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EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
A highly practical medium telephoto lens with superb delineation and portability. Images are sharp and clear at all apertures. Through computer simulations, the lens has been designed to give beautiful background blur. Since the front lens group does not rotate during focusing special filter effects are not affected.
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Average Customer Rating:
5
out of 5
8 out of 8(100%)customers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Review 1 for EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
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Nickname: Bob
Location: Central Illinois
Used this product for: 1 to 3 months
Expertise Level: Hobbyist/Enthusiast
Product replacement: No
just right
Date: March 5, 2010
Pros: Fast auto-focus, Superior build quality, Super-sharp images
I bought this lens for my granddaughters volleyball games and couldn't be happier. I can stop the motion or blur it if I wish. The dim lighting in the gym was giving me fits before I purchased this lens. Thank you Canon for a great lens. The fast and amazingly quiet auto-focus is the greatest.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Review 2 for EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Overall Rating
out of
5
Features
5
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Performance
5
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Price/Value
5
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4
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Nickname: Nate
Location: Valley Center
Used this product for: 1 to 3 months
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Product replacement: No
Crazy Lens
Date: January 20, 2010
Pros: Fast auto-focus, Superior build quality, Super-sharp images, fast lens, usm
Cons: 2.8 ft minimum focus distance
Great Lens for a 14 year old. Extremely Fast. Quite AF. Produces very good depth-of-field and out of focus backgrounds. very sharp across entire f-stop range.
8 of 11 people found this review helpful.
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Review 3 for EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Overall Rating
out of
5
Features
4
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Performance
5
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Price/Value
5
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Quality
4
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5
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Nickname: Funky_Tunes
Location: Jakarta, INDONESIA
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Product replacement: No
Most-Bang-For-The-Buck
Date: October 21, 2009
Pros: Super-sharp images
Cons: no is
It's a must for all Canon DSLR / EOS User.
For the past 4 years, this lens is the most brilliant tools in my lens line up. No matter what the occasion are, vacation or commercial shot, fashion or children, this lens pays it all. Almost all of my masterpiece session were involving the EF 85mm f/1.8....You don't have to pay L series bucks to get their quality, this is it, the alpha & the omega in matter of lightweight prime lens.
Amazingly sharp, even at maximum aperture ( I often selected 1 stop down from the max f available, about f/2 or f/2.8 to get maximum Image Quality )
It's light, it doesn't spread too much attention like the rest of the L series, & it gets the job done!
Amazingly sharp, even at maximum aperture ( I often selected 1 stop down from the max f available, about f/2 or f/2.8 to get maximum Image Quality )
It's light, it doesn't spread too much attention like the rest of the L series, & it gets the job done!
The only thing missing from this lens, is Image Stabilizer. But hey, it's light enough, I'm not too worry about it. If Canon decide to release the IS version of this lens, I'm the first person in line to order it.
Anyone starting a new hobby or pros searching for value solution in their lineup, I recommend you to buy the EF 85mm f/1.8.
53 of 56 people found this review helpful.
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Review 4 for EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Overall Rating
out of
5
Features
4
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5
Performance
5
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Price/Value
5
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Quality
4
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Satisfaction
5
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Nickname: EOS4me
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Product replacement: No
Fine portrait and product lens
Date: August 7, 2009
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, Fast auto-focus, good value
Excellent image quality with good bokeh in a workhorse focal length for 3/4 portraits and product shots. Used in conjunction with an EF 135 2L USM makes a fantastic portrait setup for heads and enviromental portraits. Sharp and handy focal length reasonably priced fast quiet focusing. Not an "L" lens in terms of construction quality but "L" class image quality with very good solid build quality that will last a long time. I owned this lens for over 5 years and used it along side an EF 135 2L USM for portraits and products.
20 of 21 people found this review helpful.
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Review 5 for EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Overall Rating
out of
5
Features
4
out of
5
Performance
5
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5
Price/Value
5
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Quality
5
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Nickname: Ang
Location: Anaheim Hills, CA
Used this product for: Less than 1 month
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Product replacement: No
Excellent lens!
Date: April 23, 2009
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, Fast auto-focus, artsy pictures, incredibly beautiful background blur
Cons: no hood
Pros: excellent portrait lens--particularly nice blur if the background is not a single color flat wall. I use it when the background has many things in it and pictures become very artistic.
Cons: no hood. I wish it came with one, particularly since in order to get the wonderful distorted backgrounds, it is best to photograph outdoors.
In general: I bought this lens about a week ago and have used it since for about 600 pictures. If I tell you that of the 600 I kept 590 as "very good," those of you with some photo experience will think I am out of my mind... but it is true. The background blur is so artsy that even a slightly missed picture can become beautiful if approximately designed (cropped) afterwards.
I find that this lens really works best when the subject of thing you photograph is in front of a very busy background. This way the element there create a colorful blur that is very pleasing to look at and increases the 3D quality of the person/object of focus.
