Opteka 85mm f/1.8 Manual Focus Aspherical Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon EOS 80D, 70D, 60D, 60Da, 50D, 7D, 6D, 5D, 5DS, 1Ds, Rebel T6s, T6i, T6, T5i, T5, T4i, T3i, T3, T2i and SL1 Digital SLR Cameras

Updated Review:I had bought one of these awhile ago. Recently I purchased another one. For some reason construction seemed to be better or different. Originally the front element was very loose and seemed to wiggle in the case. Now it is all straight with no movement. The image quality seems to benefit a little by this.This biggest change is when I installed the 'dandelion' AF confirm chip from ebay (version 4). For about 20$ it adds the ability to use the focus confirmation when manually turning the focus ring (since this is a manual lens). This has made the usability infinity easier since I dont need to use live view. This combination makes it a great lens for portraits at a great cost.Original review:At 1.8 the lens is soft, and being 85mm the depth of field is shallow, making it hard to get a sharp image. At 5.6 the lens is sharp across the image. I uploaded two example photos cropped to 100%. The 12 sign is showing the lens at f5.6 on the right, against the canon 28-135 USM at 90mm f5.6. The eye is comparing the 50mm f1.8 on the left, against the 85mm on the right at f1.8. It also has some purple at 1.8 in strong light. For the price, its a good prime lens to have stopped down at 2.0 or 2.5.

I've been waiting thirty years for this lens.I knew it was possible, but no lens manufacturer ever seemed ready to produce a no frills, all metal, multi-coated, multi glass elements (aspherical where needed), f1.8 or wider, absolutely top notch instrument for less than $200. Opteka at last fills the bill. I have studied digital prints with a loupe and 300% enlargements of photos on my computer. The results are staggering -- sharpness, color rendition, narrow focus and incredibly lovely bokeh are as good or better than the results of any lens in my collection. And I love lenses! I have dozens of them dating from 1965 to now.I'm also a user, specializing in Canon. My Canons of course are the cream of my collection. Only the best third party lenses are displayed with my Canons. So I never add a lens which is not a paragon of perfection (noting here that Canon herself has produced some plastic lulus that I hide in a corner of my display shelf). The Canon "L" models are in front.But the humble Opteka 85mm f1.8, believe it or not, produces photos of such sharpness and pure color saturation that it is proudly kept on display with my Canon "L's"! It's that good! Beautifully made and capable of marvelous results. Imagine, the Opteka has no plastic parts. Its barrel seems to be made of a very high grade aluminum. At any rate, it is one darn rugged lens! Even the deep, screw-in, supplied hood is metal.The "catch" is that this lens can only be used on manual or aperture-priority automatic. I don't know if it's offered in other mounts yet, but it works perfectly on my Canons 20D and 10D. I personally adjust the shutter by an equivalent of two f-stops to give me the brightest prints, but you can adjust yours to your own preferences. (If needed.) In a nutshell, you can add an all metal lens with 10 glass elements capable of unbelievable performance IF you're willing to give up some of the electronic gadgetry in your camera body. I have no qualms giving it up, as most of the gadgetry is aimed at making things easier for the photographer. I'd rather not be lazy and use the Opteka portrait lens.

I have to say that, all things considered, this is a five-star lens. The shipping, through 47th street was extremely slow and worrisome but it did arrive -- eventually. However, that has nothing to do with the lens itself so I am not considering in to be part of the star rating. I got this lens for a couple reasons, first and foremost the 1.8 max aperture. This is the only sub-2.8 lens I have at the moment and I also enjoy the 70 to 90 mm focal length lenses. This fits in there wonderfully.Yes, it's a manual lens -- manual focus, manual aperture selection. The aperture ring is a bit non-standard in that the values don't seem to follow the "traditional" numbers but you are working manually anyway, right? The focus on this lens is, well, some might say very, very hot! One really needs to concentrate on focusing -- especially at f1.8 -- which is why you got the lens, right?Now to the image performance -- excellent detail, clarity, and color. I am using this lens on my Canon T3i and it is working out just fine. With the concentration required, however, I cannot suggest it to be any bit a snapshot lens.In closing, I really, really, like this lens. It does a good job and will provide you with elegant images. Lots of fun and great perspective. Good deal.

I love the look, the heft, the feel, everything about this lens except...I cannot get a clear, in focus photo with it. I did numerous test shots with it focusing on eyes, eyelashes, fine details, even newsprint, and no matter how sharp those details showed up in the viewfinder, the photos were out of focus. Sometimes they were a little out of focus and sometimes more than a little. I have four other lenses and two camera bodies and get great results out of all of them so I must have gotten a bad copy of the lens. I'm disappointed because I love everything else about it but the focusing issue makes it worthless to me.

This lens works great with my Canon 60D. I have read other reviews but honestly feel some have no idea about the real build quality with this lens. It reminds me of my old Canon AE-1 lenses. I would suggest that if you don't know how to adjust the F stop manually, then you should probably buy a lens that does it all for you. Just be prepared to pay a lot more than this bargain lens. It takes awesome pictures, and I will post some soon. Great lens and great price.

I bought this last week and have done several tests; so far I am impressed. It is sharp wide open, has very nice bokeh and everything works as it should.There are a few points worth noting: (1) It is a totally manual lens, so don't buy unless you are happy with manual focussing. (2) Compared to my Pentax-M 85mm F/2.0 it is no brighter; hence the maximum aperture is more like F/2.0 than F/1.8. (3) Wide open it is sharper and more detailed than than the Pentax, it also has better (softer and more pleasant) bokeh than the Pentax.For the price (I paid just over £90) it has to be excellent value for money. The Pentax second hand costs twice as much.Update: I've now had this lens for some time and can add an update. First the bad news: (1) it is definitely F/2.0 not F/1.8 as advertised. (2) The focus can be stiff - I had to get mine re-lubed. Then the good news: this is a *very sharp* lens (amazingly sharp wide open!). It is good for portraits, and close-ups of flowers, etc. It has very attractive medium-soft bokeh. It is a bargain for the price - the glass is very, very good!

Ho fatto diverse prove ma non sono riuscito ad ottenere una messa a fuoco accettabile. Inoltre regolando i diaframmi diventa tanto scuro da impedire la visione del soggetto inquadrato. Lo sconsiglio.

Great lens for night shots.Pros:Very crisp. Even wide-open, it is no canon lens, but it really holds its own. Stopping it down just a little fixes any problems.Is even brighter than f1.8. I don't know if I just got lucky, but the lens I received comes closer to f1.65.Pretty light.Solid construction and no loose parts.The hood is a very welcome accessory.Cons:The aperture and focus rings are very stiff. It really makes it hard to focus accurately. Using a tripod, this is not an issue.Feels more like a toy lens in my opinion... But that may just be me.Great lens. I would recommend this lens as an introductory lens. The image quality is fantastic.

Unbelievable quality for the price, fantastic lens - i use it on a Sony A7 (ILCE-7) with a canon adapter and a Canon 60d, highly recommend this lens!

Only changes the aperture. It doesn't allow you to change the shutter speed. The focus was always fuzzy. Every picture I took had motion blur in it. Useless.