Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Reviews

Rating
Reviewed by:

amelo14
( Intermediate)

Review Date
January 29, 2007

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Review 1 of 48

Price Paid: $390.00 from Canada

Summary:

t is no wonder this lens is highly respected by the Canon community. Although it does not have any special glass, it is amazingly sharp and produces a very beautiful bokeh. What is simply amazing, is its price. This prime is also lightweight and therefore can be easily added to your bag without having your back (and wallet!) suffer the consequences.

The DOF at 1.8 is quite narrow, but in general the focusing is excellent. The CA at 1.8 is troubling, but easily fixed by software. By f4 the lens already peaks and the quality of the colors produced is surprising. This lens is cheaper than the comparable 100 f2 and can be used with either Full Frame or 1.6x sensors. There is just no downside here.

You can check many images taken with this lens here:
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/canon/ef_85_18u

Strengths:

Cost, sharpness, weight, quality of bokeh and colors, fast AF.

Weaknesses:

CA at 1.8! Nothing else.

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Rating
Reviewed by:

nigelskeet
( Professional)

Review Date
January 3, 2007

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Review 2 of 48

Price Paid: $300.00 from Calumet

Summary:

I purchased this lens thinking it was going to clutter up my style - I believe in being as portable as possible with no distraction from "trying to decide which lens to use" - so I can concentrate on the image at hand rather than on the equipment. But I needed something a little longer for the Rock and Roll images I create. And now, eight months later, I am so glad I have it - I have used it to create album covers and some exceptional live images. It is amazingly sharp. I am not a super techno dude, so I couldn't tell you about all the technical characteristics - this lens just works.

Strengths:

Sharpness & size

Weaknesses:

Lens-shade - I use a Mamiya Pro rubber/collapsible lens shade with a 58-77 step-up ring rather than the plastic bayonet style - they snap easily and they look cheesy!

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF 17-40 f/4.0L

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Rating
Reviewed by:

Frans
( Casual)

Review Date
April 10, 2006

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.75 of 5,
4 votes

Review 3 of 48

Price Paid: $400.00 from photobuff

Summary:

I bought this lens together with Canon 50mm f/1.4 as I was so impressed in the low light shooting capabilities of the Sigma 30mm f1.4 that I had purchased some months earlier. The 85mm f/1.8 is of a much higher quality both mechanically and optically than the 50mm f/1.4. The 85mm produces less flare, has better contrast and has a more reliable auto focus. It seems as the focal length decreases so does the auto focus accuracy on the 350D when using fast lenses. The purple fringing that is apparent under strong light seems to be less on the 85mm too. The focus ring operates smoothly and without any play, unlike the 50mm lens. My main objective was to use this lens as a telephotos when filming at folk music events. Most of these events are poorly lit. All lenses mentioned have proved to work very well here. The other thing the 85mm excels in, is the manual focus. The 30mm and the 50mm lenses are just about impossible to manual focus in low light. If you are considering between the 50mm or 85mm lens the 85mm lens is of much better value, when considering there is only about $50 between then

Strengths:

Light weight
Sharp and good contrast
Rich colour transfer
Fast reliable focus
Easy to manual focus
Beautiful background blur

Weaknesses:

Pity it wasn't a zoom

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 30mm f/1.4
canon 50mm f/1.4

Customer Service:

so far not required

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Rating
Reviewed by:

kel3at
( Intermediate)

Review Date
January 21, 2005

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.83 of 5,
6 votes

Review 4 of 48

Price Paid: $379.00 from 17Photo.com

Summary:

An excellent lens. Excellent performance with the fast silent USM autofocus. And the image quality is top notch. My best lens.

Strengths:

USM Silent fast focus Light weight "Slap your Mama!" Sharpness

Weaknesses:

Not a zoom

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28 f/2.8, takumar and mamiya/sekor prime lenses on Canon 20d

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Rating
Reviewed by:

ichiu
( Intermediate)

Review Date
March 15, 2004

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
2.87 of 5,
15 votes

Review 5 of 48

Price Paid: $259.00 from B&H

Summary:

Awesome lens. One of the sharpest i've used. It's close to being the perfect portrait lens.

Strengths:

Sturdy build, lots of glass, sharp, sharp, sharp, smooth bokeh, great for low light situations, USM quiet and fast AF, smooth manual focus ring, compact size, excellent resale value.

Weaknesses:

longish minimum focus distance. no hood included. That's all I can think of.

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro canon 135mm SF f2.8 canon 135mm f2

Customer Service:

Canon customer service = OK

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