I found that aperture variations make a very big difference if a mixed background is used but little if the background is one-color flat texture. This does not mean that this lens does not take nice pictures in a flat color room or in front of a flat color something, but the best thing about this lens is how it blurs things in the background. So to get full advantage, make sure you try and busy up everything behind the object you photograph.
I was also able to capture excellent shots of subjects from quite far--over 20 feet--with my 5D with great detail and depth and still with sufficient blur for the art effects in the background. I used a circular polarizing for pool-shots and the water and the person (from a little over 20 feet) comes through beautifully.
And finally, when two or more subjects are in the picture, this lens only allows the clear focus on one face or the other. Thus I found it best to deliberately choose one face to be very sharp and all others blurred in steps! In this way i was also able to capture one solid sharp face and the other in motion! this is a wonderful affect!
Summary: if you can afford it, buy it!!!
60 of 65 people found this review helpful.
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Review 6 for EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Overall Rating
out of
5
Features
5
out of
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Performance
5
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Price/Value
5
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Quality
5
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Nickname: apachecraig
Location: Western Washington State
Used this product for: Less than 1 month
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Product replacement: Yes
Sharp deal
Date: March 22, 2009
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, Fast auto-focus
I purchased this 85mm 1.8 lens after readings many
reviews. After 1 day of my own tests- this lens is by far the best lens in it's class.
reviews. After 1 day of my own tests- this lens is by far the best lens in it's class.
29 of 35 people found this review helpful.
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Review 7 for EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Overall Rating
out of
5
Features
5
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5
Performance
5
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Price/Value
5
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Quality
5
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Nickname: Shasari
Location: San Ramon, CA
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Product replacement: Yes
Just fantasic
Date: February 25, 2009
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, Fast auto-focus
This is the best fixed focal length lens I have ever owned. The clarify of the images is superb and it's been an excellent addition to my photo gear. I would not do without this lens!
14 of 18 people found this review helpful.
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Review 8 for EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Overall Rating
out of
5
Features
4
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
5
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Quality
5
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5
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Nickname: Blake
Location: Washington, DC
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Product replacement: No
Textbook definition of bang for the buck
Date: November 8, 2008
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, Fast auto-focus, well balanced on all but the smallest cameras, great for macro with some rings, pleasing bokeh thanks to 8 diaphragm blades, fast aperture great for low light
Cons: lens hood not included & expensive, lens hood poorly designed
Welcome to the world of Canon telephoto primes. Don't let the low price fool you - the only difference between this lens and professional L glass is the lack of weathersealing. Everything else is professional grade. Ring USM autofocus is faster than anything else on the market, period. Build quality is excellent and feels solid in your hands (it is in fact plastic but you'd be hard-pressed to tell without looking). Resolution is excellent. Like on almost any lens I stop down to f/2.0 or f/2.2 to sharpen up the corners a bit, but this is picking nits. This would be more necessary on a full-frame camera like the 5D2, but on crop cameras like the 40D I have no qualms about shooting wide-open at f/1.8 if I need maximum light-capturing ability. There is some purple-fringing in very high-contrast situations, but nothing that can't be cleaned up in 30 seconds in a RAW converter.
The 85 might not be a zoom, but it's still extremely versatile. It's not too big or heavy to put in a small bag & take with you anywhere. You'll get used to "zooming with your feet" very quickly, and you'll concentrate more on making a good photo instead of fiddling with a zoom ring as a result. I use this lens most for low-light work (clubs & concerts) where it's just long enough to get in close but not so long that you have to worry too much about blur from handheld shooting (if you're working in extremely low light, get an ST-E2 or small flash like the 220EX so that you can use the dedicated AF assist beam instead of strobing your built-in flash at your poor unsuspecting subjects).
It's also an excellent portrait lens, although on a crop body you may have to work a bit farther away from the model than you'd like if you're going for a "portrait Americain"; it's perfect for faces that fill the frame though. The wide aperture enables you to completely isolate the subject, and the bokeh (background blur) is quite pleasing.
One area in which this lens is often overlooked is macro. It's already not too bad as-is, but if you get a couple of cheap macro rings you can do some pretty amazing stuff. I've made a photo of the individual plant fibres in a bug-eaten leaf with this setup. Get ready to use a tripod or off-camera flash as you'll need to stop way down in order to get any useful depth of field with the macro rings on.
The one place where it falls short is the lens hood. It has to be bought separately and is not cheap, and the attachment system must have been designed in the '80s. It's hard to put on when you need it & it falls off when you don't want it to. Given the 85's other outstanding aspects though, I really don't care too much about these issues.
Given its low cost, the 85mm f/1.8 should be the first thing on any new Canon user's shopping list if you're serious about getting into photography. "It's a crime to go without a prime". If even the 85's budget is too rich for you, get the 50mm f/1.8 (about as sharp, but the AF & build of the 85 are in a different league). New SLR users are often put off by non-zoom lenses, but the whole point of having an interchangable-lens camera is being able to use the right tool for the job (if you're just going to stick with one lens, do yourself a favor & get a RAW-enabled compact instead!).
291 of 298 people found this review helpful.
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