[Irma]

I am thinking about buying this lens for my still life pictures. Do you think it will work?

I have always wanted to have the 85mm f1.2 but it is just too expensive. I have read some opinions from users of this lens and they say it is a good lens.

Thanks so much for your advice...

[Wedding Shooter]

I have one Irma and it is a very sharp lens.

I just never seem to use it these days as I always reach for the 70-200. But I am sure it would be wonderful to use if you wanted something in that range without the weight.

Have you considered the 100 Macro from Canon - I have it and love it. Of course it maybe slightly too long for you - but it will focus a lot closer on your still lifes then than the 85.

[Kombisaurus]

Hi Irma,

Chris (Wedding Shooter) would be the one to talk to about this, as he owned this lens I think (edit: doh! you snuck your post in before me Chris).

I considered it when I bought my EF 135 f/2L, and decided against it because it was too short for my needs (indoor sport/portraiture). But that should have no bearing on your decision because you clearly intend to use it for a different purpose to me.

Do you have a 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.8? If so, is 85mm perhaps a bit too close to your 50mm? Personally if I needed a really fast lens then I'd go for the 50mm f/1.4 and if I needed something longer I'd go for the 100mm f/2 (or 135mm f/2L in my case). Of course if I could afford and justify the 85mm f/1.2L then that's a different story, but as you say, it is very expensive.

I know a lot of people love this lens though (the 85mm f/1.8), and I remember reading a review of it compared to the EF 100mm f/2 and EF 135mm f/2L which ended up concluding that all three lenses were fantastic. So you can't really go wrong with any of them.

I just checked the Canon Australia website and noticed it isn't listed there. I don't know if that means it has been discontinued or perhaps it's about to be superceded?

Good luck with the decision, and make sure you post plenty of shots from whatever you end up with!

[Irma]

Thanks so much for your advice Chris, Adrian...

I like a lot the idea of working with a 100mm lens, the macro lens would be really nice. This lens would work for my still life plus we would have another macro lens, so G and I can take macros at the same time. I have seen pictures with this lens and it is a beautiful macro, I am sure in G's camera would work really nice.

They have it in stock and it is around 60 euros more than the 85mm. We might fit it in the budget...

I will let you know how it is working and post some pictures.

[matthew]

Uli has a 100mm Macro, and I remember how much she loved it and the great results she was able to get with it. I also have a friend in my club who uses it on a film (!) body and uses it all the time.

The 100 Macro is also the same field of view as my favourite lens (the one I took almost all of my flower photos with in the flash assignment) and it's a great length. It's useful for non-macro shooting, and is a good tradeoff between depth of field and working distance for still life macro subjects.

[Kombisaurus]

Just to point out Irma.... the EF 100mm f/2 lens that I was referring to is not the same lens that Chris and Matt are talking about. They are talking about the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro.

Unfortunately you lose a stop of light to gain the macro ability from the 100mm lens, and all of a sudden there are 1.3 stops between the f/1.8 of the 85mm you were originally considering and f/2.8 of the 100mm macro.... It's beginning to turn into quite a different lens altogether.
but... I know you enjoy your macro work and being a macro lens it should be tack sharp, so perhaps it could be exactly what you're looking for?

Of course there's always the EF 135mm f/2L which is still my all-time favourite lens and I'd buy it again in a heartbeat, and it's a LOT cheaper than an EF 85mm f/1.2L.
...or you could hold out for the new EF 200mm f/2L IS that's in the pipeline.... *drooooooool*

[Irma]

Matt, because of your comment on your flower pictures, I think a 100mm would be fine....

Yes, Kombi, Thanks..

It was a bit confusing at the beginning but I went to the canon site to see the lenses and I saw both.

That 200mm f2 looks wonderful indeed. The thing is that I have already the canon 180mm macro... Well it is not the same, but for my macro and flower pictures is great. I have taken birds and even landscapes with it and works wonderfully, it is so sharp... it is F3.5 but still it works great...

I am planning for tomorrow to set a nice still life and shoot with my kit lens, at 85mm and 100mm so we can see the difference....

Thanks for your help...

[wulinka]

thanks Mat, I was just getting there.

I looove my 100mm, it is the sharpest thing on earth on the 350D, but of course slightly long, in the end I used it even for street photography when I didn't want to get too close. I still have to try it on the 5D, but I expect only the best.

