How does the focus accuracy and speed of the 85 1.8 compare to the 50 1.4? Is the 85 better in low light conditions?
I am not crazy about the 50, and am considering selling some lenses to pick up a 35 1.4 and having the 85 1.8 along side of it. I do have an OM 50 1.2 that I like, so I'd still have a good 50 in the cupboard.
I wouldn't say there's a big difference in low light AF (though the 50 would have the slight advantage of letting in 2/3 stop more light), but the AF of the 85 is very fast and secure, and seems more consistent than the 50. The 85/1.8 is a great lens compared to anything in its price range, and as long as there's enough light for your body to AF, the lens will focus beautifully.
In my experience there is a significant difference, especially in low light. The 85/1.8 focuses much quicker and more accurately in all conditions. I own the 35/1.4, 50/1.4 and the 85/1.8 and prefer the 35 or 85 to the 50.
For me, the focusing on the 85 is much better than the 50 for speed especially. Haven't really compared them in accuracy-I don't use my 50 near as much because that lens really needs to be stopped down to be decent and I like shooting open or within about a stop.
M Vers wrote:
In my experience there is a significant difference, especially in low light. The 85/1.8 focuses much quicker and more accurately in all conditions. I own the 35/1.4, 50/1.4 and the 85/1.8 and prefer the 35 or 85 to the 50.
+1: Made exactly the same observation. The 35/1.4 has the best AF performance, followed by the 85/1.8.
mco_970 wrote:
How does the focus accuracy and speed of the 85 1.8 compare to the 50 1.4? Is the 85 better in low light conditions?
I am not crazy about the 50, and am considering selling some lenses to pick up a 35 1.4 and having the 85 1.8 along side of it. I do have an OM 50 1.2 that I like, so I'd still have a good 50 in the cupboard.
I like both lenses and feel that while their performance is not identical in every way, that it is more or less comparable.
AF fine on the 85 1.8 and IQ in combo with 5d2 sometimes has to be seen. I use this lens along with a host of Contax and Leicas and it certainly doesn`t get put to shame. The images don`t have the same look and feel as the MF lenses but if I lost it I would replace it straight away. Still the best kept secret in the Canon line and certainly worth maybe double the asking price IMHO.
mco_970 wrote:
How does the focus accuracy and speed of the 85 1.8 compare to the 50 1.4? Is the 85 better in low light conditions?
Light projection from a shorter & wider angle lens makes the AF system harder to predict, so i say 85 is better than 50 @ wide open for the lesser AF body. Maybe not matter if you have better AF body EX: my 85 works better than 50 on 5d2 but their performance is the same on 1ds2.
form wrote:
85 f/1.8 is a good lens with flaws of bad purple fringing and bad flare. Flare is very similar to 135L and 70-200 f/2.8 IS v1.
To be honest I`ve only noticed one problem with fringing. I shot a number of images on a dock with row boats in the foreground and sea behind and wide open with the light behind the subject I did get a greenish fringe but to be honest I easily removed it with a defringe action in photoshop. As far as any other CA or flare I honestly can`t remember seeing anything that gave me any problems. I use mine on 5d2 and 1dsmk3 in the past. Let me just say that probably my best lens that always turns in the goods is my old Contax 21mm 2.8 MM version and I know you can`t really compare a super wide with a short tele but the sharpness and definition of the 85 is on par. It`s such a small insignificant lens with a super deep lens hood( a must have) that close in candids are a breeze and at f2.2 it shines with great bokeh.
Those two above mentioned lenses are the ones that will maybe get me killed one day when I refuse to hand them over to a mugger:-(
