Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Reviews

Bobatkins.com reviews the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM and writes;
“The Canon EF 85/1.8 USM is a superb lens. It’s one of Canon’s best lenses and it’s certainly near or at the top of the list of Canon’s best value lenses. It’s far and away better in all respects than any comparably priced zoom lens, and probably arguably better than any zoom lens regardless of price. It’s an excellent performer on a full frame camera and on a crop sensor camera it may be even better since the crop sensor only sees the central region of the image circle. “
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Colm reviews the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM and writes;
“It’s a reasonably light and convenient lens, and it’s quietness helps too for taking photos without people noticing too much… at the price, it’s an excellent lens, ideal for people like me who don’t want to spend too much but taking good looking photos with a wide aperture. Great for portraits and street photography alike. “
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Brighthub.com reviews the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM and writes;
“While most lenses tend to be sharper when stopped down by one or two stops, I find the Canon 85mm f/1.8 to be quite usable wide open at f/1.8. Image quality does tend to get better when the aperture is set to f/2.8 or f/4″
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Camerahacker.com reviews the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM and writes;
“Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM lens is a good low-light general-purpose lens, especially with people. I use this lens at many indoor social gatherings with good results. The quiet USM focus keeps the atmosphere of a quiet conversation intact. The fast focus operation of the USM also reduces hunting in low light, allowing me to capture facial expressions with ease.”
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Photozone.de reviews the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM and writes;
“With the exception of purple fringing in harsh contrast situations the lens performed extremely well. If you’re looking for a near-perfect portrait lens – well, stop here – you’ve found it! Naturally the lens has also a life beyond portraits. It’s also nice for compressed landscape shots and all aspects where you need to seperate your main subject from the background by using a very large aperture. The silky smooth bokeh (background blur) is a nice extra here. And the good news is: the lens is also very affordable at just 350EUR. “
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

SLRLensreview.com reviews the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM and writes;
“The difference in performance between the first and second samples of Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM is quite drastic. Quality in the center, which as I mentioned was already pretty decent, improved by an average of 5% across entire aperture range. The most noticeable improvement however was around borders. … Conclusion? Results are quite impressive (even for a medium telephoto lens) and rightfully put the lens into the top quartile of all prime lenses available on the market.”
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Wlcastleman.com compares the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, Canon EF 100mm f/2 and Canon EF 135mm f/2 L Lenses and writes;
“Canon EF 85mm f/1.8: This relatively inexpensive lens produces outstanding sharpness and contrast. This lens produces pleasing bokeh, although background is not as nicely blurred as with longer length telephoto lenses… “
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Photo.net reviews the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM and writes;
“For those who use small-sensor digital SLRs and do portrait projects, this is a “must-own” lens. For those who use full-frame cameras, this is a “probably should own” lens. “
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The-digital-picture.com reviews the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM and writes;
“The 85mm focal length and wide aperture make the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens a great church or stage lens. With its wide aperture and fast focusing, the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens works well for indoor Sports. This focal length is very good for portraits, and the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens makes a good portrait lens – excelling at head and head/shoulders portraits when mounted on a 1.3x or 1.6x FOVCF body. The wide f/1.8 aperture can create a dreamy OOF (Out of Focus) background blur.”
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Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM User Reviews

Huge bang for the buck | Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
“super sharp wide open, beautiful background blur, in my opinion the best bang for the buck other than maybe the 50mm f/1.8…which i’ve never owned. the only downside is the purple fringing, it produces some serious fringe wide open with extreme contrasty situations. not really a big deal though. “ – by Adam W. Medders

Five stars is not enough | Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
“Five stars does not do this lense justice. I recently read all the reviews available on this and other sites they all proclaimed this lense as a fantastic buy, its better than that. This lense is a steal at the price, equivilent quality costs over $1000 usually, for portraits its the only lense to have at the price, if there is something better on the market in the price range I havn’t seen it. The sharpness and clairity even in near darkness was way better than I was expecting and in comparison to my L lenses this is on a par. This is such a good deal I may get another just in case I lose the first one. If you buy no other lense, get this one.” – by Gary Cumberland

Excellent for indoor sports! | Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
“This camera lens with the large aperture allows very fast shots in poor lighting conditions, with ISO set around 800. I use the (Rebel) camera in full manual mode, set custom white balance and the autofocus of the lens does the rest. No more out of focus basketballs being dribbled, or elongated soccer balls being kicked. This lens is the best value for the $$ if you want professional looking pics of fast moving indoor action at a reasonably near distance.” – by Pete K.

