I like the "holy trinity" (35L, 85L, 135L) idea as well. Well budget is always an issue although I could get them if I really wanted to but I want to learn how to use my 20d first rather collecting various lenses.
CmM, great pics, teh 2nd B&W pic, did you use any filter?

Nope, just added a sepia tone in PP.
(well, there was a UV filter on the lens but you couldn't really tell that from the picture)

I just got my 50 1.4 and it is amazing. Love my 85 1.8 as well. It is my favorite portrait lens, but it is not great if you don't have room to back up. I would go with the prime lenses first, if you have the money and then for the Tamron zoom. I have printed many more pictures using my 85 1.8 than any other lens. It's that good.

SuzyView
10D and stuff

The 85/1.8 is an outstanding lens, but in my view a bit long for indoor portraits of kids when using a camera with an APS sensor. I used an 85 on my 10D for some portraits I made of children in their living room, which was a sizeable room, and found myself backed against walls too often. For that sort of thing, I think you'll get more use out of the 50/1.4, which is also an outstanding lens.

Either of these will do more than the Tamron zoom because they are faster and let you get narrower depth of field, which is one key to portraits that don't look like snapshots. (The other key, timing, is harder, but is benefitted by fast focusing, which both the 50 and 85 have in spades.) They will also let you use available light with a more acceptable shutter speed for fast-moving children.

And, if the 85 is long, then the 100 is even longer. I use lenses as long as a 135 for tight facial portraits, but really have to outdoors to have enough room to use it. If macro is something you want to pursue, then the 100 is the lens to get. I don't think it will do better than the Tamron, though, for indoor kid portraits.

Rick "resisting the temptation to complain that the first wide-angle lens would be the third lens in the bag and not the first or second" Denney