Pros: This lens is superb for portraits. The focal length is ideal and the lens is fast in lower light. Very sharp and the price is awesome for what you are getting.

Cons: None

Pros: sharp, beautiful bokeh, easy to use, quiet

Cons: none so far

Other Thoughts: I have really only had this lens for a day, so perhaps i am still bedazzled by its awesomeness...i haven't shot in any overly bright settings yet so have experienced the vingetting or abberation that others have commented on. still, those things don't seem to be a big deal to anyone who owns this lens.
bottom line is this: if you are considering this lens, if you are thinking this might be a good addition to your arsenal...just get it! its a high quality product at a fraction of high quality price. it may not have the red ring or be technically considered a pro lens, but there is nothing sub-par about it. its super sharp, and if you're thinking it probably won't make that big a difference in low light you are crazily mistaken. i was shotting hand held indoors and at night and got perfect color and focus. just get it!

Pros: Gorgeous photos, very fast lens and sharp!

Cons: Purple fringing, chromatic aberration. Issues with my first lens

Other Thoughts: This is a great lens that allows me to take phenomenal photos. There is a beautiful texture to my photos and I love looking at them! I've also gotten a lot of compliments on photos taken with this lens. I recently took this lens and the 50mm 1.4 to a wedding and I was really pleased with most of the photos I took- the ones I weren't as pleased with were due to my own error not the lens. :o) My one issue with the lens is that when I shot in bright situations, I found there was a lot of purple fringing (yes, even with a hood on). This can be removed via photoshop but I would prefer not to! I'm a pixel peeper though so I know I'm noticing things that most people would not.

I also had to return my first copy because it was defective. Newegg was great about it- Newegg is an example of excellent customer service. I can't wait to buy my next lens from Newegg!

Pros: Price, large aperture, USM drive, takes sharp pictures even at f1.8, compatible with either FF or APS-C size sensors, has full-time manual(!) focus.

Cons: Hood has to be bought separately. There is also purple fringing in high contrast situations when wide open, but stopping down a bit takes care of that.

Other Thoughts: If you have an APS-C camera, you`d have to step back quite a bit cos of the 1.6x crop factor. Other than that and the hood, this lens is a real bargain. No portrait photog should be without this lens.

Pros: Great low light, sharp images, fast focus, great lens for the money

Cons: no image stabilization, need flash in extreme low light, or tripod, 3 foot focus distance

Other Thoughts: The lens is great, don't get me wrong! I love it! I just need to play with it more! I recommend it to anyone needing a great fixed lens with a little zoom on it.

Pros: Fantastic lens. Great bokeh even at less than wide open apertures. Very sharp... especially when stopped down.

Cons: I would have given it 5 stars except one disappointment. The minimum focus distance is almost 1 meter... That's almost 3 feet! Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting macro from this lens but it would be nice to be able to get a little closer to my subject sometimes.

Other Thoughts: I think all interchangeable lenses should come with a lens hood by default.

Pros: Sharp across much of the frame right from F1.8. Center sharpness wide open is actually comparable to my Canon 50/1.4 @ F2.8 - which is to say SHARP!. Tack sharp when stopped down. Excellent, smooth background blur. Fast, accurate ring USM focus - excellent for indoor, low-light sports/action. Solid build quality. Nice feel to the manual focus ring.

Cons: Purple fringing in certain types of high contrast scenes when shot wide open. Given all the other excellent qualities of this lens at its bargain price, this is not a big deal IMO.

Other Thoughts: Despite being priced about the same as the Canon 50/1.4, this lens is in a different league IMO. AF on this lens is MUCH better - especially for action (servo AF). The focus ring also feels much nicer. IQ/sharpness wide open with the 85 is much better (when comparing my copies) and the 85 is still noticeably better when stopping the 50 down and comparing both at F1.8. The 85 also has smoother/stronger background blur as well (even when comparing the 85@1.8 to the 50@1.4). From now on, for portrait and indoor action shooting, provided I have the room to step back a few paces, I will choose this every time over my 50/1.4...

Pros: love it. beautiful portraits, wonderful colors, sharp and fast, discrete. my favorite lens by far.

Cons: doesn't serve me breakfast in bed.

Other Thoughts: have used a few L lenses (17-40, 24-70, 70-200 4.0) and i keep coming back to this trusty old prime. sold my first one, missed it, bought a second. it doesn't get much attention from the crowds, but then that's usually a good thing. the best part is this is the lens that most frequently gets ooohs and ahhhs from my friends and family. it makes me look good, and i like that.

Pros: As already mentioned, great indoor low light action lens. Daughter plays basketball in poorly lit gyms where most lenses fail at 1/250 or faster. This one does the trick in most all gyms I have run into. I would imagine the 2.8's would have struggled in many of those gyms as well. It is also focuses very quickly. Best low light, high speed lens you will find for the price (in my experience).

Cons: None - Obviously as a fixed length lens you are limited somewhat in acceptable ranges but that is a given.

Pros: great indoor basketball lens. I use it for High School games. May not be "long enough" for Large college gyms but almost to long for courtside under basket. I shoot with a rebel Xti 800 asa 1.8 @ 1/400 sec no flash for great photos. Also great for portraits but you definately have to step back some.

Cons: none it does what it is supose to wish I had the money for a zoom with this "speed"

Other Thoughts: great value for high school /middle school indoor sports (basketball, volleyball, wrestling -where a flash would be a nuisance.)