Hi all... I'm looking to buy a lens for available light shooting and was originally thinking about purchasing a 50mm 1.4 for my elan 7e. Then I thought about the 85mm 1.8 and now I'm torn. B&H has both for $340, (import). I know the 50mm is a great lens, but I also like the idea of getting in a bit closer with a medium telephoto. My question for you more experienced folks out there is - is there much of a tradeoff in speed with the 85mm lens? Any suggestions?

- best, David

-- David Kauffman (ekauffma@microbio.ucla.edu), May 29, 2001

Answers

FWIW, unless you want to spring for both (in which case I'd go for a fast 35 or 28 instead of the 50) the 50 works better for me. I reason that being handheld I can essentially crop the image from the 50 and still maintain roughly the same resolution and depth of field. I also find that the shorter lens allows me to get closer when I have to.

OTOH, if you are just doing people ie. candid portraits, and want to pull them or just their faces out then an 85 or 100 is the ticket. You'll prob'ly find you'll want a wider lens to go with it sooner or later :o)

Cheers,

Duane

-- Duane K (dkucheran@creo.com), May 29, 2001.

In addition to what Duane said;

The 85 f/1.8 is a great fast lens, but it requires a quicker shutter to hand hold than the 50 and is not quite as fast either. So the result is; if you are looking for one lens for all around low light work the 50 f/1.4 is a better choice. But if you want a low light portrait lens the 85 f/1.8 would be my first choice.

I think the 35mm lens is a better all purpose lens though since most of the time I need a low light lens, I'm also in cramped quarters. Just a thought.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), May 29, 2001.

David,

Go Bruins!

I have used both lenses and have found that the 50f1.4 is a better general purpose lenses. It has also served me well for portraits if I open up to f2.0 or so. This almost achieves the effect of a slight telephoto with limited depth of field. I found that I used the 85f1.8 primarily for portraits with studio lighting. In that situation, I primarily shoot at f4 or f5.6 due to limited depth of field. The net is that you need to consider depth of field when you do available light shooting. 85 at f1.8 will give you very shallow depth of field.

Hope that helps.

Alex

-- Alex Tran (alexltran@yahoo.com), May 30, 2001.

Have you thought of buying a 50/1.8 used for 50-80 bucks and seeing what you think (it's only 2/3 stop slower than the 1.4, so load film one speed higher to get a feel for the shutter speeds you would see with the 1.4).

If you don't like 50mm you can flog it off for 30-50 bucks, and you have bought $20 worth of experience which you can balance against a bunch of free opinions.

I have a 50/2 for my Leica and the EF 85/1.8 and find them completely different beasts. For all round available light shooting with only one lens the fifty is my choice, but I love the 85 for portraits.

-- Mark Wrathall (Wrathall@aon.at), May 30, 2001.