85 gets my vote, it's a better purchase for the money than the 50 1.4.
The 50 is a very old design and has a not-so-good micro USM motor.
The build is much better on the 85.

I'd go with the 85 eyes closed.

on a crop camera use the 50mm 1.4 its fantastic
your going to get a very narrow field of view with a 85mm
seeing as its a 1.6X conversion factor i think
if you want portrait and people get the 50
for city or street prolly 85mm both are good
ive never used the 85 but i know the 50 is good

This post was edited by jmw3407 on Mar 22 2009 04:35pm

it would be perfect for indoor photography, but im gonna stick with the 85 i think mate because i perfer outdoor photography more.
yep your right ive heard you need much practice to control the bokeh at less than f2.5 due to the paper-thin dof

cheers everyone for your help!

This post was edited by doyleo on Mar 22 2009 04:36pm

whats the price difference

about the same. the 85 is about 20 quid more expensive

I'd stay go with the 80 - since you said you're more into out door photography. It seems to make more sense, anyway.



I believe I'm getting the 50 a little over 100 bucks. Hopefully I like this one, I'm not sure I'd want the 80, since I have a wide angle to use outside... *scratches head & thinks*

This post was edited by chantal7 on Mar 22 2009 04:51pm

hmm the 80mm is much narrower than the 50mm and is not really suitable for outdoor photography and is probably not very suitable for using indoor either unless the room is large and you just want to take pictures of the upper bodies when taking portraits.
Well I am looking forward to see some of the pictures you are going to take with that nifty fifty

hmm how is the 85 not suitable for outdoor photography!? its a mid tele lens on a cropped body so should be great for general outdoors/action.

i belive your getting the 50mm 1.8, not the 50mm 1.4

the reality is that every lens is suited everywhere.
It depends on what you are shooting, your shooting style and your way of looking at things.