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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Reviews

Review of Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II Lens and Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 Lens by W.L. Castleman

Overall, this is an incredibly sharp and good contrast lens with superior autofocus function in either single focus acquisition or tracking focus mode. Out of focus blur at f/2 (bokeh) is very pleasing for an 85mm lens. It is a very light and compact lens that provides high performance at a relatively inexpensive cost.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens Review by the-digital-picture.com

An application where the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens shines is indoor and low light photography. 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.

The bottom line is that the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens is simply a very nice lens at a reasonable price.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens Review by photo.net

The Canon 85/1.8 is simple, plastic, and rugged, with a wide knurled manual focus ring. The ET65III lens hood is sold separately, and snaps onto the front of the lens, just in back of where you’d screw a filter (58mm) in. The lens incorporates a ring USM motor, which enables “full-time manual focus“, even when the camera/lens are set to autofocus.

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.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM – Review / Test Report by photozone.de

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.