Ding ding, peety3 to the red-ring courtesy phone.


I used to rent it. I've since convinced a good friend to buy it, and we swap equipment as needed so I get to use it.


Anything long and low-light. Anything where DoF is key to the shot. Anything where telephoto and incredible clarity/detail is key. These are just some of the times the lens comes in handy. Candid shots at the reception, where you don't want a long and/or white lens giving away your stealth.


It's fine on a crop body. Last summer when my 1D3 was in the shop, I had a trip to Philly where I had to "make do" with our 40D and XTi. I got the band at a bar with 40D/16-35 and XTi/85L. Next night, I got some amazing shots of a jazz quartet with ambient light via three 100W flood bulbs (one red, one yellow, one white), though I did punt and use just the 40D for shooting. Another night, I tried shooting at a bowling alley. 85L was too slow to focus on bowlers in such horrible light, but it did great candids. (And next morning, my 1D3 arrived. Of course.)


At a wedding last August, the 70-200/2.8IS got a lot of use during the 4PM outdoor ceremony, but the 85L was very useful during the indoor reception. The paid photographer, who shoots Nikon, asked to play with the 85L (we'd been "working together" all day), and mentioned that he almost switched to Canon "for that one lens".


It's incredibly versatile, and I could see starting off with 16-35 and 85, nothing more. I've used it at SeaWorld, at bicycling events, parties, baptisms, portrait work, and as a fantastic demo of how aperture works (hold the DoF preview button in, and it's about the easiest lens to see the aperture blades).


The 85L is currently #8 on my personal lens wishlist, but it'd be #5 if "the Mrs." didn't also shoot Canon, and it'd probably be #2 if I didn't have easy access to borrow it (#1 is a 24-70 to replace my 24-105).