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Another cheap(ish) RF prime review/demonstration

Started Mar 24, 2022 | Discussions thread
davidwien Contributing Member • Posts: 572
A different opinion

Many thanks, Alastair, for taking the trouble to select and post these photos.

I have never had an 85mm lens and have been considering whether I need to add the RF85 f/2 to my collection. As you have ably shown, the lens is highly competent technically, and the price is acceptable. The question for me is whether I like the type of photos an 85mm takes. I do not take a lot of portraits, which may be why I am not so enthusiastic about this focal length; but when I do, I use my RF50 or RF35. For groups indoors I often use the RF16 -- though I have to be careful not to make those on the periphery look too fat than they are!

What I do not like about portraits taken with an 85mm lens:

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to me, in most cases the people in the pictures are obviously seen from a distance.

-- unless the camera is even further away than is usual, there is no context surrounding the person in the photo.

These are not criticisms of Alastair's technique, they are characteristics of photos taken with the 85mm focal length.

I guess I am an f/64 type of person: I actually shoot a lot at f/8 and f/16, which gives a larger depth of field on wider angle lenses. But I admit that I crop my images, after correcting perspective, to frame the subject better .

I plan to spend some time with my RF24-240 taped to 85mm, to see what other use I might find for this focal length. The other resolution I have made is to frame better in the camera and not crop, though with PhotoLab and Sharpen AI, ending up with fewer pixels is less of a problem than it used to be.

[By the way, Alastair, like you I was born in the UK, I have also lived in Houston and can vouch for the frequent flooding there! Violent and sudden downpours are a feature of Denton, TX, also, All my photos from Galveston look like they were taken on an August bank holiday in Grimsby!]

David

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Sony RX100 VA Canon EOS RP Canon EOS R6 Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM +6 more
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