Nice and sharp, has a smooth full time manual focus ring which makes it good for filmaking. The autofocus is both very quick and quiet. Good for shooting portrait type shots from a distance. Im using mine on an APS-C camera and getting great action looking portraits for sports. Its high aperture makes it really easy to use in the dark. Grear lense for the price
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I got this lens for portraits and low light photography, and I am quite impressed with it. It is well built, and the USM autofocus is fast and quiet. Even on crop sensor cameras, like the Canon 7D like I use, the focal length is great, equivalent to a 135mm lens on full frame. It is better than 85mm 1.2 L lens because its speed of focus, image sharpness, weight and cost. At wide open at 1.8, in high contrast areas it picks up some purple fringing and not razor sharp like my 50mm 1.4 at 2.0. But once you the f setting is 2.8 lens really becomes sharp as per 50mm 1.4 set 2.0 and gets ridiculously sharp around f/5.6. of course as you increase the f stop you loose the shallow depth of field that you get from 50mm at 1.8 or 2.o Also, when you need fast focusing, this lens has it. I use it for indoor applications for weddings, birthdays and church events. It has great colors too, and I like the sharp images it produces. On a 5D you get the ideal 85mm focal length perfect for portraits photography. I recommendation this lens to anyone who is looking for 85mm lens that has fast focus, sharp image, outstanding color for wide range applications and light weight. The price-to-image-quality ratio is unbeatable, and its built to last. Just as my 50mm 1.4 not built like a L lens tank and does not have IS but image sharpness at 2.0/f, color, fast focusing, light weight and price it beats all L lens in my view. The 85mm 1.8 lens performs equally brilliantly at the 85mm focal length.Read full review
I’ve been out of photography for some time. Getting back into it, I’ve purchased a new camera (R6) and five lenses (mix of EF and RF glass). This, my most recent purchase, was to fill a somewhat sentimental gap in my setup. I had the FD version years ago and it was one sweet lens. I was in high school then and I remember it costing more than the AE-1 I was using at the time (and a serious drain on my meager teenager’s bank account). It was an investment then and, while I’ve just started using it, I can tell it’s going to be a winner. It’s a good size even with the adapter, fast focusing, and the image quality is on-par with my L-glass. For the money, it’s a fantastic value and is really useful on non-cropped cameras.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I got this lens for portraits and low light photography, and I am quite impressed with it. It is well built, and the USM autofocus is fast and quiet. Even on crop sensor cameras, like the Rebel XT like I use, the focal length is great, equivalent to a 135mm lens on full frame. First, here are it's weak areas. Wide open, in high contrast areas it picks up some purple fringing. I haven't had a chance to use this lens in super bright light yet, but I'll bet this can get really bad. Also, the lens is not razor sharp wide open; it's usable, but not tack sharp. Fortunately, both of these weak areas are corrected when you stop down, even just a little; by f/2.2, the lens really starts to perform very well. Now, for the strong points. While the lens isn't totally sharp wide open, it gets sharp really fast when you stop it down. Even by f/2.2, it's sharp, and it keeps getting better. I normally shoot at f/2.8, but this lens gets ridiculously sharp around f/5.6. Also, when you need fast aperture, this lens has it; I use it for indoor applications like church events, weddings, and so forth. The 85/1.8 has great colors too, and I like the images it produces. My conclusion is a whole-hearted recommendation of this lens. The price-to-image-quality ratio is unbeatable, and its built to last. I only own one L lens, the 100-400, so it's hard to make a fair comparison with Canon's L lenses; but optically it seems to me to be very, very comparable, and a lot less money. I suggest buying a used one, and giving it a try; you can always resell it and recover your money if it doesn't meet your needs, but more than likely you'll fall madly in love with the EF 85/1.8. It's a great lens!Read full review
