Portrait preferred - 50mm f1.4 or 85mm f1.8?

[drumma]

to add, purple fringing shown more clearly. i'm not a pro tester btw. dun anyhow quote me ar!

and i also notice that at F1.8.. it's significantly soft. but sharp from F2 always.

 

[unseen]

Thanks for the comments and explanations. Agree with you that round bokeh is better than the pentagon one. When I get sick of pentagon bokeh, will want to switch to round bokeh. :bsmilie:

LOL it's not that bad as per say.. If i never say you may never notice about the bokeh.. keke..
I suggest if you just get sick of the bokeh, get longer primes like the 85 f1.8. I'm sure you would have noticed by now that it doesn't really focus very fast, and it does tend to announce to everyone around you that you're focusing.
If get new, I'd suggest the 50/f1.4. however, if to upgrade, I'll rather get another lens.
The 50/1.4 is not worth upgrading just for the bokeh IMHO. True, you'll get USM (fast and silent) with that lens, and you'll get better bokeh, and you get sharper images. however, for some people $400 is kinda much to pay for that.
but still, I find it quite ridiculous when people strongly recommend 50/1.8 as the "ideal portrait" lens in alot of the threads. It's a good lens for it's cost, but never ideal for almost all applications.

 

[yuknn]

Have my hands on the 50mm 1.4... (a nice colleague lend it to me) cool lens.. good bokeh.. But have to be pretty close to the subject. Good for Indoor... :thumbsup: Can't wait to get my 85mm from Oracle tonight

erm..dun mean to hijack but who is oracle? lens seller??!!

 

[drumma]

erm..dun mean to hijack but who is oracle? lens seller??!!

yes! a great help to canon ppl.
just look at threads started by the oracle.

http://forums.clubsnap.org/forumdisplay.php?f=28

items at good prices.

 

[yukazunori]

yes! a great help to canon ppl.
just look at threads started by the oracle.

http://forums.clubsnap.org/forumdisplay.php?f=28

items at good prices.

lol.. at first i read thought u mean the BIG networking company Oracle.. lol

 

[miniUltraman]

drumma, I understand now what you mean by purple fringing. I tried taking a mini waterfall and zoom up... I can see it
But it is really a very good lens... Fast focusing and superb portrait lens. It is also true that the bokeh is better than 50mm 1.4 :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[Isaiahfortythirtyone]

but the issue with purple fringing is, in my humble opinion, not much of an issue when it comes to smaller prints. at 4R, its negligible. at super 8R, u probably can see some but not to the extent that it becomes unsightly. and then again, there is always PS to remove the fringing. the 85 f/1.8 is really a tempting lens.

 

[Garion]

to add, purple fringing shown more clearly. i'm not a pro tester btw. dun anyhow quote me ar!

and i also notice that at F1.8.. it's significantly soft. but sharp from F2 always.

Thanks for sharing. However, does this purple fringing disappear when you stop down a little more? TIA.

 

[unseen]

Thanks for sharing. However, does this purple fringing disappear when you stop down a little more? TIA.

IIRC go down to f2 to f2.8 and most of it disappears..

 

[drumma]

it does go off when stopped down. most of the time, i use this lens f2 onwards. very significant improve in sharpness from F1.8 to F2.

the problem of purple fringing is not that crucial per se... i dun shoot in that kinda of conditions most of the time.

 

[Garion]

drumma and unseen, thanks for your feedback and comments on the lens, very helpful indeed! Appreciated. :thumbsup:

I'm sitting on the fence for this lens too. Just need a bit more push. ;p

 

[miniUltraman]

drumma and unseen, thanks for your feedback and comments on the lens, very helpful indeed! Appreciated. :thumbsup:

I'm sitting on the fence for this lens too. Just need a bit more push. ;p

I will give u a light push!! Go for it... You will not regret!! Oracle has the last piece with a $5 discount :sweatsm:

 

[bry'an]

get the cheap 50mm 1.8 and the 85mm 1.8 and all ur problems are solved.

yap! exactly :bsmilie: