Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM on R5 & R7 Review

The Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM is a classic lens with a solid build quality and a reputation for sharpness. Despite showing its age in some areas, it still delivers good image quality, especially when stopped down. It struggles with color fringing and low contrast at wider apertures, but it's a usable lens for portraits and subject photography, especially when adapted to an EOS R5 or R7.

The Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM is a classic lens with a solid build quality and a reputation for sharpness. Despite showing its age in some areas, such as color fringing and low contrast at wider apertures, it still delivers good image quality, especially when stopped down to f/2.8 or higher. When adapted to a Canon EOS R5 with its full-frame 45MP sensor, the lens shows decent sharpness in the middle at f/1.8, but suffers from strong fringing and low contrast in the corners.

The lens has minimal distortion and acceptable vignetting, but struggles with chromatic aberration and color fringing, which modern lenses manage to control better. Despite its age, the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM remains a decent lens for portrait and subject photography, especially when adapted to the EOS R5 or R7.

The Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM is a classic lens with a solid build quality and a reputation for sharpness. Despite showing its age in some areas, such as color fringing and low contrast at wider apertures, it still delivers good image quality, especially when stopped down to f/2.8 or higher. When adapted to a Canon EOS R5 with its full-frame 45MP sensor, the lens shows decent sharpness in the middle at f/1.8, but suffers from strong fringing and low contrast in the corners. However, at f/2.8, sharpness and contrast become excellent in the corners. Adapting it onto a Canon EOS R7 with its 32.5MP APS-C sensor presents a tougher playing field, with the lens showing its age more prominently, but still producing usable results at narrower apertures. The lens has minimal distortion and acceptable vignetting, but struggles with chromatic aberration and color fringing, which modern lenses manage to control better. Despite its age, the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM remains a decent lens for portrait and subject photography, especially when adapted to the EOS R5 or R7.

Adapting it onto a Canon EOS R7 with its 32.5MP APS-C sensor presents a tougher playing field, with the lens showing its age more prominently, but still producing usable results at narrower apertures.