Getting a 70D, 50mm 1.4 or 85 1.8?

Finally getting back into photography and ordering a 70D next week but i cannot decide on which Prime to get. I've had the 50mm 1.4 but never owned an 85. The 50mm is already kinda tight on a crop sensor. Hows the 85? I hear its sharper than the 50mm which is a plus as im a sharpness freak. I also hear it blows the background more which is another plus but i just have this feeling its going to be too tight. I'm into shooting Portraits and Wildlife so i'm looking for a good Portrait lens to start off. Next Month ill be getting the 70-200mm IS II USM which is also a good Portrait lens, But for now, its 50 or 85 lol.

Any Suggestions.

If the 70-200 is a sure thing just pick up an EOS M.

On a more productive note, the best thing to do is pick up a 50 1.8 and your 85. Do you really need the USM or the .4 stop difference?
When you do get your 70-200 go ahead and sell the 85 and pick yourself up a nice wide prime that's more oriented towards landscapes. Or just plug in your 17-40.
Only you can judge sharpness, you can talk/think all day and end up getting a "soft" copy of whichever you choose.

ilovestarcraft2random wrote in post #16538407
If the 70-200 is a sure thing just pick up an EOS M.

On a more productive note, the best thing to do is pick up a 50 1.8 and your 85. Do you really need the USM or the .4 stop difference?
When you do get your 70-200 go ahead and sell the 85 and pick yourself up a nice wide prime that's more oriented towards landscapes. Or just plug in your 17-40.
Only you can judge sharpness, you can talk/think all day and end up getting a "soft" copy of whichever you choose.

I don't like the EOS M, too compact. i know the 70-200 is heavy, i don't mind heavy gear. Thanks for the tips though. it makes sense.

If you are "just getting back into photography" from a film background, you might find either 50/1.4 or 85/1.8 a good "starter" prime. With the crop conversion factor, a 50mm is no longer a "standard lens"... it's a short telephoto. A standard would be a 28/1.8, Sigma 30/1.4, or perhaps a 35/2.

But since you want to shoot portraits and appear to have a crop camera already, a short tele prime may be right up your alley. If that's the case, I'd recommend the 50/1.4. The 50/1.8 is a very lightly build, entry level lens with iffy autofocus... fine for occasional use, but might not survive a year of regular use.

The 50/1.4 can be useful indoors, when you don't have a lot of working room. The 85/1.8 might be too long at times. It's a nice lens, but both can give very nice image quality and blur down the background strongly. I recommend stopping the 50/1.4 to f2 or f2.2 for sharpest shots, though my copy is usable wide open. You might want to fine tune it with the Micro Adjust feature of the 70D, since focus accuracy is important when using large apertures in close, with very shallow depth of field. (Another reason to get the 50/1.4 over the 50/1.8... the 50/1.8 is nearly impossible to MA, since it's AF is so iffy.)

The 50/1.4 also falls nicely in between your 17-40 and the 70-200 you are planning to buy.

The 85/1.8 is very nice, too. It's got some chromatic aberration, but that's fixable in post processing. It would be more useful for indoor sports, tighter portraits or any situation where you have plenty of working space.

Regarding the 70-200... be sure to check it out in a store before buying. It's a great lens, but the f2.8 versions are pretty large and heavy. You might prefer the f4 IS.

70-200 really isn't long enough for wildlife photography, even on a crop camera. It's great for portraits (outdoors especially) and for sports. But if wildlife is a high priority, you might want to scale back some of your other purchases, to keep some budget aside for a longer lens such as the 300/4 IS (perhaps with a 1.4X teleconverter) or 400/5.6.

do you have any of the items listed in your signature still?

if you thought 50mm was too tight before, i don't see why you'd go for 85mm now...

If you want a serious portrait lens then the 85 is the better choice. However, portrait lens is not the same thing as an indoor/low light lens. You'll find it way to tight for that. Look at the 35 f/2 IS instead IMHO for the latter.

Crop factor.You're definitely not getting 50mm. Like someone said, youre getting like a zoom.

The 70D has a 1.6x crop factor if you did not already know.

Thanks for all the replies guys, I really thought everyone would praise the 85mm but it looks like the 50mm is the way to go. Also just to Clarify, I had two T3i's which is a 1.6 crop so im very familiar with it. Judging by the comments, it looks like the 50mm is the best option. Owned both the 1.8 and 1.4, i would say the 50mm 1.4 is beyond better in terms of build Quality so i would probably never go back to the 1.8.

