Helo
I wanted to introduce myself to you.
At the same time you can also tell me what gear you are currently using.

I'm a proud owner of a Caon EOS 70D for about 2 months now.
My own equipment includes a 18-135 EF-S, a 100mm canon Makro and a 50mm fixed focal length 1.8.
In addition to that I've bought myself a Canon Speedlite 430 EX II Flashlight with a softbox.

I have a generous friend who's been lending me some of his equipment which includes:
- 70-200 mm 2.8 I
- 24-70 mm 2.8 I
- 10-22mm EF-S wide angle
- 17-55mm 2.8 EF-S
- 50mm 1.4 Fixed Focal Length

I know that you can make a good picture with almost any camera if you are patient and know what you are doing.
But there's no comparison from my former digital cam to the DSLR I got my hands on right now.

Pretty nice stuff. Get some good use out of those lenses that you are being lent, they're really nice.

This is my setup:

Nikon D5200
Sigma 18-35 f1.8 Art
Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6
Nikon 50mm 1.8G
Nikon 85mm 1.8G
Nikon 70-300 4.5-5.6 VR
Nikon SB-700 flash

Thinking about selling off the 70-300 though. I don't do enough wildlife photos... maybe once a year on a camping trip.

How do you like the 85mm compared to the 50mm?
I just got a 50mm after getting rid of my 35mm but I was debating going with the 85mm instead.

Ive got:
D3200
18-55 nikon
55-300 nikon
11-16 tokina
50 nikon

And I was about to order a SB-700 but I noticed this morning that my hot shoe is loose so Im debating what to do to get that fixed/replaced.

The 85mm 1.8G is excellent. Purely in terms of focal length, it's useful. The 50mm can handle portraiture as well, and if you're on a budget then the 50mm is in a similar category... but in the end, it's apples and oranges. There's a 35mm difference (53.27mm full frame FoV approximate difference given the 1.52 crop factor).

I think what I notice more than the field of view difference between the two lenses is the technical performance difference. The 50mm 1.8G is obviously a good performer... it represents value for the dollar, and performs well. The 85mm 1.8G is in an entirely different league though... it's shaaaaarrrrrp, and everything comes out really nice with the lens.

If you're thinking about buying a new lens for DX or FX, the 85mm 1.8G is probably at the top of my suggestion list to you... above anything else... If you're sticking to DX, the 18-35 Sigma Art is so so close in performance to the 85mm 1.8G's performance, just in that 27 - 53mm equivalent field of view category.

I think in terms of my technically favorite lenses (in terms of their technical performance), my favorites in order would be:
85mm 1.8G
18-35mm Art
the rest

In terms of my favorite lenses with all things considered, my favorites would be in this order:
18-35mm Art
85mm 1.8G
10-20 Sigma Art
50mm 1.8G
70-300 VR (this might be my favorite if it were actually sharp... would love a 150-600, but I'm not a bird guy, and I'm not a millionaire)

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Dec 26 2014 05:59pm

sony tx-5
iphone 6
hasselblad c/m 500 with 80mm 2.8 lens
yashica electro 35, havent tested if it works other than electronics
nikon f-501 and 35-135 3.5-4.5(macro), havent tested if it works other than electronics
canon eos 300
canon 1d mkIII

canon lenses:
35-80mm 4-5.6
50mm 1.4
zeiss 135mm 3.5(fits canon with adapter)
extension tube set

m42 lenses(to which i dont have adapter):
pentacon auto 135 2.8 mc
pentacon auto 50mm 1.8 mc

gossen digiiflash light meter
epson v500 scanner(for scanning negatives)

slik monopod 350 with some small slik ballhead
crappy tripod

And the reason for untested cameras and lenses i cant mount is because i got them so cheap i couldnt resist on buying



This new sigma seems interesting. Just heard of it for the first time now(havent been updating my internal camera database for a while) and it surely makes the whole 1.5/1.6 crop sensor thing more viable.



85mm or 50mm depends on your personal needs and what other lenses you have. On crop sensor i would prefer 28-35mm lens and 85mm over 50mm(i had 28mm 1.8, 50 mm 1.2 1.4 and 1.8 and 85mm 1.8), but if i had to pick up one lens only and wouldnt have other primes, then i would go with 50mm. 85mm is better for head portraits and when you need to reach out slightly more, but really the ideal portrait field of view is 85mm on a full frame(can be longer too, many use 200mm for example and 135mm is also popular), 50mm on crop nikon is 75mm on full frame, so its not too far away from that, which makes it quite viable and the difference isnt huge when it comes to portrait results from each lens. However 85mm on crop camera is too long for most shooting and too short for anything tele. Its kinda on the bad spot for crop cameras, but could work for stuff like candid portraits on street, skateboarding and ofc for some objects on ground or something you happen to find, but 50mm does that as well. Basically 85mm is too long for anything that has more than one subject(unless they are far away) and too short for birds etc.

If i had your setup i would keep the 50mm.

canon eos 6d and 7dmII

Carl Zeiss 50mm Planar f/0.7
Canon 5200mm F/14 Mirror Lens
Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6
Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8
8-15mm f/4L USM fisheye
24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
24mm f/1.4L II USM
85mm f/1.2L II USM
135mm f/2.0L USM
600mm f/4.0L IS II USM
100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
24 mm f/3.5L II Tilt-Shift