Well, I own both lenses. My suggestion would be to buy the Canon 85mm 1.8 lens so you have a true short telephoto lens with super optical quality. In terms of "value"per dollar spent, Canon's 85/1.8 is one of the biggest value propositions in their lens lineup; the Canon 50/1.4 EF is quite a bit less of a "value". It's hard to describe it actually, except that the 50/1.4 has some odd operational quirks, some hesitations in focusing under certain real-world conditions. Considering the price, the 50/1.4 Canon feels rather pedestrian and almost cheaply built, whereas the 85/1.8 feels more solidly made and in my experience, performs totally flawlessly.
Canon's 50/1.8 EF-II is a simply dreadful performer in terms of focusing. Loud, loud,loud focusing which is slow, erratic, and unpredictable and unreliable. It has a very skinny, high-geared,narrow, cheesy, front mounted manual focusing ring that is simply terrible in operation. This little plastic 7-ouncer has one fewer lens elements than other modern,low-cost 50's, and has a clunky 5-bladed lens diaphragm that yields big,ugly hexagonal out of focus highlights, and the 50/1.8 also has exceedingly harsh,nervous bokeh, and also has very poor anti-reflection coatings so shooting toward strong light sources with the 50/1.8 Canon is risky during the bright weather months when the sun's rays are really strong.
I am a pretty experienced photographer with decades of 50mm experience, and the 50/1.8 EF-II is simply the lowest-quality lens Canon has in its lineup; it's "sharp" only when it hits the right focus, but its images are very far below the "look" you will get from the 85mm 1.8 EF, or the 50/1.4. Canon's economy 50mm lens is widely applauded by beginners for whom it is their first 50mm lens, or their very-first prime lens,and I would strongly suggest that the $100 you'd spend in buying this el cheapo Canon lens would be far better spent applied toward a decent zoom lens. The Canon 85/1.8 OTOH, is a remarkably good 85mm lens---the seventh 85mm lens I have owned since 1982,both Canon and Nikon, and for the *money spent*, the Canon 85 is unmatched on today's market; it is a slightly better lens than Nikon's 85/1.8 AF or Nikon's 85 1.4 Ai-S or 85 f/2 Ai or AiS lenses.
Buy once, buy right. Get the 85mm and enjoy one of the best medium-high speed 85mm lenses made since the 1960's.
). I have owned 2 copies of this lens. I find the 85 1.8 faster in focusing then the 50 1.4 and also find it more consistent in overall image capture and build quality. Obviously I vote the 85 1.8 but keep in mind with your cropped body your looking at a ~135mm so chammer's recommendation makes absolute sense giving you a ~ 80mm with the 50 1.4. I don't know what type of photography you do but with the givens keep in mind about your shooting space when making the descision as well. In my opinion the only way to maximize the superior 85 1.8 is to shoot with a Full Frame where the 85 1.8 just shines.
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