EF 50mm f1.4 or EF 85mm f1.8

Throatrock · Mar 2, 2013

I am planning to get a new lens. I do both photography and cinematography. However, I am confused between selecting the 50mm f1.4 and 85mm f1.8. I use a Canon T3i (600D).

Any help much appreciated.

Ballistics · Mar 2, 2013

What's your question?

Throatrock · Mar 3, 2013

Advise on which one to buy out of the two.

texkam · Mar 3, 2013

Tell us what type of shooting you expect to be doing.

Consider a mid-range zoom covering those focal lengths.

Josh66 · Mar 3, 2013

I have both of those and would never really consider only having one of them, lol. Maybe the real question should be which one to buy first...? (If you can't just get them both at the same time, that is - haha)

As far as advice on which one to get, they are both good, though I'd say the 85 is probably slightly better. Hard to say anything more than that with the limited information we have to go on...

Throatrock · Mar 3, 2013

O|||||||O said:
I have both of those and would never really consider only having one of them, lol. Maybe the real question should be which one to buy first...? (If you can't just get them both at the same time, that is - haha)

As far as advice on which one to get, they are both good, though I'd say the 85 is probably slightly better. Hard to say anything more than that with the limited information we have to go on...

Thanks, this was the answer I was looking for.
Well to be specific i am planning to shoot music videos. I currently have 18-200m f3.5 -5.6.

Throatrock · Mar 3, 2013

Throatrock said:
Thanks, this was the answer I was looking for.
Well to be specific i am planning to shoot music videos. I currently have 18-200m f3.5 -5.6.

mm*

Josh66 · Mar 3, 2013

If you're not going to have a lot of room to work, you may want to go with the 50mm first. The 85mm is going to be too long for most indoor shooting (unless we're talking a studio or something) on a crop body.

paross2 · Mar 28, 2013

I think a lower F-Stop is more desirable for better depth of field, but I assume you can always walk closer or further from your subject. My vote is for the f/1.4 lens first, but get them both when you can!