My Trusty 85

Most photographers have a favorite piece of equipment in their arsenal. I'm one of them. When on a shoot, especially weddings, there's one lens I use every time. It's the Canon EF 85mm f1.8 USM. Since I got it, I've never left it in the bag. I'll tell you why I love it so much and how I use this magnificent lens.

First of all, it's affordable. You get a lot of value for the price. The 85mm is not a zoom lens so it does not have the flexibility that you get from a variable focal length lens. But, it doesn't have the issues that's usually associated with zooms in the same price range. It's light weight. It won't add much weight in your bag and won't leave your shoulder and arms aching. The best feature of this lens is it's image quality. The colors are crisp and images are amazingly sharp. The 1.8 aperture produces beautiful, silky smooth bokeh, effectively separating the subject from the background. I won't get too technical here. If you really want to get to know this lens, read some reviews online. If you have a chance, try it out. You'll love it too.

When shooting weddings, I mounted it almost exclusively on my second camera body, a Canon 400D (Rebel XTi). With a 1.6x crop factor, the effective focal length will be 135mm on a full frame body. This means I can shoot farther away from the subject. This makes for a good, light weight setup for candid shots. I'll usually mount my Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 (also a sharp and affordable lens) on my main body (Canon 40D) set on Manual mode. I like shooting in manual but I find keeping track of the settings of 2 camera bodies a little confusing. So, on my 400D/85mm, I set it on Av mode and always at f1.8. But, the very shallow depth of field requires me to focus precisely. I just adjust compensation to get the right exposure and change my ISO when going from one lighting condition to another. This way, my 85 is always ready to capture anything on the fly. I just need to make sure my shutter speed is not too slow. The 40D/17-50mm setup is generally for group shoots, setup poses and anything that requires a wide angle shot. If feel the need to change to my ultra-wide angle zoom or telephoto zoom, it's always the 40D that gets a lens swap. Also, the 40D gets mounted with a flash. I shoot using available light with the 400D/85mm. Though, I normally use a flash only at the reception and sometimes during the ceremony.

My way of utilizing the lens' capability may not be suited to your style of shooting, but no matter how you use it, this lens is great. The Canon EF 85mm f1.8 USM certainly made my shooting easier and more enjoyable. Here are some shots taken with my 85mm at f1.8 on Av mode. Their from the Roel and Jocelyn wedding taken yesterday.