Canon 50mm f1.8 or 85 f1.8???

I have the older version of the nifty 50. I think it's at it's end and want to get another one but I am debating on the 50mm or 85mm. I use this for portrait and general walk around lens if going on a trips. Which one would you get if you had a choice? I own a 7D. I have the Sigma 17-55 f2.8 and 70-200 f4. I do love the 50mm but it's all plastic and the newer version is out. I heard that the 85 was pretty good also.

bump

I find the 17-50 OS and 85/1.8 make a great pair. The 85 gives more aperture differentiation than the 70-200/4 gives at 85mm than the 50/1.8 gives compared to the 17-50. Plus the 85 is smaller when you don't want a larger lens like the 70-200 with you.

Personally, I don't care for the focus by wire 'manual' focusing on the 50mm STM. I'd buy the 85mm.

I say save up a little and get both. But pick up the 85 while you save a little more and wait for your current 50 to die.

I owned the 50mm 1.8 II and the 50mm 1.8 STM, I would deffinatly say the STM is worth getting. Its super cheap the coating is much better, focusing all around is way better. Quicker and more importantly its precise. My favorite thing was the rounder aperture blades. Metal mount is also nice!


If you had a full frame id say get the 85 but on the crop a 50 works much better.

Alveric wrote in post #18026233
Personally, I don't care for the focus by wire 'manual' focusing on the 50mm STM. I'd buy the 85mm.

Yeah Canon still has not go that right, on my Sony the electornic focus is just as nice as the manual.

The 85 1.2L from canon also has Electronic, unlike the 1.8mm.

Thankfully the auto focus on the STM is so good that you never have to use manual. So its a mute issue.

I tried to us a 85mm as a walkaround and it didn't work for me. So it falls into specialty category ie portraits. That is on ff so more so on crop. 85 1.8 has fast af well made and cheap, but its output never impressed me.

I don't think the cheap ef85 will give you much improvement over what you have. Consider a red ring or a Samyang 85mm if you don't mind manual focus.

I think 85mm on a crop will be tough as a travel/walk-around lens. You also have to consider that it will require a faster minimum shutter speed than the 50mm because of the longer focal length (ie. 1/100 vs 1/60).

From personal experience of searching for a great 50mm lens, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the new 50 STM. The only 50mm that is a better overall value is the Sigma 50Art at nearly 10x the price, and that lens still has its own flaws. That being said, I don't think you are going to be "wow'ed" by moving from the 50 mk1 to the 50STM.

anitaw2 wrote in post #18025911
I have the older version of the nifty 50. I think it's at it's end and want to get another one but I am debating on the 50mm or 85mm. I use this for portrait and general walk around lens if going on a trips. Which one would you get if you had a choice? I own a 7D. I have the Sigma 17-55 f2.8 and 70-200 f4. I do love the 50mm but it's all plastic and the newer version is out. I heard that the 85 was pretty good also.

Heya,

Depends on the working distance that you want. 50mm will have you closer than an 85mm. Both are excellent for what you want, to a degree. 85mm is pretty long for a walk around.

The 17-55 is your walk around, that's good for that. The 70-200 fills other roles where you need the reach. If you just want something small, quiet and simple, I'd get the 50 STM.

I traded out my MKII 50mm and got the 50 STM and I adore it. It's quiet and that alone makes it worth the change up to me. I had the grinding sound of the 50's. But the 50 STM is very quiet, and that is a big deal to me.

I always found 85mm too long on APS-C unless you really are into big wide open outdoors for portrait. Great lens, great for action and portrait, but, you need a lot of room to do full body outdoor portrait with it on APS-C.

Very best,

35F2 for a walk around on 7D or 50mm for portraits. 85 was tad long imho... you need a good 25' working distance at the minimum on that lens on a crop.

I found the 50 F1.8 STM on sale in my area yesterday. I advertised my old 50 mm for sale and sold it in 2 hrs!! Went out and bought the new 50mm STM. Can't wait to try it. It was on sale for $129.99 and sold my old lens for $70 so I did pretty good.

I bought a 50mm STM last week, mainly to use on my M3 (with adapter). But I used it in anger on my 5D3 today and the results blew me away! Accurate focussing and top notch image quality from such a cheap lens. Look at my gear list and you'll see I have some decent lenses there and to my surprise the little 50mm held its head high! An absolute bargain! You'll love it, enjoy!

Talley wrote in post #18027411
35F2 for a walk around on 7D or 50mm for portraits. 85 was tad long imho... you need a good 25' working distance at the minimum on that lens on a crop.

Quite an exaggeration there, buddy. I use a 135L on FF from 8 to 12 feet for H&S, shots. Some could be tighter. An 85 on crop would be about the same.

6D/135L @ about 10 feet. You could do the same with 85mm on apsc.

Both are good, inexpensive lenses. I think that since you already have a 50mm f/1.8, I'd go for the 85mm f/1.8. Why not try something new?

85mm f1.8 is very good for kids indoor sports/stage plays/activities on crop.
It has very fast AF and wide aperture. It is going to work like 135mm f1.8 on crop if you ignore dof differences. I have seen used copies going for $250 price range here. That is pretty nice price for indoor sports lens with very fast AF and fast aperture.