Which canon lens?

[monicadraper]

I have a canon T1i, and I am wondering what lens to get between the 50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.8? I want sharp images, and I will use it for portraits. I just want to here which one take better photos thanks

[oldwolf]

I'd go with the 85mm.

That's just personal preference.

[ceremus]

Both are perfectly fine portrait lenses, the bigger question is which lens is better for you, which I think will depend mostly on which focal length you need depending on the environment you're shooting in.

85 is a popular portrait focal length, it compresses the background on your subject and gives you quite a bit of working distance from your subject, which will often put them more at ease by not having a big camera right in their face. Which is useful, if you have the space. Remember on a 1.6x crop camera an 85mm will frame like a 135mm, starkly in telephoto territory. If you're shooting in a smaller studio you're going to want the 50mm.