Best lens for blurred backgrounds

[pbelarge]

Canon's 85mm f/1.8 EF and their 135mm f/2-L EF lens are both really good lenses. I own both of them,and think they are really very strong candidates for lenses that can create nice, blurred backgrounds, and which are still very practical lenses that are easy to carry and very useful. Both lenses focus very rapidly and accurately, are sharp, resist ghosting and flaring quite well, and are really outstanding values. The 135mm length has a more pronounced "impression" that it puts on photos. In family photography type situations, the 135mm f/2 lenses from Canon (and Nikon also) create an out of focus foreground, a very sharp in-focus zone, and then transition pretty rapidly to the out-of-focus background zones...there's quite a bit of background magnification and "telephoto effect" that is created by a 135mm lens on a crop-body capture...much more-noticeable than what an 85mm lens produces.

Ditto what Derrel has said.
Although I do not shoot portraits, I sometimes happen to point my camera at people.

Of the two lenses, I happen to love the 135L This lens seems to 'correct' my bad habits and I love the results when shooting this lens. I have used it mostly on the 7D for the length, but it is one of my favorites on both of my cameras. My 50 f1.4 is another favorite as well. You would most likely do well with the 50 and 85 as a pair.

 

[gsgary]

200F2.8 is nice

 

[table1349]

Bottom line in the 85mm range the 85 f1.2L is superior to the 85 f1.8 in terms of bokeh at quite a cost. The 85 f1.8 is a good portrait lens with pleasing bokeh and other attributes going for it including cost. I will agree that the 200 f2.8 has very pleasing bokeh as well. The one downfall to this lens is working distance. If you have the distance it is an excellent portrait lens.

 

[SamiJoSchwirtz]

I've been trying to figure out the same thing..

 

[SamiJoSchwirtz]

is that with a canon or nikon