prime lens - what to buy?

[MrJones]

Hi all,
I'm thinking of buying a new prime lens. I currently own 3 lenses:
Canon 70-200 f/4 IS USM
Canon 24-105 f/4 IS USM
Canon 50mm f/1.8

I want the 24mm or 35mm which look great but too expensive so that's off for now.
I was thinking about the 135mm f/2 or the 85mm f/1.8 and I'm stuck deciding.
any help?

[inkista]

I own both the 85/1.8 and the 135/2L. My 85 gathers dust while my 135L is always in the bag. The 85 is a terrific lens, and at the price is a fantastic bargain, but contrast and color-wise the 135L beats it pretty handily. Both lenses are super sharp, have great bokeh, and autofocus extremely fast.

The 135L, however, is much larger and heavier, and harder to use in lower light, due to the 1/focal_length limit and how longer lenses are more limited in small space. If the thing had IS, it would be perfect.

I'd recommend the 135L if you shoot long, and if you can easily afford it, otherwise, the 85/1.8, the 100/2 or 135 f/2.8 Soft Focus are good lower-cost alternatives. My 85/1.8 was my go-to booksigning lens, but then I got the 135L. I tried used both of them for booksignings for a while (as you can see below), but I ended up finding I preferred pairing the 135L with either my Leica-R 35/2, or my 24-105L instead.


Canon XT. EF 85mm f/1.8 USM. iso 400, f/1.8, 1/60s.


Canon XT. EF 85mm f/1.8 USM. iso 800, f/1.8, 1/320s.


Canon XT. EF 135mm f/2L USM. iso 1600, f/2, 1/160s.


Canon XT. EF 135mm f/2L USM. iso 400, f/2, 1/320.

[RichardTaylor]

Same here. I own both the 85 F1.8 and the 135 F2 L.
The 135 F2 is my favourite lens (but not most used). Super sharp, even wide open, beautiful bokeh, extremely quick focussing and focuses fairly close..

(1) @ F2 on a Canon 5D


(2) @ F2 on a 40D


(3) @ F2 on a 40D


(4) @ F2 on a 40D

[inkista]

Aside from the 135L, if you don't need autofocusing, and you're absolutely nuts (and really cheap) like me, you could also contemplate the $250 Samyang/Rokinon/Vivitar/Bower 85mm f/1.4. Some folks are comparing it to the 85 f/1.2L, and the Nikkor 85/1.4 for performance. It's a manual focus lens, though.

Of course, I looooove manual focus glass and I'll adapt lenses. I'm as enamored of my adapted Contax-Yashica mount Planar 100 as I am of my 135L.

[Elmo]

Look at what FL you use the most when shooting your zooms. then if you really need one buy the FL you use most.

[MrJones]

I ment the 135 f/2.8 of course.. the 135 f/2 L is out of my budget for now.
so I'm down to these two:

85mm f/1.8 USM
50mm f/1.4 USM

which one is sharper in your experience?
I currently own the 50mm f/1.8 but it is too slow to focus, hence I'm thinking of the 50mm which is in the middle between telephoto and wide.