How does the canon 85mm f1.8 behave on EOS M bodies?

[Miguel-C]

Hello forum,

Im in the process of buying a new portrait lens and i was in talks with a seller to buy the sigma 56mm for a great price. The seller stopped responding so i assum that sale has gone down the drain so im looking a sub 300 euro lens to do the job.

I can buy the 85mm f1.8 for about 150 euros, but its an old lens... How does it behave on an m body? I have the m5.

Thank you in advance!

--
Cordial Regards

 

[lungdoc]

I'm sure you know this but 85 is of course a lot different from 56 in terms of portrait use. 85mm on APS-C is quite long, tough to use indoors unless in a large room or tight head shot. One of the better versions of the 50mm EF lenses could be better choice.

Briefly used my 85mm 1.8 on M50 with no issues that i recall. Focus speed not super quick but seemed fine esp for portrait use.

 

[Miguel-C]

I'm sure you know this but 85 is of course a lot different from 56 in terms of portrait use. 85mm on APS-C is quite long, tough to use indoors unless in a large room or tight head shot. One of the better versions of the 50mm EF lenses could be better choice.

Briefly used my 85mm 1.8 on M50 with no issues that i recall. Focus speed not super quick but seemed fine esp for portrait use.

Hehe yes im aware. Thank you!

For some reference i have the 50mm stm and i would consider AF subpar.

--
Cordial Regards

 

[prospects]

I'm sure you know this but 85 is of course a lot different from 56 in terms of portrait use. 85mm on APS-C is quite long, tough to use indoors unless in a large room or tight head shot. One of the better versions of the 50mm EF lenses could be better choice.

Briefly used my 85mm 1.8 on M50 with no issues that i recall. Focus speed not super quick but seemed fine esp for portrait use.

Hehe yes im aware. Thank you!

For some reference i have the 50mm stm and i would consider AF subpar.

 

[Alexis]

The 85/1.8 is a beautiful lens (should have been designated an L status) and works great with my M50.

Having said that, I have now sold it as I recently bought the Sigma 56/1.4 EF-M lens which is quicker to focus, smaller in size (especially as I don't need an adapter) and optical quality easily as good as the 85/1.8. My love for the 85/1.8 which lasted for years has now been replaced by the 56/1.4

Either lens is great but if you can stretch it (and for use on M body only) go for the Sigma

 

[Alastair Norcross]

I used the 85 F1.8 quite a bit with the original M. Here are some samples:

























The lens performed very well on that body, with its much-maligned AF. I'm sure it's even better on more recent bodies. I don't use it these days, because I have the Sigma 56, which is superb. But if I wanted a longer portrait lens, the 85 would still do a great job.

--
As the length of a thread approaches 150, the probability that someone will make the obvious "it's not the camera, it's the photographer" remark approaches 1.
Alastair

anorcross

Keen hobbyist since teaching myself film photography as a teenager in the 70s, using manual SLRs and black and white film. Love photographing people and animals.

anorcross.smugmug.com

Equipment in profile

 

[beagle1]

Hello forum,

Im in the process of buying a new portrait lens and i was in talks with a seller to buy the sigma 56mm for a great price. The seller stopped responding so i assum that sale has gone down the drain so im looking a sub 300 euro lens to do the job.

I can buy the 85mm f1.8 for about 150 euros, but its an old lens... How does it behave on an m body? I have the m5.

Thank you in advance!

probably like any other crop model

I use the 100mm 2.8 macro non-L on a Canon M5 for portraits

www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

 

[Miguel-C]

Hello forum,

Im in the process of buying a new portrait lens and i was in talks with a seller to buy the sigma 56mm for a great price. The seller stopped responding so i assum that sale has gone down the drain so im looking a sub 300 euro lens to do the job.

I can buy the 85mm f1.8 for about 150 euros, but its an old lens... How does it behave on an m body? I have the m5.

Thank you in advance!

probably like any other crop model

I use the 100mm 2.8 macro non-L on a Canon M5 for portraits

www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

That macro lens is definitely on my pipeline, and i agree its amazing for portraits.

 

[Miguel-C]

I'm sure you know this but 85 is of course a lot different from 56 in terms of portrait use. 85mm on APS-C is quite long, tough to use indoors unless in a large room or tight head shot. One of the better versions of the 50mm EF lenses could be better choice.

Briefly used my 85mm 1.8 on M50 with no issues that i recall. Focus speed not super quick but seemed fine esp for portrait use.

Hehe yes im aware. Thank you!

For some reference i have the 50mm stm and i would consider AF subpar.

From my experience it’s better than the 50mm f1.8 STM but if you could get the sigma I think it’ll be a better choice.

Thats what im gunning for, but here in europe the sigmas hard to come by on the semi used market.

 

[dpeete]

I don't have the Sigma, so I can't comment on it... but I agree with others in that 56mm can be used in typical indoor scenarios while the 85mm won't.

But I do have the 85mm 1.8, and while I love the 135mm equivalent focal length for outdoor portraits, my copy of the 85mm has TERRIBLE purple fringing. In outdoor situations I have had to stop way down if there is high contrast the scene, at which point it isn't really delivering on the bokeh-promise of such a lens. (Or shoot black and white as was shown to great effect here - nicely done).

I haven't had any AF issues with 85mm 1.8 on an M6 or an M6ii... I've even shot some sports with it.

For me, I'd gladly trade it for the Sigma 56mm... I assume it has better control in high contrast situations, and complements the small body size well.

 

[JRET]

Hello forum,

.... I can buy the 85mm f1.8 for about 150 euros, but its an old lens... How does it behave on an m body? I have the m5 ....

