On just one or two occasions, the focus was hunting, but I would put that down as a one off occasion as there was aboslutely very challenging situations - moving subjects in low light. The focus is quick and absolutely smooth, no noise at all.

The lens is compact, not at all heavy and is perfect portrait lens. My only disappointment is that it comes without a hood, and even if I buy a Canon hood, it does not have the same look as other (say, Tamron 28-75 2.8 hood is a really good looking hood) hoods.

The relationship between the background and the foreground is something that impressed me with this lens, especially for an 85mm focal length. The lens makes the subjects stand out and you dont need to stop down for sharpness. I know I am going to keep this baby at 1.8 at all times in future.

This in concert with my 50 1.8 for wider angle situations like awards and group snaps, the photos are absolutely stunning. The reviews I received for my photos are pretty good, thanks to this lens with my 20D.

I am sold on primes now and will probably end up buying more primes than zoom lenses. Go on Canon, put a red ring around it!

Definitely 5 stars.

Other lenses considered before this purchase - 85/1.8, 100/2, 135/2L and to a small extent, 200/2.8L. Finally chose the 85/1.8 due to the 1.8 and the effective focal length on 20D with 85mm. No buyer's regret, I am very pleased with my purchase now.
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Fantastic Lens, January 15, 2006
Reviewer: Another Reviewer

This lens is a one of the best reasons to get a Canon SLR in the first place. Incredibly sharp, fast focusing, solidly built, and wonderful bokeh (out of focus blur). I find it more useful than the 50 f/1.4 all around, but some prefer the later indoors if they want more distance from their subjects. This and the excellent 10-22 EF-S is all I use. See several dozen long reviews here:
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First Non-Kit Lens for Kiddy Portraits, January 10, 2006
Reviewer: Luke Mellor "Etoile Brilliant"

First off I'm a keen amateur. Evolutionary speaking have gone through (i) film SLR (ii) digital compact and now (iii) digital SLR. Boy, I must have been trapped in a time warp during my digital compact days, this baby blew me away. The autofocus is so fast, its like going from a blunderbuss to a semi-automatic.

I'm an ex-pat in Sweden. Whilst we we have wonderful summers, the winters are definitely F2.8 situations. For this reason I was willing to sacrifice zoom for a few F stops. This means that instead of letting the zoom do the work, I have to shuffle across the floor like Cossack Dancer trying to find the correct frame. On the plus side, the lense is compact enough and doesn't require the use of flash. I wouldn't hold myself out to be an expert but I would recommend others forgo zoom for quality and buy this lens.

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Best buy!, January 6, 2006
Reviewer: C. Stoudt

This is my first prime lenses. For the quality of the pictures, it should have its own red ring. It auto focus fast. I mainly use it for portrait and indoor sports.
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Professional looking head shots, September 20, 2005
Reviewer: K. Warkman

I have this lens for about 1 month now on my EOS 20D. I am just an amateur enthusiast but I am very pleased with it's performance. This lens is really sharp. I use it mostly for taking head shot photos and get great professional looking pictures. The background blur is awesome. When friends and family view the pictures taken with this lens they are amazed at how they look like they were taken professionally. The only minor gripe I have would be when used on a DSLR with a 1.6x crop factor is you have to stand far from the subject to fit the subject into the frame. Like I said minor. But, I'm taking care of that by purchasing the Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens. What the heck for only $70.00 why not?
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  Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras, July 23, 2005
Reviewer: S. Targanyan "Pictures"
I recently purchased the Canon 20D. I researched various websites to determine the different lenses that I would need. I am an amateur photographer, but desire excellent quality when it comes to pictures. With the 20D you have to consider the crop factor and the 85 mm was just right. To me the 135mm L lens was a little too long for me. I tried it out at a local camera store to see if it was too long, which I highly recommend for others to do before purchasing a lens blind.

This lens fit my budget in the $300's and it is relatively light with excellent build quality. I try to use this lens whenever I can because the pictures come out vivid with color and sharpness. I highly recommend this product if you are lookin for a fixed focal range.

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