| Year | 1979 |
| Lens Groups | 4 |
| Lens Element | 6 |
| Aperature Blades | 8 |
| Minimum Aperture | f/22 |
| Closest Focusing | 0.85 m |
| Max. Magnifcation | 1:8.3 (0.12x) |
| Filter Size | 52 mm |
| Diameter x Length | 63 x 53.5 mm |
| Weight | 345 gr (0.76 lb) |
| Hood | BT-52 |
The 85 1.8 is a great starter portrait lens who can't afford the 1.2L.
It's attractive entry price for around 250-350 makes this an excellent fast portrait to start with, especially if one is a big fan of large bokeh. It is quite easy to find on ebay and KEH. Stopping down to 5.6 seems to be the best in terms of sharpness. The size is quite good and accepts the small 52mm filter as with other prime lenses from 24-135 with the exception of the 24 1.4, 85 1.2L, and the 135 2 of course. This makes it an attractive lens for compact setups.
It does suffer from very noticeable CA wide open in high contrast areas. It is also not very sharp wide open. Sharpness and CA greatly improves after stopping down to 2.8.
For those on a budget looking for a portrait lens, the 85 1.8 is an excellent choice with a great balance of price and quality.
Small lighter weight 85mm.
At 1.8 it's about equal to the 1.2L wide open. Gets sharp at around 2.8. Corners on the other hand are way sharper than the 1.2L.
Check out my full review (comparison) against the 1.2L : http://www.jeroenterlingen.com/blog/2015/8/24/canon-nfd-85mm-lens-comparison
Really excellent portrait lens, often overlooked because of the 85mm f1.2, which is very fast, but not really actually better in any other way in my view. Maybe the f1.2 L is sharper at f2 - that would be my expectation. This offers significantly better bang for buck though and at this focal length, anything faster than f2.8 is plenty fast enough with plenty sufficient short dof possibilities for even the most demanding environments.
The New FD 85mm f/1.8 is a telephoto lens with precise natural perspective. It is perfect for portraiture, when faithful reproduction of the subject is absolutely necessary. Canon's FDn 85mm f/1.8 completely eliminates astigmatism and comatic aberration.
Color balance is excellent, with all ghost and flare suppressed by the use of Super Spectra multi-layer coating. Basic spec is the same with the old FD version except for the mount change, filter size of 52 mm ; minimum aperture of f/22; focuses closer at 0.85m and weighs lighter at 350g.
I love this lens. I find it to be plenty sharp (it matches my 100/2.8 aperture for aperture) and I laways take it when I need that extra stop or want to do shallow DOF stuff. Also, I haven't really noticed any distortion issues, and I am somewhat picky when it comes to that. In the viewfinder, puncushion looks bad, but that's the finder, not the lens...
Pentax and others have had better performance at this focal length. It is a good alternative to the weight and bulk of the 85mm f1.2, if you stick to mid apertures and don't need it for architectural shots. A very nice portrait lens.