It seems to be a great portrait lens, my portraits have improved already! Looking forward to more great images!

This is an awesome portrait lens on a 1.6x crop factor camera, and pretty cheap too

A great portrait lens that produces sharp images and a lovely bokeh!

Anyone looking for a great portrait lens should get hold of one of these

Some head and shoulder shots are doable, dont get me wrong, but if your main intent is portraits you will be disappointed (as an outdoor lens its fine since you always have enough room but for group shots you will have to stand far away)

I was surprised at how sharp my photos are with a lens that is reasonably affordable

I got this lens having read the many amazing reviews and now the photos seem blurry.

With these fixed focal length lenses such as this one, the photos are unbelievable clear and crisp

This lens here still creates beautiful photos and is affordable

This in concert with my 50 1.8 for wider angle situations like awards and group snaps, the photos are absolutely stunning.

The focus ring wasn't that steady and would giggle and blur the image

The lens is amazing , very sharp images and accurate focus

The images are sharp, the colors great, and it is great for portraits

A great portrait lens that produces sharp images and a lovely bokeh!

I liked the reviews for the 85mm 1.8 and I couldn't stand the blurry images coming from the Canon

I highly recommend this lens for portraits & close up shots.

Only downside is no macro shots

I shoot with a crop 7D (so 136mm lens on a full-frame) and get amazing shots with nice bokeh

be careful with your aperture (like any other fast lens) because shots can easily get soft on the edges if you aren't careful.

When I film, I go to the 85mm 1.8 for portraits and isolated close-up shots

I spend a LOT a lot of time researching each lens I buy and this one hit several needs at an affordable price

Probably one of the best non-L Lens that you can get from Canon for a reasonable price

The price is incredible for such a great lens; go for it, you won't regret it.

This Canon 85mm 1.8 lets you achieve buttery smooth background and sharply focused subject photos at a crazy affordable price.

Excellent price, you definitely get the best value of this lens

Besides that, it's just as good as any of my expensive L lenses

I'm very happy with this lens and found it to be a great value.

f/1.8 USM is extremely sharp & value for your money, this is the best portrait lens on the market

I was contemplating between this one and the more expensive L lens before I purchased this one

I know it is little unfair to compare this budget lens with costlier L

If you are in the market for a great cheap non L series lens, I would pick this over the 50mm 1.8.

Great lens, excellent picture quality, really good build

This lens has an exceptional image quality and is fast, accurate, sharp and has a great contrast and color.

This is a light weight, fast focusing lens with excellent image quality.

Besides that, it's just as good as any of my expensive L lenses

The lens is amazing , very sharp images and accurate focus

Incredibly sharp, fast focusing, solidly built, and wonderful bokeh (out of focus blur).

The focus is quick and absolutely smooth, no noise at all

The Bokeh is smooth, and the focus is sharp even wide open

What I do not like about the lens is the focus is touchy, it drops out quick, but you can feel it happening

Some photographers are gobsmacked that I would dare to shoot sports with a lens that doesn't have Canon's elegant red ring (denoting an expensive L lens) when I have "superior" lenses like the 70-200mm f2.8

It lacks the lens coatings of L lenses so the colors and contrast aren't as good, but sharpness leaves nothing to be desired

Beautiful portraits, sharp, great colors, contrast, background blur.

If you are in the market for a great cheap non L series lens, I would pick this over the 50mm 1.8.

One of the sharpest lens among L and non-L, color is beautiful

The 50mm 1.8 is a great starter / value champ, but I no longer work with the 50mm lens now that I have been shooting with the 85mm 1.8

this is a great portrait lens for the money and competes head to head with the bigger more expensive 85mm 1.2L.

I replaced my 50mm 1.8 for this and I LOVE this lens so much more than any other lens I have owned

But 85MM would be a huge problem to get say a full car, or a building or... etc (without moving back a half mile).Bottom line, the lens is amazing

Like Canon's 100mm f/2.8 macro lens, the 85mm f/1.8 is one of those where you're left scratching your head as to why it doesn't have an "L" designation

Although I have lenses that are much more, ok , a lot more expensive, this is one that I use a lot.

Besides that, it's just as good as any of my expensive L lenses

Besides that, it's just as good as any of my expensive L lenses

I was contemplating between this one and the more expensive L lens before I purchased this one

One of the best lenses I have used, it is one of the best portrait lenses

Even though this lens is awesome and is super sharp the only problem it has which can be fixed is the purple fringing when there is lots of contrast between dark and light

Sturdily built but not heavy and bulky, wonderful bokeh, great f/stop control, clarity of image - my only problem with it, really, is that it isn't as sharp as I'd like, but that's all-too-easily fixed in Photoshop.

The only problem I have with this lens is purple and green fringing on areas of high contrast.

I needed a lens with an f/1.8 aperture to improve my portraiture work so that I could get tight focus on my subject while making the background into fuzzy focus.

I bought a 50mm f/1.8 lens which really got me interested in the faster f/stops to blur backgrounds and take pictures in lower light.

Great for portraits with very good sharpness and great background blur

Fast focus, great background blur and it seems to be of excellent build quality

The image quality is excellent and the background blur is fantastic

Having the lens in my hand I can say this is a very decent prime glass, well built (not an "L" level), responsive, small and light

Excellent lens, perfect quality, superb delineation and portability, excellent for background blur, would highly recommend.

If anything, I find the depth of field at f1.8 so shallow that it is useful only rarely.

I love this lens it gives me clear sharp cinematic image with great depth of field and HD videos

The 3d look is still there tho not too pronounced, great looking bokeh and shallow depth or field, contrast and colors are well balanced, it is fast and accurate to focus

I have found it sharp and usuable even wide open and its shallow depth of field is great for my portraits

It has a very shallow depth of field which makes beautifully out of focus backgrounds.