As a general principle, the marque lens will be better made, have a better longevity without needing service and may or may not be better optically.

I'd ask why you think 85mm is the best focal length for portraits? It was the classic portrait lens in film camera terms, but the APS-C sensor is a smaller format and the direct equivalent in DSLR terms is actually the 55mm f/1.4. An 85mm (127.5mm equivalent) seems a bit long to me and you end up too far away from the subject.

Still, that's a personal choice and my personal choice for a portrait lens would be the 70mm f/2.4 Limited, which is very close to the 100mm I used to use on film.

The prices at SRS are more relevant as that's where we are more likely to buy from.

Manufacturers' web shops are usually more expensive. I'm not sure why, but it's always been that way, perhaps to protect their retail suppliers?

3 and 7 I would think, but it will depend on the judge and the other entries.

Posts removed that strayed from the For Sale thread.

Click the Image tag, just below the place you would type your message. A box will pop up allowing you to choose an image from your computer.

Not a great performer then, even though they aren't exactly cheap?

The Tokina 80-400mm is better if you can find one.

The Songthrush is sharp, but the other two aren't particularly sharp. The backlight on the Blue Tit seems to be causing low contrast, presumably from flare. The Goldcrest is unfortunately quite blurred.

My suspicion is that you need better lighting and for the light to be falling on the bird you are photographing. This will give you a better chance. Higher shutter speeds are helpful, but focusing will be quite critical for the best results.

Hope that helps!

Agreed. eBay is the way to go. Separate items, plus be willing to post Worldwide. That's the only way to get the best prices.

Trust me Nigel, if that is lumbering towards you the last thing to worry about is whether or not it's male or female....as for noise, you're just teasing us....

Well it would be lateral thinking on noise, but sadly this one was shot too long ago. Even though this image as it stands was only created yesterday.