Great fast lens for low light gyms for sports photography | Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
“Lens is an unbelievable deal. Tack sharp from f1.8. Currently I use no flash/strobes, so for basketball in lowlight gyms this camera does an amazing job. The auto focus is really fast. Shooting at f1.8 takes a lot practice. Overall a great lens and sturdy construction. “ – by Foto Learner “Wayne”

Canon EF USM 85mm f1.8, | Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
“This lens is one of Canons hidden gems. It is fast at f1.8 with an excellent bokeh. I have found it sharp and usuable even wide open and its shallow depth of field is great for my portraits. I use it a lots for street portraiture for my work. You do need to use it with the required hood or flare can be a little bit of a problem, but with the hood its is superb. Great price and the built quality is good, not L quality but then again not L price. One to keep in the bag, or on the camera for that matter. For those whose budget will not stretch as far as the 85 f1.2 then this is the one to get. I would definately recommend it to a friend.” – by Mr. Ian C. Miller “Fusion Asia”

My most-used, best quality lens, | Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
“…. By this time I was quite comfortable with the EF 85, and once again it exceeded my expectations. I always shoot in the highest quality mode (full “L” + RAW), and I was getting crystal-clear photos even when shooting from a slow-moving vehicle, and I was able to shoot at a rate of several photos per second. Again, great clarity, color, and the auto-focus was always spot-on. I couldn’t be happier with this lens. It is now my default lens – the lens I mount on my camera before I put it back in the bag every time. As with all lenses, I would recommend buying a lens hood (not a filter) to protect the lens and limit unwanted light.” – by Cory Geurts

Great bokeh, | Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
“If you are shooting low light, need lots of bokeh, or want incredible portraits, this is the lens to use. I won’t repeat what others have already said here about how good this lens really is. For the cost, you really can’t beat it.. I also use the nifty fifty (50mm 1.8 II). The major difference between the 50mm and 85mm, besides the obvious focal length difference, is that the 85mm has the ring type ultrasonic focus. This makes the 85mm faster to focus. I also think (subjective) that my 85mm image quality is just a bit better when wide open than the 50mm.” – by Pacman

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Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Sample Photos

- Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Sample Photos @ Photographyreview.com
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- Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Sample Photos @ Amazon.com
- Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Sample Photos @ Pbase.com
- Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Sample Photos @ The-digital-picture.com

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM User Manual

- Download Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM User Manual (PDF – 579kb)

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Specifications

A highly practical medium telephoto lens with superb delineation and portability, the Canon EF 85mm lens produces sharp and clear images at all apertures. Through computer simulations, the lens has been designed to give beautiful background blur, thereby bringing your subject into crisp view. The ring-type ultra-sonic monitor (USM) and fast f/1.8 aperture, meanwhile, helps the subject zip into focus in the viewfinder. And because the front lens group does not rotate during focusing, special filter effects are not affected. Best of all, the standard zoom lens–with its natural angle of view and perspective–captures the subject plainly, making it excellent for portraits and images that require a natural depth of field. As with all Canon lenses, the lens carries a one-year warranty.

* Focal length: 85mm
* Maximum aperture: 1:1.8
* Lens construction: 9 elements in 7 groups
* Diagonal angle of view: 28 degrees (at 30 feet)
* Focus adjustment: Rear focusing system with USM
* Closest focusing distance: 2.8 feet
* Filter size: 58mm
* Dimensions: 3 inches in diameter, 2.8 inches long
* Weight: 15 ounces