[wim]

Wim, I've had the 85 1.8 many years, I've never seen purple and it's quite sharp, so I'm puzzled. And the review on this site gives it a 4 optics which is huge.. so I don't get it!

You love fixed lenses, why so many fixed? What are you achieving that zoom can't do? I shoot people so it's nice to be able to slide through 4-5 lenses without taking them off the camera.. (The 85 is nice though because it's a killer portrait lens and so light)

Well, it could be that you have been lucky, and I have had bad luck, although I had problems with 3 specimens of that lens.

I prefer fixed lenses because they work better with how I think: I normally know instantly which lens to use. Been busy with photography now for 56 years, 45 years with ILC’s, essentially from pre-zoom days, or when zooms were not that great . In addition, max apertures are much larger, which is great for low(er) light shooting, but also for IQ, as these lenses reach optimal performance at larger apertures than zooms do. They also tend to have a wider range when it comes to optimum IQ than zoom lenses.

I used to do a lot of extreme macrophotography many years ago, which is why I like the MP-E 65, and one of the reasons for me to choose Canon was the range of TS-E lenses. I just love shooting with those .

I did try many zoom lenses, and the only one I have stuck with is the 100-400L, basically because it is very good for a zoom, and because it is very versatile when it comes to close-up and macro-photography as well .

I do have a few more zoom lenses for my MFT-outfit, but those are more for snapshots and such, with the exception of the 7-14 and the 35-100. Even so, I tend to use the 7-14 as a 7 mm UWA lens (14 mm FF equivalent), and the 35-100 as a 100 mm telelens (200 mm FF equivalent) . That actually is another reason for doing away with zooms: I tend to use them most at their zoom range ends, with the only exception being the 100-400. So from that POV it also makes sense.

HTH, kind regards, Wim