DJHaze596 wrote in post #16538383
Finally getting back into photography and ordering a 70D next week but i cannot decide on which Prime to get. I've had the 50mm 1.4 but never owned an 85. The 50mm is already kinda tight on a crop sensor. Hows the 85? I hear its sharper than the 50mm which is a plus as im a sharpness freak. I also hear it blows the background more which is another plus but i just have this feeling its going to be too tight. I'm into shooting Portraits and Wildlife so i'm looking for a good Portrait lens to start off. Next Month ill be getting the 70-200mm IS II USM which is also a good Portrait lens, But for now, its 50 or 85 lol.

Any Suggestions.

Heya,

Wait 30 days and just use the 70-200.

I wouldn't get the 50mm unless you know you like that focal length. You keep expressing that 50mm was tight. 85mm is definitely tighter. You're on a crop, so these are tighter anyways. 85~135mm focal lengths on full frame tend to be ideal portrait lengths for the field of view due to distance used. On a crop sensor, that's a 50mm and 85mm. But as you stated, you find it tight already. I would suggest you either change how you do photography, or look at shorter focal lengths. But this all has impact on your photos of course.

The further you are from your subject with your lens, the more background compression/blur you will generate. This is why longer focal length lenses "make more blur". It's not the lens. It's the distance you gain, due to increased magnification basically. Distance alone does this. The rest of the blur is due to depth of field, which is generated from wide aperture. This is why the 85mm f1.8 and 135mm f2 do so well in this and are heralded.

If you cannot back up from your subject, distance wise, and use the 85mm, and the 50mm is too tight as it is, then look to a 30~35mm. This is only if you have physical space restraints. Otherwise, just learn to shoot differently and from further away. The biggest impact of this is to learn to do lighting differently due to inverse square laws governing light.

I'd get the 85mm f1.8 and learn to use it and give yourself more room.
Otherwise, the 35mm f2 IS.
You want sharpness, those two are very sharp wide open. The 50mm f1.4 is not very sharp wide open. You'll be stopping down to do any work with it for a portrait. Then again, portraits tend to want softness to avoid cruelty.

Very best,

DJHaze596 wrote in post #16538383
The 50mm is already kinda tight on a crop sensor. Hows the 85? ... but i just have this feeling its going to be too tight.

Any Suggestions.

If you are still undecided, set your 55-250 to 85 and see if that will be too tight for you. I'm guessing yes.

I also just picked up the 70D and the 70-200 2.8 mkii. The biggest reason was for indoor basketball and volleyball. Unfortunately, I'm now looking at the 50 and 85 as well because some of the gymnasium's in this area are still too dark for the big beautiful lens to shine in. I think if I could afford the 5Dmkiii, it might make the difference, but that will have to wait till next year. Just fyi, I have noticed most of my shots to be in the area of 85mm.

chrisnosleep wrote in post #16539955
I also just picked up the 70D and the 70-200 2.8 mkii. The biggest reason was for indoor basketball and volleyball. Unfortunately, I'm now looking at the 50 and 85 as well because some of the gymnasium's in this area are still too dark for the big beautiful lens to shine in. I think if I could afford the 5Dmkiii, it might make the difference, but that will have to wait till next year. Just fyi, I have noticed most of my shots to be in the area of 85mm.

Heya,

Don't waste more money on a lens for not even 1 stop more of light gobbling ability. Even with an F2 lens, you're still going to find it too dark in some gyms while trying to do this. And the other issue is the depth of field you start to get at these apertures really can work, and sometimes not work, for the subjects.

The key to indoor sports like that is really high ISO. You're better off with a camera that can handle really high ISO (6D) than buying a insignificantly faster lens. I'm talking over 12,800+ ISO.

Look at the threads by the guys that do nothing but indoor volleyball. They are not shooting at F1.8 or F2. Look at their ISO values. And look at the images they make, based on which camera body they use. It's all about ISO and noise reduction/handling.

Very best,

i found the 85 to be too tight on a crop so i sold the crop and went FF.

85/1.8 is a phenomenal lens, the 50 1.4 is no slouch, i used it quite a bit for portraits when i had it.

you wont get the background compression the 85 will give you and certainly more distortion than is optimal but i'm not sure you will even notice. the 50mm will be much more usable.

the 85 will give you FOV of about a 135 on a FF which i love for portraits but you need to stand way back for a full body shot.

i'd go with a 35 and 85 or a single 50mm

I think ill just stick with the 50mm, I was going to try something new but i guess not. i can always return it and get the 85. Thanks for all the replies.

Put your 55-250 on your camera and leave it zoomed at about 85mm.
Now try and live with that focal length for a while.
If you can't, or find you always want to zoom to a different length, then you don't need an 85mm.

Also look through your photo gallery with your 55-250. What focal lengths have you been using.
That should tell you if you regularly have it a certain focal lengths.
You may find that (like most people) you have used your zoom at either the wide or tele end... and very little inbetween.