I bought this lens for portraits. The sharpness has really amazed me. The USM focusing is very fast and being able to dial down to 1.8 makes for some great photos. My standard carry gear is a Canon 60D, 50mm 1.8, 60mm 2.8 macro and now this 85mm 1.8, which stays on my camera most of the time. Pros: extremely sharp images, fast focusing, silent, beautiful bokeh Cons: I have notice a good amount of purple fringing when shooting lower f/stops in bright sunlight (1.8,2,2.8)
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Ok, so far for 5 years I have been using my trusted 24-70 2.8L USM and 70-200 2.8L Canons. One of the excellent photographers of our times and my friend once mentioned that he shoots a lot of beauty shots with 85mm 1.8 and likes it even better than 1.4 If you ever need to trust someone, it is this guy. So I went ahead (being so excited I don't have to fork over thousands for 1.4) and bought this little puppy:) It is AMAZING! I shoot with it all the time now, and prefer it to my L glass. I shoot fashion and headshots, and absolutely love the sharpness and clarity of this lens. It creates amazing blur in the background, and with my 5D Mark II I can shoot with it in any light conditions - just did a wedding in low light, and it came out perfect. It is also amazing how light it is - my camera wrist has been bothering me all last year due to overload of work, and this is a pleasant relief. I recommend it to anyone who photographs people or does product shots. At this price you simply cannot go wrong. Also worth mentioning is its excellent resale value - I looked around in hopes of getting the best deal, but the prices on this excellent lens are very uniform from Ebay to Craigslist to B&H. Enjoy:)Read full review
Great focal length for portraiture on either a full frame (5D) or APS-sized sensor DSLR camera (7D, 60D, etc.) Well made and I love the USM motor for fast, quiet, and accurate auto-focus. The lens produces nice bokeh (out of focus background) yet sharply focused subjects. Lightweight and compact compared to fast zooms (24-70mm f/2.8). Excellent quality lens! Works well for my wedding photography in low light, as I mount the 85mm on a 7D and a 50mm f/1.4 USM on a 5D. Two primes with 35mm difference in focal length yet more like 85mm difference (due to crop factor) and using my feet as the zoom factor. These two lenses would work well together even if both camera bodies were the same. But I love primes. For those who use filters, the 58mm filter size is a plus. Now if only Canon would see fit to include the lens hood and a lens bag....Read full review
This lens is moderately priced, well constructed, has great optics, and produces awesome results when mounted to a full frame camera like the Canon 5D Mark II. This is my portrait "workhorse" lens. I prefer using a prime lens instead of a zoom lens. I use this lens and a Canon 50mm f/2.5 lens for all my portrait work. The 85mm is great for head and shoulders while the 50mm is great for full body and for those times when space is limited and I need to be close to my subject. The bokeh produced at f/4.0 - 5.6 (my normal preference for portraits) is very pleasing to the eye. The depth of field is quite shallow at the wider apertures of f/1.8 - 2.8, however works great under certain available light situations where the subject (as in adult) can remain motionless during exposure. This lens is a perfect match for full frame sensors and portrait use. If you've been thinking about buy one, buy it! You'll be glad you did.Read full review
My girls are volleyball players, so I needed some lenses that take good indoor sports photography. It's really hard to take good pictures in low light conditions and not get that irritating blur, but this prime lens does the trick. You get good sharp photos where the subject is perfectly in focus but the background is fuzzy. Awesome effect. For the money, it's really hard to beat this lens.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Just as sharp, focuses faster, has less flare, cost helluva lot less than Canon's vaunted 85mm f/1.2 L lens. This lens also has instant manual over-ride, is relatively light weight and compact, focuses accurately and is overall joy to use. Unless you must have f/1.2 lens needing to shoot wide open all the time, this f/1.8 lens is much better general purpose lens. I shoot both Nikon and Canon and this lens is on par with Nikon's newer 85mm f/1.8 lens, although this Canon lens is one of their older design. You can find great deal on a used one everywhere. For my style of shooting, it is one of the must have lenses in my bag.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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