I don't have the M5 but have used the 85 mm f/1.8 on the original M, M2, and now M50 - it works very nicely w/quick focus and nice images. With the crop factor it behaves much like a 135mm which I happen to like a lot.

In addition to the 85, I've used the 35mm f/2 IS, 100mm f/2.8L, and 70-200 f/4L - these lenses work great on each of my M bodies and I certainly recommend them, especially if a native mount is not available.

 

[Miguel-C]

Hello forum,

.... I can buy the 85mm f1.8 for about 150 euros, but its an old lens... How does it behave on an m body? I have the m5 ....

I don't have the M5 but have used the 85 mm f/1.8 on the original M, M2, and now M50 - it works very nicely w/quick focus and nice images. With the crop factor it behaves much like a 135mm which I happen to like a lot.

In addition to the 85, I've used the 35mm f/2 IS, 100mm f/2.8L, and 70-200 f/4L - these lenses work great on each of my M bodies and I certainly recommend them, especially if a native mount is not available.

Awesome, thank you.

 

[nnowak]

I'm sure you know this but 85 is of course a lot different from 56 in terms of portrait use. 85mm on APS-C is quite long, tough to use indoors unless in a large room or tight head shot. One of the better versions of the 50mm EF lenses could be better choice.

Briefly used my 85mm 1.8 on M50 with no issues that i recall. Focus speed not super quick but seemed fine esp for portrait use.

Hehe yes im aware. Thank you!

For some reference i have the 50mm stm and i would consider AF subpar.

From my experience it’s better than the 50mm f1.8 STM but if you could get the sigma I think it’ll be a better choice.

Thats what im gunning for, but here in europe the sigmas hard to come by on the semi used market.

There are not a lot of used copies of that lens anywhere in the world. Most likely because it has not even been on the market for a year yet. It is also unlikely to be a lens that anyone would find dissatisfying and would want to unload. I don't know what kind of used deal you find, but it looks like a new one is only € 390.

 

[Miguel-C]

I used the 85 F1.8 quite a bit with the original M. Here are some samples:













The lens performed very well on that body, with its much-maligned AF. I'm sure it's even better on more recent bodies. I don't use it these days, because I have the Sigma 56, which is superb. But if I wanted a longer portrait lens, the 85 would still do a great job.

Nice stuff, i really appreciate it!

--
Cordial Regards

 

[lungdoc]

Hello forum,

Im in the process of buying a new portrait lens and i was in talks with a seller to buy the sigma 56mm for a great price. The seller stopped responding so i assum that sale has gone down the drain so im looking a sub 300 euro lens to do the job.

I can buy the 85mm f1.8 for about 150 euros, but its an old lens... How does it behave on an m body? I have the m5.

Thank you in advance!

probably like any other crop model

I use the 100mm 2.8 macro non-L on a Canon M5 for portraits

www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

That macro lens is definitely on my pipeline, and i agree its amazing for portraits.

If willing to consider a 2.8 lens, the EF-S 60mm macro is also well regarded in the focal range you are considering, as is the Sigma 70mm EX DG macro (the newer Art version likely to be too expensive), and there's a Tamron 60mm f/2 macro for EF-S/crop as well. All might be good values used, would need to check some research if the older Sigma and Tamron play well with M cameras. I had no issues with other older Sigma lenses like my 100-300 f/4 zoom and an older 24-70 2.8 (since sold).

 

[geru]

I used it on my M50 just the other week and it performed pretty much as it did on my 80D even with the adapter and the quality of the photos were equivalent to those of the 80D.

I used it outside but even then found the focal length equivalent on ASPC of 136 mm a little awkward.

I had the opportunity to use the Sigma 56mm (89 mm equivalent) and I'd much prefer to have that lens in my kit along with the Tokina 100mm (160 mm equivalent) Pro Macro lens for shooting portraits. These 2 lenses would cover the gambit of lengths (including full length) for photos and are cheaper by half or more then a 70-200mm f/2.8.

 

[adventurer69]

I don't own the Canon 85 but ti did try one out on my M50 and it worked fine , focusing was very fast and accurate .I do however own an 85, 1.8 youngnuo , apart from it having noisy auto focus .I have no problems with the IQ I get from it .

 

[zero214]

Hi it worked great on M6, you have to watch for chromatic abberations when shooting under strong light, and good for landscape too.

 

[nolten]

Don't know what they are going for used, but I get really sharp images from my EF-S 60mm f2.8 macro on my M6II. It makes a nice portrait lens if you think f2.8 is fast enough.

 

[prospects]

I'm sure you know this but 85 is of course a lot different from 56 in terms of portrait use. 85mm on APS-C is quite long, tough to use indoors unless in a large room or tight head shot. One of the better versions of the 50mm EF lenses could be better choice.

Briefly used my 85mm 1.8 on M50 with no issues that i recall. Focus speed not super quick but seemed fine esp for portrait use.

Hehe yes im aware. Thank you!

For some reference i have the 50mm stm and i would consider AF subpar.

From my experience it’s better than the 50mm f1.8 STM but if you could get the sigma I think it’ll be a better choice.

Thats what im gunning for, but here in europe the sigmas hard to come by on the semi used market.

Like someone said above, I think there’s not many used copies out for the 56mm yet as it’s quite a new lens for EF-M!

The new prices doesn’t seem to be so unreasonable for these sigmas! I think it comes up to be below 400 euros right?

Oh and yes the 85mm f1.8 has quite bad chromatic aberrations compared to the newer lenses sadly!