Dear reader,
First off: I am a starting amateur photographer with a nikon d5100, a nikon af-s 35 1.8g and this 85mm 1.8 prime. These are my only lenses for now. I am quite critical when it comes to buying things and do extensive research beforehand. With these two lenses I feel I have made absolutely no bad purchases, although my experience with other (bright) lenses is quite limited. My apologies for amateur terms or misused terms!)
I bought this lens (after reading many reviews and videos on youtube) for making portrait lenses with my dx camera (nikon d5100). For some, the lens may be too narrow on a dx camera (equivalent to a 127.5mm length on an fx camera), but for me it's perfect, I can get nice shots of the head and shoulders and if you're outside (eg. in a park) you can get the desired shot by stepping back/forward (zooming with your feet). The quality of the photos is very good and the bokeh at 1.8 is very nice. The beauty of this lens is that you can change the f-number considerably for the desired effect: for portraits I usually use between f 2.8 and f4 to get the face/shoulder nicely sharp. But of course you can also use the lens to shoot other things! Don't just label it as a 'portrait lens', you can do a lot with it as long as you use your creativity!
I like the focus of the lens quite well, but so did my kit lens. Intuitively there is not much difference (I am still a beginner so for others with a better camera it may be different). The build quality is very good, the lens has a metal mount and feels solid. There is also a focus distance window in which you can see for which distance it focuses. What I really like about this lens is that it focuses internally as opposed to the kit lens, this is nice if you use a polarizing filter, then you don't have to adjust it continuously.
The lens is not particularly heavy in combination with my camera, but in terms of balance, a d7000 or similar would be better in my opinion. I have the feeling that the lens can perform better, but I mainly wanted to invest in good 'glass', a better body will come later. There is no stabilization on the lens (to prevent hand vibrations, so it would be less suitable for video work unless you work on a tripod). For f values above 4 I prefer to use a tripod rather than shooting from the hand (I have fairly shaky hands, perhaps because of the coffee I drink)
I started with the kit lens, but I have to say, since I've been using my primes I've started shooting differently: I'm much more purposeful (what am I going to shoot, how am I going to do it etc), it's very different from with a zoom lens where you shoot much more from 1 position and then zoom in/out. With a prime lens you are much more involved with your subject and your frame in my opinion. It makes it more of an experience than just taking a picture from where you stand (don't be afraid to find another spot to take your picture!).
I paid 400 euros for the lens, but for me it's definitely worth it, I certainly don't miss the 50mm area. My 35 and this 85 are very good lenses to start with and my next will be a wide angle and then hopefully a macro. A dream is an even longer portrait lens (>150mm).
If you want to do portraits, I would definitely recommend this lens. I didn't take the 50mm because it falls just between 35 and 85 and the field of view was not my thing.
In conclusion: I'd rather have a few prime lenses (with me) than big heavy zoom lenses with which I cover every mm and good bright zoom lenses also cost a fortune! I prefer to photograph somewhat lightly and purposefully (I regularly travel abroad and go into nature regularly), and then walking around with a whole arsenal of lenses does not make the experience any better I think.
My apologies for the muddled story, I wrote from my gut feeling with this lens. Last but not least I want to say that this lens is secretly my favorite of the two, the pictures it takes feels more intimate to me (don't know how else to explain it)
Last but not least, try it before you buy to avoid disappointment, you must love it!
