85mm 1.8 or 100mm 2.0?

which one do you guys prefer as a portrait lens? Seems like the 85mm is more popular.. I was wondering why was that? Thanks!

i was in this dilemma for a while before and in the end i decided on the 85 1.8, well not so much decided.. more like one came up for sale 2nd hand, the 100 2.0 is pretty rare, one came up a month ago and i was thinking of getting it cause u i hardly ever see them!

to make myself feel better i read somewhere the bokeh was slightly better on the 85, in reality you'd hardly notice it i think, oh and its 1.8 vs 2 so just a tiny bit faster and being 85mm vs 100mm i think the 85 will let u shoot a tiny tiny bit faster (i might be wrong on this).. cause its a shorter focal length? a more extreme example: could you shoot faster with a tokina 11-16 2.8 at 11mm 2.8 or a 70-200 2.8 at 200 2.8?

anyway, heres a recent shot from my 85 1.8 (at 1.8)

I have not used the 85 1.8 but own the 100 2.0...all I can say is that the contrast is jaw dropping for a lens at the price range. I use it 100% of the time at family gatherings that are held outside. Lets me get candid shots of family. Inside its to long.

trickydan wrote in post #10841403
i was in this dilemma for a while before and in the end i decided on the 85 1.8, well not so much decided.. more like one came up for sale 2nd hand, the 100 2.0 is pretty rare, one came up a month ago and i was thinking of getting it cause u i hardly ever see them!

to make myself feel better i read somewhere the bokeh was slightly better on the 85, in reality you'd hardly notice it i think, oh and its 1.8 vs 2 so just a tiny bit faster and being 85mm vs 100mm i think the 85 will let u shoot a tiny tiny bit faster (i might be wrong on this).. cause its a shorter focal length? a more extreme example: could you shoot faster with a tokina 11-16 2.8 at 11mm 2.8 or a 70-200 2.8 at 200 2.8?

anyway, heres a recent shot from my 85 1.8 (at 1.8)

Really? you get a better bokeh with the 85mm? damn! I had mine for a year.. and i sold it.. I just bought the 100mm because I thought the 100mm gives a better bokeh lol. but hopefully... It wont disappoint me. GREAT shots by the way

mswobo wrote in post #10841420
I have not used the 85 1.8 but own the 100 2.0...all I can say is that the contrast is jaw dropping for a lens at the price range. I use it 100% of the time at family gatherings that are held outside. Lets me get candid shots of family. Inside its to long.

I'm glad to her that from you..I hope I won't be disappointed as well. I really liked the 85mm.. I wanted to try something new, So i'm getting the 10mm soon!

They are basically identical. One is 15% longer, one goes to f1.8. I would say the 85mm is more popular because most people shoot crop cameras and 85mm recreates the classic 135mm length on a crop camera. Bother are great, it just comes down to focal length preference.

As far as bokeh, you will not be able to tell the difference.

tkbslc wrote in post #10841460
They are basically identical. One is 15% longer, one goes to f1.8. I would say the 85mm is more popular because most people shoot crop cameras and 85mm recreates the classic 135mm length on a crop camera. Bother are great, it just comes down to focal length preference.

As far as bokeh, you will not be able to tell the difference.

sounds great.. thanks for the advice. I think i'm ready for the change!

blueskyyy wrote in post #10841438
Really? you get a better bokeh with the 85mm? damn! I had mine for a year.. and i sold it.. I just bought the 100mm because I thought the 100mm gives a better bokeh lol. but hopefully... It wont disappoint me. GREAT shots by the way

sorry, didnt mean i always get better bokeh, actually ive never used the 100, but i read from one source that he thought it was a touch better, but i think bokeh is a bit of a subjective thing, i seriously think both would look superb!

trickydan wrote in post #10841482
sorry, didnt mean i always get better bokeh, actually ive never used the 100, but i read from one source that he thought it was a touch better, but i think bokeh is a bit of a subjective thing, i seriously think both would look superb!

i got the 85 1.8 because it was cheaper lol...IQ from both seems on par and bokeh the same. To be honest you cant go wrong with either. Funny thing is i bought one brand new and my friend stole it from me since day one...i think i need to pick up another because he loves it so much..

Had this dilemma myself recently.

From reading the threads on here and online reviews, the lenses (as mentioned above) are pretty much the same except for the obvious 1.8 vs 2.0 and 85mm vs 100mm attributes. From my understanding the IQ of the 100 is slightly better as it displays less chromatic abberation.

If you compare the lens sample thread you will see the difference in popularity between the lenses!

I went for the 100mm as my mainstay of shots are street candids/scenes, feeling the extra length would be a helpful addition.

On APS-C, I prefer 85mm.

Both have purple fringing issues. The 100/2 is slightly sharper at f/2 on a test chart, but I doubt its noticeable in actual photos. The 1/3 stop between the two doesn't really amount to anything...I don't think any shots are made or broken because of 1/3 of a stop.

I have had both (still have the 100mm). It seemed to me that they were very similar, expect that the 100 has slightly less CA and more pleasing bokeh (probably because of the longer focal length). Both are great though, so just pick the focal length you prefer.

They're twins, so it's pretty much just a matter of preference. FL wise, the 85 might be (very) slightly more flexible, especially on APSC.

On crop I would definitely go with the 85mm. You may find even the 85mm to be quite long, but when you get used to it it's awesome.

+ 85mm is shorter then 100mm, you can use a slighly lower shutter speed because of the shorter FL
+ f/1.8 is faster then f'/2, so it's all around better for very low light.

Also, perhaps I'm colorblind, but I can't see what the big deal is about the purple fringing. I think it's minimal and over rated.

Had this dilemma a few months ago as well.. I went with the 85 because it was a better fit to my other primes, because it's slightly faster and shorter (easier to handhold), and because it seems to be more popular than the 100 which means that if I'm gonna sell it later on, it'll probably be easier to get a good price for it or even to get it sold at all (the used-market here isnt too big and I'm not going to sell abroad).. CA (especially purple fringing) is the downside with it though