Canon EF 85/1.8 USM
I got this lens for portraits and low light photography, and I am quite impressed with it. It is well built, and the USM autofocus is fast and quiet. Even on crop sensor cameras, like the Rebel XT like I use, the focal length is great, equivalent to a 135mm lens on full frame.
First, here are it's weak areas. Wide open, in high contrast areas it picks up some purple fringing. I haven't had a chance to use this lens in super bright light yet, but I'll bet this can get really bad. Also, the lens is not razor sharp wide open; it's usable, but not tack sharp. Fortunately, both of these weak areas are corrected when you stop down, even just a little; by f/2.2, the lens really starts to perform very well.
Now, for the strong points. While the lens isn't totally sharp wide open, it gets sharp really fast when you stop it down. Even by f/2.2, it's sharp, and it keeps getting better. I normally shoot at f/2.8, but this lens gets ridiculously sharp around f/5.6. Also, when you need fast aperture, this lens has it; I use it for indoor applications like church events, weddings, and so forth. The 85/1.8 has great colors too, and I like the images it produces.
My conclusion is a whole-hearted recommendation of this lens. The price-to-image-quality ratio is unbeatable, and its built to last. I only own one L lens, the 100-400, so it's hard to make a fair comparison with Canon's L lenses; but optically it seems to me to be very, very comparable, and a lot less money. I suggest buying a used one, and giving it a try; you can always resell it and recover your money if it doesn't meet your needs, but more than likely you'll fall madly in love with the EF 85/1.8. It's a great lens!Read full review
