Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Rating:
Summary: This lens makes me look good
Review: I just bought two high quality lenses for my Digital Rebel and what a difference this makes over the kit lens which I wish I hadn't bought. I bought this one mostly for indoor and outdoor portraits of my kids and dogs. It is just amazing! I was surprised by how much difference a good lens can make. I've been playing around and I took tons of shots of my kids today and the portraits are amazingly clear with GREAT background blur -- I feel like a pro. If you use the aperature priority setting and play around, you'll see that you too can make professional level background blur even if you barely know what you are doing (this would be me). In short, invest in a good lens. Don't forget to multiply the focal length by 1.6 if you have a digital canon camera -- 85 mm is really 135mm or so, really a telephoto type lens. Great for portraits!

Rating:
Summary: Best Canon lens for the money.
Review: Probably the best lens for the money from Canon. Good build quality, very fast and quiet AF thanks to ring USM, good bokeh (background blurring), good color and contrast. Sure it is not as good as 135/2L or 200/1.8L, but at this price range you cannot find a 2nd lens come close in picture quality and overall performance. I have several Canon lenses and this one provide the best price/performance ratio. This should be on top of your lens list if you are considering EOS system.

Pros:
Sharp even at f/1.8, very sharp @f/2.8
Very fast (f/1.8) for the money.
Very fast and quiet AF thanks to Ring USM.
Good build quality.
Good picture quality.

Cons:
No bag come with lens.
No lens hood.
135/2L is still a better choice for portrait if you have the space for it.
Canon should have put a red ring, L aka, on it to let let us feel even better.