Gotta chime in here. I haven't used the 77, but oh boy I have used the A*85mm f/1.4 and that is a lens to die for. It is pure portrait lens, and if you like minimal depth of field, guess what - you can open it right up and shoot wide open, with impressive results.
<http://www.macads.co.uk/snaps/portraits/images/pic19.html> It is quit simply put, a fabulous lens and I did own a very good example, mint in box, for about a year. I bought it at 650 GBP and later sold it for £750 GBP. So I was actually paid a hundred quid for a year to own that lens, when I fully expected it to be the other way around.... The only reason I sold it was because I sold a lot of film gear to buy into digital, at a time before the *ist D arrived on the scene. Whether or not I was right or wrong in switching to Canon is a moot point. But so good is the feel and use of the A*85 1.4, that I wanted to try and recreate that in a digital environment. Hence I bastardised a Pentax K50mm f1.2 for portraiture: <http://www.macads.co.uk/snaps/mods/eoskmount.html> The lens is metal and built the way Pentax knew best. Solid. Full manual focus - I wouldn't consider AF for faces, ever. Pin sharp optics. Some say it's big and heavy, but I say pah, nonesense. Fast zooms are big and heavy. The A*85mm f/1.4 is a dream and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes focussing on a pair of eyes ;-) .02 Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| www.macads.co.uk/snaps _____________________________
