Canon 85mm 1.8

Eighth Avenue

Eighth Avenue

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Iain
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Howdy,

I currently have the 24-105mm (which i would be very interested in swapping for the 24-70 in the near future) and a 70-200mm 2.8 IS but would LOVE the Canon 85mm 1.2. I had, however, a nightmare trying to convince the girlfriend to let me buy the 70-200 so this doesn't look like its on the cards any time soon.

My question is would a 2nd hand 85mm 1.8 (as I will no doubt be able to sell it at the same price in the future) be a good enough replacement until such time comes that I can afford the 1.2 or would I gain no benefit over the lenses I currently own.

I mainly shoot portraits with the odd wedding (5-10 a year). very interested to hear of anyone with a similar set up.

Thanks

Iain
 
if all you have is the 24-105 it will give you some depth of field control and low light ability, seriously f4 sucks I haven't shot in a church yet where I wasn't on iso 3200 f2.8 1/100-1/200

but it is an amazing lens and did almost all my heavy lifting pre 24-70. In fact I think I could do an entire portrait shoot on one, provided I had something wide for a few enviromental shots (say a 35mm)
 
Eighth Avenue said:
My question is would a 2nd hand 85mm 1.8 (as I will no doubt be able to sell it at the same price in the future) be a good enough replacement until such time comes that I can afford the 1.2 or would I gain no benefit over the lenses I currently own.
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In many ways the 85 1.8 is a better choice than the 1.2. It's smaller, lighter, focusses faster and considerably easier to use. Obviously it isn't the bokeh-machine that the 1.2 is, but it's a gem of a lens!

I loved mine on crop, but I wasn't so keen on FF, so I had to sell it and get a 135mm L :D
 
If you mainly do portraits then the 85 1.2 is amazing.
It's hard to justify the price difference from the 1.8 but the 1.2 is always in my bag.
I've also got the 70-200 and I rarely use it since getting the 85 1.2
I hired it first and after a weekend I knew I was going to end up buying it.
 
chris321 said:
I loved mine on crop, but I wasn't so keen on FF, so I had to sell it and get a 135mm L :D
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I really enjoy my 85mm f/1.8 on FF. It's a cracking lens.

Even if I ever had a 1.2L, I reckon I'd keep the 1.8.

Horses for courses, I guess.
 
Also, I would suspect that you would have to be spot on with your focus when using the 1.2, perhaps not a great deal of margin for error?
 
Musicman said:
I really enjoy my 85mm f/1.8 on FF. It's a cracking lens.
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It is a cracking lens, it was the focal length I didn't really like.... I didn't like the 50mm on crop either, I found it too long to use as a walkabout, and too short for anything else. But everyone's different, and there are plenty of people who swear by 50mm on crop :)
 
Eighth Avenue said:
I used the 50mm 1.8 on my old 40d so it should be the same focal length. Forgot to mention the 50mm, I take it there's a measurable difference between the 50mm 1.8 and the 85mm 1.8 being a USM?
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In terms of IQ there's little difference, build quality - that's another matter. I have both and they both have good qualities. I love my 85, particularly on FF (5D). I have a 70/200 f4 IS and they compliment each other well. I found the 85 a little too long on a crop (50D) for a wedding I went to recently, lovely quality images though. 50mm is good on crop.

Get an 85 1.8 I doubt you'll go for the 1.2 later, it's a lot more money for not a lot extra (in some ways less, af speed for one).

Matt
 
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The 85mm f/1.8 is a fabulous lens. It's a step above the 50mm f/1.4 in terms of build quality and a huge step above it in optical quality.

The lens is staggeringly sharp:

Canon85mmf18wideopenon1Ds.jpg


This was taken at f/1.8 - and in case you're not convinced, here's a 100% crop:

Canon85mmf18wideopenon1Ds-100pcrop.jpg


I don't pixel peep except for when I am curious about how a lens is performing. I don't get too hung up about results at 100% but let me tell you I was mighty surprised when I saw that. I'd say this is as sharp at f/1.8 as my 17-40 is at about f/5.6. It's so sharp that I doubt I'll ever need to stop down except for more DOF. Seriously, it's that good.

Honestly, if every copy of the 85 1.8 is this good, I see no reason to buy the 1.2 unless you need every last drop of aperture for low light shooting.

The above images were OOC JPegs which are sharpened slightly.
 
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Anywhere between £200 and £250 ish is what you're looking at on here. Add a few extra notes for the hood.
 
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