Bails40

Thinking about purchasing a lens for my arsenal. (I really don't have an arsenal...) A Canon EF 85MM F/1.8 The price is around my budget, which is about $375.00. I would love a L lens, however that is definatley out of my budget. I'm just looking for a nice, sharp lens around that price range. I shoot various things, portraits, lanscapes, and nature, (waterfalls, cricks, and streams.) Mainly I just shoot the family though. I guess I just want to know if anyone has one of these lenses, and is it a pretty decent one...? I own a Canon T3i, I actually just got it, since my other Camera was scrapped by Canon and they gave me this upgrade. Very cool of them to do that!!!! Any other suggestions on a differant lens are welcome.

katbandit Loc: new york city

I have all nikon equipment..but as for lenses they would be similar ..I use a 50mm f1.8. and an 85mm 1.8 both prime lenses both Nikon lenses..I use a tamron 28-75mm as an all around lens ..now I am looking into another Nikon lense for a longer range..anywhere between 28 to around 200s and I will have everything I want to cover my style of photography from portrait to landscape..down the line I may play with macro..for now I'm still saving for the zoom..

birdpix Loc: South East Pennsylvania

Sounds like a decent lens for the money. See: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-85mm-f-1.8-USM-Lens-Review.aspx

DavidT Loc: Maryland

The Canon 85/1.8 is a great prime lens - sharp and fast. With your T3i body it will give you an equivalent of a 136mm (full-frame). It might be a bit tight in close quarters though. But, for the price, it is well worth having in your "arsenal." Perfect for portraits and sports.

pigpen

I looked at this lens, but chose the 100mm f2.8 macro instead. It is a little more expensive, and you may have to take an extra step back. I mainly chose it because of how sharp it is wide open at f/2.8. They say the 85mm is fairly sharp at f/1.8, but gets much better at f/2.8. I thought that what good is having 1.8 capabilities, when I'll probably dial down to 2.8 anyhow.

I can't speak of the 85mm from experience, but I can about the 100mm. It's amazing!

belle44 Loc: Maine

I have a T3I and use that lens for all my portrait work. It is outstanding and I love the images I get with it. Also, it helps me stay back a little from the person I am photographing and makes them more at ease since I am not right up in their face during out shoot. They are always amazed when they see their pictures how "close" they are - I almost always hear "Wow, I thought I was going to look much further away!".

Anyway, I would highly recommend the lens. I hope you don't mind me posting a pic on your thread, but I wanted to show you what my T3i and Canon 85mm get me for images.

Good luck with your decision!

victoria1

I have owned the 85mm f/1.8 for a couple of years, have travelled with it and like it for the price. If that sounds like faint praise, it probably is. A very good but not great lens for sharpness, but given the sharpening capability of available software, it's not a huge issue. It's soft at f/1.8 (judging sharpness by appearance at 100% enlargement in Photoshop or similar) but good by 2.8. My copy is sharpest at f/6.3 where it is quite sharp. It took a little microfocus adjustment.

I use it when shooting in dimmer conditions than my zoom can handle. Other suggestions? The 50mm f/1.8? I own and it's very sharp above f/2.8 but just not used much. The 100mm f/2? However, for the price, the 85mm is a good choice. Not quite a walk-around lens, but can be used as such, especially for people shots where one wants to stand back a bit from the subject. Not quite so versatile for the wider range of shots you'd want, say, on holidays, but possibly a better focal length for your camera, where the 100mm may be just a little too long.

Bails40

Want to say thanks to everyone who gave me input... I am going to go ahead and order the lens, I think it will be a nice addition for my camera. Thanks everyone!!!!