Oh well, can I give it 10 stars instead? This Lens has become my best and inseparable friend, since the day one, as far as taking portraits goes. It is a somewhat challenging lens, to take pictures.Due to its extreme shallow depth of field, one has to know exactly what he/she is doing under the risk of getting a blurry nose or part of the face. With that out of the way, I use to joke this lens is as fast as the Roadrunner and as sharp as a Ninja 's blade.On top of it, add the excellent price and voilá!!...you have the perfect lens.
First and foremost, know what this lens is and why you would want it. This is NOT a jack-of-all-trades lens. DO NOT buy this thinking you can shoot anything and everything with it.
WHATS IT FOR?
- Portraits. Take your time, take 5-7 shots of each pose. You will be very pleased with the result and quality.
- Products. Unless the product is huge, this can really make your product pop. The DOF is amazing and the background is almost pure bokeh if you work it right.
- Depth of Field. Anything you feel you will need a sharp DOF, this is it. A shot of a model sitting on a bench, with some leaves in the foreground could be a one in a million shot. But like I said before, take your time, make sure the model is the focal point and shoot 5-7 shots.
WHAT IT ISN'T FOR
- Sports, action, family barbecue. This is NOT a general lens. If you use it for that you will be very disappointed in 75%+ images being blurry.
- Full body shots. To get a full body shot I had to step back almost 25-30 feet. This is a 85mm and no zoom in and no zoom out.
- Wide angle. I know UH DUH... but my 50mm 1.4 or my 18-55 2.8 lens does very well with general shooting. But 85MM would be a huge problem to get say a full car, or a building or... etc (without moving back a half mile).
Bottom line, the lens is amazing. In just a few shots I was in love. But I knew right away this lens has to be used in controlled environments and never to be taken for granted (i.e. if you think you nailed a shot, focus 3 more times and take 6 more shots). It will be a welcome addition to my camera bag. Final analysis? Worth every penny.
Game changer! I LOVE this lens! It's actually become my daily shooter for still and portrait.
Since I have a Rebel and it's not a full frame camera, there's an adjustment phase when you
first start shooting to fully understand the crop factor, etc. Once you get comfortable...the quality
and composition of shots below 3.0 makes you fall in love with this lens...This 85 and a nifty fifty are
a must for any avid novice looking to get more out of your shots.
I am not a professional photographer by any means. I take photos for fun, so take this review as just that..... not professional :)
I don't have many lenses so I decided to take a leap and try this one based on other good reviews from countless YouTube videos and written reviews here on Amazon. I have had excellent results from this lens. You do have to allow a good bit of distance from your subject in order to fit the frame. This is, in my novice opinion, a fairly wide angle lens. It seems like a great option for portraits and small group shots. The attached photos are just a couple of the ones I took the day I received the lens.
The only thing I can say that's remotely negative is the lens is somewhat heavy. If you're looking for lightweight everyday photography I'd stick with the 50mm. If you don't mind the added weight, this is a great lens for thr money.
What a great lens! It's more than i expected. Scary sharpness on my EOS 6D.
Highly recommended!
Feature Product
- 85mm standard lens with f/1.8 maximum aperture for Canon SLR cameras,Lens Type:Telephoto Zoom Lens
- Ring-type ultra-sonic monitor (USM) brings subject quickly into focus, Focal length: 85mm, Closest focusing distance: 2.8 feet
- Natural angle of view and perspective is ideal for portraits and natural images
- Designed to produce beautiful background blur; weighs 15 ounces; 85cm closest focusing distance
- Measures 3 inches in diameter and 2.8 inches long; 1-year warranty. Refer User manual for troubleshooting steps.
- Lens not zoomable
Description
The Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens is highly practical and ideal for a range of applications including portraiture. Its fast f/1.8 maximum aperture is effective in low light and ideal for shallow depth of field focus control. An ultrasonic autofocus motor (USM) provides fast, smooth and quiet AF action and because the front lens group does not rotate during focusing, polarizing and special filter effects can be used effectively.
This is a fantastic lens it has a very exact and fast autofocus I would say the best in canons whole line up. It takes stellar pics with great bokeh. I wouldn't hesitate. I had this lens then sold it to get the 1.2 and regretted it the 1.2 is a beast produces nice soft pics with the best bokeh , but it wasn't for me after couple years I sold it . The 1.2 was very slow to focus and a lot of times at 1.2 I would come home to upload the pics and it missed focus. I'm buying this 1.8 again !
This is becoming my favorite lens. I've got a 70-200 2.8 IS that used to be my primary portrait lens. This replaced it! I shoot this lens around 2.8 still but it is still fairly sharp even wide open. I do feel this lens is quite a bit sharper than my 70-200 though. My only gripe with this lens is the Chromatic abberation. There is A LOT, but this is easily correctable in photoshop and even the bigger more expensive 85 f1.2 L suffers from quite a bit.
I honestly can't justify the price difference between the L version and this. Side-by-side the L version has slightly better bokeh and a larger aperture, but not almost 5 times the price better!
The 50mm 1.4 is often compared to this lens. Imho, the 50mm 1.4 isn't a bad lens but the build quality of the 85mm 1.8, while they look the same, is far more solid. The 50mm 1.4 suffers from focus inconsistencies and is prone to damage (poor internal design). Autofocus on the 85mm is also far more consistent. Shooting the 50mm 1.4 wide open is useless, it is very soft until about 2.2. The 50mm 1.2L or a Sigma 50mm 1.4 ART is worth the upgrade cost over the 50mm 1.4.
Overall this is a great portrait lens for the money and competes head to head with the bigger more expensive 85mm 1.2L.
Sharp, fast focusing, lightweight, balanced contrast, beautiful imagery.
I had the 85 1.2 for a year but i couldnt justify its performance for the price. It is heavy, focus hunts, slow to focus, can easily be soft at wide open.
Then i bought this 1.8. What a surprise! I use it 70% mostly for video work on a gimbal and cant believe how sharp or sharper it is than the 1.2. The 3d look is still there tho not too pronounced, great looking bokeh and shallow depth or field, contrast and colors are well balanced, it is fast and accurate to focus. It is light, and I dont worry about getting it tossed around or stolen because it is affordable.
Basically it is Canon’s hidden gem and I dont see why one would spend a fortune on the 1.2 or 1.4 IS which are far more expensive when this one works well.
Skip the “luxury” 85 variants, this one should be your staple portrait lens.
This is a well done lenses which will fit for someone who is not a beginner.
Probably, the best use would be on a Full Frame Camera because of the zoom.
You will get sharp photos in low light locations.
This lens was the next step up from my 50 mm 1.8. I am new into photography and want good lenses to learn with. This lens is perfect for my light and airy style. It is very sharp, shaper than my 50 mm (in my opinion) I can’t wait to continue using it! I recommend this lens to anyone trying to become more familiar with photography. It is great for portraits!
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