My 1st prime... an 85mm f/1.8

I have just about all the zooms I want (& can afford) right now. So I decided to look into primes... and heard many great things about the EF 85mm f1.8 & the EF 50mm f1.4. I figured that I would try the 85mm first... it just arrived to day from B&H. First impression, the lens looks pretty good... well built and not all too heavy. Onto the 10D it goes, and boy does it look NICE!!! I took a test shot of my Tokina at f1.8 400ISO... love the blur, and the focus is really fast. The test shot was taken without a flash, only available light. Based on 1st impressions, I would say that this lens is a must in everybody's lens collection.

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The 85 f1.8 is one stellar lens. This is wide open:

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Yeah... it'll probably stay on the 10D all weekend. Love that photo!!!

Yah! Great Lens..Great Choice!

Sweet lens, no doubt!! If you think the lens looks cool on the 10D, wait til you put the hood on it, that's C O O L !!

Got the hood for it too... but I think it's a rather bad design. I push in the two tabs as indicated but it still takes a bit of force to get the hood off the lens. Why is it designed to go on differently??? My other hoods all spin onto the lens...

Yeah, the two tabs don't really work for me either, I much rather the spin on/off design. Putting the bad design on a side, it looks cooler than heck on the lens.

Awsome lens - bang for buck it is my favorite lens purchase. Enjoy it.

Congrats on the sweet new lens! All I hear are great things about this lens, but I wonder what it looks like with the lens hood on it. Could you maybe post a pic of the lens with it's hood?

Here's one with the hood... I used my Pro1 for these photos, I had to relearn how to use it in a sense.

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I'm sitting here laughing... It's funny how we get like little kids gawking over a new toy at Christmas... My 9 year old son would say to me about an RC car I bought him with interchangeable parts, "you think this is cool dad, you should see it with the spoiler and air dam setup"

Personally, I'm not really about how cool a lens looks and also with or without a hood and so on and so forth. I'm about how the pictures look. The lens could look like a lump of crap, but if it helps make pictures like you have posted of that Tokina and that other one fstopjojo posted of his little one, I'd buy it in a hurry. I can't get over the bokeh on that lens picture... That is just about the creamiest background you can get. Beautiful lens. I think I'm gonna just buy primes when the time comes for new lenses. The 50mm f/1.4 is on my short list and now that 85mm will be there too. I think I'll deal with the kit lens for the wide angle end for now since I shoot more in the medium tele range anyway. 50-90mm with the 35mm. When I get my 20D I'll have to make sure I get the 85mm with it. I should have the 50mm before then for use on my 35mm

The 85/1.8 is a perfect size and build imho.
The image quality is very, very good. However, I don't get to use it that much unless I'm stuck in a seat. The lens never lets me down though. The Image quality is almost as good as the 135L at a fraction of the price. From what I remember, the image quality was about the same as the 70-200/4L I used to have.

As far as looking cool, the 10D w/grip looks better than the 20D w/grip in my opinion.

I am about to get the 135mm. But this comment got me thinking...If that's true, I might as well move a few steps closer to the subject and put the money on other lens... Another decision crossroad.

P.S. I have the 85mm.

Yes, the 85/1.8 is really good.
However, there are few lenses out there that give the 3D pop of the 135/2L.
I would give the 135/2L a "10/10" for image quality, and the 85/1.8 an "8/10".
If you have the money, the 135/2L is worth every penny.
If not, the 85/1.8 will rarely let you down (except for some purple fringing problems sometimes at or near wide open).

Redbird_xo wrote:
I am about to get the 135mm. But this comment got me thinking...If that's true, I might as well move a few steps closer to the subject and put the money on other lens... Another decision crossroad.

P.S. I have the 85mm.

I agree with drisley's last statement - the 85 is great but the 135L is better. Use the 85 for the times you need more width and/or want to travel lighter.

You need them both! But, you may require gloves when handling pictures taken with the 135L to avoid cuts.

Paul
http://www.iaw.com/~pt​urton/