Advice/Tips for new EF 85mm f1.8?

[Sonya Natasha]

Hello all,

As some of you already know, Santa was awesome and brought me a Canon 500D(T1i) and a few lenses, including a 50mm f1.8. Fell madly in love with the 50mm, got some great shots. I shoot a lot of Karate and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so reviews indicated that the 85mm would make a good choice along with portraits etc.

I bought the 85mm and have been playing with it a few days. I don't seem to be getting the same results as my 50mm in lower light.

I've been playing around with the settings (I know how to use/set aperture, ISO, shutter etc. I'm just not that good at it yet...) and can't seem to hit a good setting for lower light. As my Mother says, "Sonya, you know just enough to be dangerous".

I know I mainly need more practice (and probably a decent flash) but are there any people out there experienced with this lens to give any generic advice on what works well, what doesn't with this lens? Any tips?

Thanks,
Sonya


(one of my better shots - ironically my first...)

Camera: Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 85 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

[cphoniball]

The only real differences in using the 85mm vs the 50mm are that the AF will be faster, the focal length will be longer (and thus require a faster shutter for sharp images) and the depth of field will be smaller for a subject that is the same distance away. Minimum shutter depends on how steady your hands are but I'd recommend at least 1/100 with this lens. Most people have trouble with the depth of field but you've already had experience with a 50mm 1.8 so you should be used to it - you say you aren't achieving the same results as you would with the 50. Could you post some sample shots so we could see what went wrong?

[Sonya Natasha]

Ha. Not thinking I deleted most of the bad pics last night...
I have a fairly steady hand, but I think that a lot of them were 1/50 to 1/80 of a second. I was using Av.
Maybe I'll have to go full manual and attempt at least 1/100 and see if that helps me out. I have to use the cats/husband as guinea pigs again tonight and see what I get...