Do I need the 85mm 1.8?

I have the Tamron 28-75 2.8. I have a 3 month old and a crop body. I love the images I'm seeing with the 85mm and I'm also wanting to shoot with a prime. Will this be a wise choice or should I just keep shooting with my Tamron? I currently shoot mainly portraits but seem to be shooting in low light. Budget is $300-500.

Are these indoor or outdoor portraits? I think 85mm is too tight on a crop for indoor portraits. 50mm on a crop is better for indoors.

I will be using it both indoors and outdoors.

bad choice. zoom your tamron @75mm and tape it down. Use it for a few days, and you'll see how hard it is to use indoors. 85 is very narrow FOV on a crop indoors.

put that money on a flash if light is an issue.

Lien wrote in post #15412271
Are these indoor or outdoor portraits? I think 85mm is too tight on a crop for indoor portraits. 50mm on a crop is better for indoors.

Agreed... A 50mm on a crop is even a bit tight for more than just head shots indoors. If you are only getting one prime for your crop, I would look at a 35 (off brand as Canon's 35 in that price range is not that fast) or the Canon 50 f1.4.

brian4646 wrote in post #15412252
I have the Tamron 28-75 2.8. I have a 3 month old and a crop body. I love the images I'm seeing with the 85mm and I'm also wanting to shoot with a prime. Will this be a wise choice or should I just keep shooting with my Tamron? I currently shoot mainly portraits but seem to be shooting in low light. Budget is $300-500.

Shooting with a fast prime has a very different look for portraits, and requires somewhat of a different technique than shooting with a zoom. Managing your space because you’re limited to a single focal length, and being more mindful of how and where you’re focusing when shooting with a shallow depth of field requires a bit more effort, but the effect is worth it when you get it right. It’s an effect that even the best zooms cannot create. I have an 85 1.2 on rent right now, and find myself not wanting to use my 24-70 II unless I really have to.

Plus the extra light gathering ability of a fast prime can be a life saver when stuck in less than ideal lighting conditions. My 50mm 1.4 is always in my bag ‘just in case’

That said, 85mm is rather long on a crop body, and you’d have trouble shooting portraits indoors unless you have a lot of room. A 50mm prime might serve you better.

I agree with Lien, Outdoors i really like my 85mm as it does produce some beautiful images, but when indoors unless you have alot of room between you and your subject you are going to have a hard time getting all of them in frame... Maybe not at 3 months but when the baby gets up and moving it could present itself as an issue.

That being said if i knew then what i know now i would have grabbed the 50mm 1.4 before the 85mm as i get far more use out of one then the other

The focal lenght will not be an issue indoors because it will be for my basement studio. I have room. Would you still look into the 50mm or the 85mm?

75mm f2.8 and 85mm f1.8 are not that far off. I think you'd feel it redundant most of the time.

I think the 85mm f1.8 makes sense as a long portrait lens for someone with a 17-50mm f2.8 kind of lens, but where you have one covering up to 75mm, it's too much like overlap.

search flickr for portraits taken with the 28-75. There is PLENTY of amazing work done with that lens. Starting out it can be overwhelming thinking you need every lens that has taken a shot you love, but as someone who's done his share of buying and selling lenses, I can tell you that you don't!

I dont have the tamron but do have the sigma which should be close to tamrons pic quality and my opinion is that the 85 1.8 is a great lens in my lineup. It is the lens where i get compliments on the pictures taken all the time. However ive often wondered if a 100mm macro would have been a better choice.

brian4646 wrote in post #15412331
The focal lenght will not be an issue indoors because it will be for my basement studio. I have room. Would you still look into the 50mm or the 85mm?

For a studio, you definitely want a zoom so you have framing flexibility and you shouldn't really be using f1.8 (or even f2.8) in a studio setting too often.

i use a 50mm on my FF becuase the 85 is too tight indoors unless im doing headshots.

when i had my 60D i never used the 85.

go wider.

Since its a studio, why not go for a Canon 70-200 f4 on a tripod with studio lighting? The Canon 70-200 f4 can be found for $500 with excellent IQ.

I had a Canon 50 1.4 and found it too tight indoors as well. Traded the Canon 50 1.4 for a Sigma 30 1.4 which has been much more useful overall. I do enjoy using a 50mm equiv fast prime lens.

For your studio work, you have to find out what FL is good. For my basement studio I determined that my perfect FL is 65mm (I stand as far as possible, to maximize the usage of the paper background, and still can cover the whole width of the background in portrait mode). I used 55-250 for a while, wasn't happy with the quality, just upgraded to 70-200 f4L, it should be much better match.

Regarding 85mm too tight indoors - I don't think so. I even manage to get some nice shots with 135L on crop indoors; 85mm would be easier. It is not perfect for indoors, but given that you'll be using it outdoors as well, 85 f1.8 sounds like a nice compromise. I heard this lens has fast and accurate AF, great IQ.