The Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM is older than the camera it is mounted on by more than three decades, and the pairing still produces the cleanest subject isolation this system can deliver at the price. Adapted to the R100 through the EF-EOS R adapter, the lens lands on an APS-C sensor with a 1.6x crop factor, which pushes the effective field of view to roughly 136mm. That reframing matters. The optical characteristics remain those of an 85mm — the same depth of field at a given distance, the same rendering of out-of-focus light — but the tighter angle of view forces the photographer further from the subject, and the compressed perspective does the rest of the work.

The Canon R100 is the least expensive entry point in the RF mirrorless system, and Canon has been reasonably candid about what corners were cut to get it there. No in-body stabilization. A single card slot. A relatively modest sensor at 24 megapixels. An electronic viewfinder that experienced photographers will find cramped. And yet, mated to a used EF 85mm f/1.8 USM via the Canon EF-EOS R adapter, it becomes one of the most compelling portrait setups available for under $700 combined.

There are lenses you respect and lenses you love. The RF 85mm f/1.2L USM belongs to both categories simultaneously, which is a rarer condition than it sounds. Mounted on the R5, this combination announces itself before you even fire a shutter. The lens is heavy — 1,195 grams — and the balance tips forward in a way that forces a deliberate grip. Canon is asking you to slow down, and the images it delivers in exchange for that patience are among the most seductive produced by any modern mirrorless system.

The Jupiter-9 85mm f/2 is a Soviet optical instrument derived from the pre-war Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar design, manufactured at the KMZ factory and exported in modest quantities under the Jupiter brand. Optically, it inherits the Sonnar formula’s characteristic rendering: a smooth background blur without the Helios 44-2’s swirling tendencies, strong center sharpness with a gradual rolloff toward the edges, and a color rendering — particularly in the green channel — that has a coolness contemporary photographers find refreshing after years of the warm-biased output from modern lens coatings.

I love fast 135mm lenses—but the Canon RF 135mm f/1.8 L IS USM sits at around $2,300, and I’m not interested in selling a kidney for a lens. I’m also pretty averse to burdening myself with heavy, expensive gear while traveling. So the workaround, at least for how I shoot, is simple: a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM picked up used for about $300, mounted on a crop body. It becomes a kind of “poor man’s 135mm”—a fraction of the cost, easier on the back and shoulder, and, as this image shows, more than capable.