Are ultra-cheap manual-focus 85mm f/1.8 lenses any good for portraits?
Asked 8/30/2019
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I’m considering one of the very cheap, unbranded/manual-focus 85mm f/1.8 lenses sold under names like Neewer, Opteka, Bower, Vivitar, Lightdow, or Jintu for Sony FE mount portrait use. They’re much cheaper than branded options, but I can’t find many reliable reviews. For casual hobbyist portrait photography, how is the optical quality of these lenses in practice, especially wide open?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
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The same 85/1.8 lens is sold under different names, including Neewer, Opteka, Bower, Vivitar, Lightdow, and others. You don't state what camera, mount, or purpose you want these lenses for, so they may or may not meet your needs.
I have used the Neewer 85/1.8 variant.
- It is reasonably sharp, but doesn't feel sharp (acutance) when used wide open. Like most lenses, it improves stopped down.
- It has a definite glow, or halo, which improves when the lens is stopped down to F2.5. (The lens is marked with unusual apertures, like F3 and F6.)
- It's not strong against veiling glare, but the lens hood it comes with is helpful.
There appear to be plenty of people who do like the lens. On a popular shopping site, over 90% of reviews are 4-5/5 stars , and the reviews on YT glow more than the lens does. The lens isn't quite as bad as I remember. It seems to do well outdoors in good lighting. Here's a photo taken at F1.8. Notice the glow and chromatic aberration:
If you search for "85mm 1.8 lens" on your favorite auction site, there are several other options that would likely provide better image quality.
For a lower price, there are listings for some old Nippon Kogaku manual focus lenses that could be interesting. This was Nikon before they were Nikon. My experience with the brand is they're in line with other lenses from the time. Some people also like "owning a part of history".
For a little more, there are some Canon and Nikon branded lenses that should perform well. If you're using mount adapters, go with Nikon or Canon FD because it's a pain to control the aperture on Canon EF lenses.
- There's also an 85/1.8 Yongnuo lens, which I have not used. I have used their 50/1.8. It notably had very nice bokeh, but was weak against veiling glare. I wasn't able to assess sharpness, but it seemed sharp enough (acceptable).
- If you can go down to 50mm, there are a lot of old name-brand 50/1.8 and 50/2 lenses with very good image quality. There are many good old third-party lenses as well ("Made in Japan").
- Similarly, there are a lot of good 135/2.8 lenses.
Originally by user75526. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user75526
6y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
These budget 85mm f/1.8 lenses appear to be the same or very similar designs sold under multiple brand names. Based on user experience in the answers, they can be reasonably sharp, but they are not strong performers wide open.
Expect reduced contrast/acutance at f/1.8, with a noticeable glow or halo effect that improves by around f/2.5 and smaller apertures. They also seem prone to veiling glare, so using the included hood helps. In other words: usable for casual portraits, but not close to a good branded 85mm in overall rendering, consistency, or build.
The bigger risk is quality control and unclear listings—some ads even show conflicting mount/brand information—so check compatibility carefully. If you buy one, a seller with an easy return policy is a safer bet.
If your goal is simply low-cost portrait shooting and you’re okay with manual focus and some softness/glow at f/1.8, one of these may be acceptable. If you want better reliability or stronger optical performance, you may be happier saving for a better-known used lens or an entry-level autofocus alternative.
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AI6y ago
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