On the other hand, the 50mm/1.4 on the 350D now is effectively close to real 85mm, so on the D 70 a nice and very fast 50mm would be something to consider I guess. you might not be happy with the focusing distance for stills.

Irma, slightly off topic, didn't you have a 24mm on order? what happened to it?

Uli

[Wedding Shooter]

The 100 Macro also closes down to f32 - which can be very useful. It is so sharp - right across the frame.

Here is a ring shot I took at the wedding on Saturday with the lens - hand held and at ISO 1250. But even under those demanding conditions the sharpness and detail in the ring is amazing. I used live view which allowed me to nail the focus first shot - something almost impossible before on a macro for me.

[matthew]

Very nice shot.

I used live view which allowed me to nail the focus first shot - something almost impossible before on a macro for me.

Isn't that great? I only use my E-510 for macros simply for that feature. And when I brought it out at my clubs "Macro Workshop" last night, it got quite a reaction. It wasn't that long ago that a prominent camera reviewer was calling Live View "a solution looking for a problem". How things change...

[Kombisaurus]

I used live view which allowed me to nail the focus first shot - something almost impossible before on a macro for me.

Isn't that great? I only use my E-510 for macros simply for that feature. And when I brought it out at my clubs "Macro Workshop" last night, it got quite a reaction. It wasn't that long ago that a prominent camera reviewer was calling Live View "a solution looking for a problem". How things change...

I agree! I haven't used it very often, but in the occasional focus-critical situations that I have used it it has really made a difference.
I find it particularly useful with my tilt/shift lens to nail the focus and also when taking long-exposure night shots on a tripod.
Sorry to sidetrack your thread Irma. I'll be quiet now.

[Irma]

Sorry to sidetrack your thread Irma. I'll be quiet now.

Please don't Adrian... at the contrary, to me this kind of posts are as if I had them all in my livingroom having a nice cup of tea and chatting about cameras, lenses and pictures....

Uli,
Thanks for sharing your experience with this lense... The room I have to take my pictures is very narrow. Unfortunately, I don't have much room to walk about and make changes with lights and all... I feel more comfortable taking my pictures with my D70 and 50mm, than with the 5D and 50mm...

About my lens!! Thanks for asking.

I love it!! I haven't had much time to play with it but when I did it, it was great!! The T/S functions are a bit difficult still but practicing and looking at my mistakes I might get it right soon.

Here you can see some picture I took in Luebeck... You know that Luebeck is the right place for architecture photography... Every corner has details to photograph and the best is that as it is a touristic place, so they don't mind much about photographers ...

http://www.shuttertalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8190

Chris,
Thanks for the picture, it is beautiful... And you are right it is indeed very sharp!

[wulinka]

Hey, I didn't know you were buying a TS!!!
I have been fancying those, but they are just so expensive. Have you ever tried a lense baby? I don't own one but played a bit with a friend's, in some ways it's not unlike a TS lense.

Uli

[Zig]

Just flagging up the Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro here

[Irma]

Uli,
I probably have seen not nice pictures with the lensbaby... I mean... I like them, and people seem to have a lot of fun with them, but the pictures I have seen are so blurred and the effect in some cases makes me dizzy, I can't see them for long time...

G wanted one, he opted for something else after I bought my lens...

I still don't know if I can get that blurry effect with my lens...

Thanks Zig for the advice...

I've been working a lot these days and I have reorganized my little room... so I can move my lights a bit more and still have room for me and my tripod... I have also working out of the room. Looking for places at home where I could take my pictures...

[Zig]

An example with the Tamron at f11, 100ASA. I wonder if this is useful:
As I forgo proper lighting with a pair of cheapo desk/office lamps, I get the depth of field and software to do the work as regards blur: I removed the tungsten cast by adjusting the WB in-shot, used a bit of blur tool to accentuate bokeh, added a bit of diffuse glow, then a white soft brush at around 30% opacity around the edges for a kind of simulation of halation/vignetting.
These are mine and Karen's titanium wedding rings.

[Irma]

Thanks so much Zig for sharing your picture. I like it a lot.. It looks so sharp with beautiful detail. As if I could touch them...

Also great work with your treatment.

I have a 90mm macro lens in my Nikon. I never took portaits or still life with it only landscapes, and it was because you advice us to do it. I still remember myself running to the fields to shoot the first tree I saw just to try this lens for landscapes...