opinion on 14mm L2.8 and 85mm L1.2 or better

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I am planning to buy either a 14 mm lense or 16-35mm lense for my superwide lense.. can someone suggest which one should i buy? Thx. Also...I was planning to buy either the 50mm L1.0 or the 85mm L1.2 for a portrait.. any suggestions??? thx.

-- kerwinchan (kerwinchan828@yahoo.com), February 08, 2002

Answers

Most people regard the 50mm F1.4 as being optically superior to the F1.0L at all apertures (except, of course, below F1.4....). The 85 F1.2L is said to be Extremely good though, and is a more widely regarded portrait length. It might be too good for portraits though, becoming unflattering.

The wide lenses are interesting....I would have thought that the 14 and 16-35 could quite happily coexist, given how much difference even a single millimetre makes at the extreme wide angles you're talking about. Depends what you're doing I guess...You would seem to have a lot of money to throw at this, and given that your previous question asked about the difference in image quality between different bodies, I might respectfully suggest that you spend a little time getting to know what you have and get the best out of it before you blame your tools.

-- Isaac Sibson (isibson@hotmail.com), February 08, 2002.


i would get the 14mm because the angle of view it provides is simply stunning. plus, being a prime you know the image quality is good.

as for the other lens, i would have to go with the 85mm simply based on that you said it was for portraits. otherwise i'd go for the 50. how cool would it be to shoot at f/1.0?!?!

i agree with isac that you need to learn more about photography and worry less about your equipment. i suggest that you invest in some books that explain the aspects of photography so that you have a better understanding of what things do and can ask clearer, more inteligible and intelligent questions. good luck.

-- Jeff Nakayama (moonduck22@hotmail.com), February 08, 2002.


The 14mm is too damned expensive for the use it will get. Buy the Sigma 14mm if you've got to have that focal length and spend the savings on film.

The 85mm 1.2L makes sense only if you MUST have fast lens. Otherwise the 85mm 1.8 is a better choice. Spend the savings on photography books.

The 50mm 1.4 is better than the 50mm 1.0 and the 50mm 1.8 lenses. For the amount of use you will get from f/1.0 or f/1.4, you should buy the 50mm 1.8 for $85 and spend the money you saved for a nice trip where you can take interesting photographs with your new lenses.

-- Lee (Leemarthakiri@sport.rr.com), February 10, 2002.


get the 14, 50/1.0 and 85/1.2. while you're at it get the 400 DO and the 1200/5.6 then you can have the most expensive and specialized lenses in ALL categories!

-- peter bg (pbartzgallag@macalester.edu), February 12, 2002.

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