135mm f2 - WOW!!!

DuncanDisorderly

DuncanDisorderly

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Duncan
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Yes
I was inspired by some incredible images one of Les McLean's threads, and decided to take the plunge and get one of these lenses myself.
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=408895

I've been out for a quick play, and even compared to my 50mm f1.4 the shallow depth of field images are incredible!
I'm going to have SO much fun covering the Jubilee Celebrations this weekend!

Only PP in this image is a slight increase in exposure and an increase in contrast. The lovely glow is purely the lens!
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Barry having a natter (after he cooked my fish and chips).
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100% crop of the above. Barry is stood in the serving hatch of his burger van and the catchlight in his eye includes my car! I did some sharpness testing under more controlled conditions and can definitely say that this is the sharpest lens I own; even sharper than the 24mm TSE MkII. At f2 the centre is bitingly sharp even zoomed into 100% on the 5DII, and the corner sharpness is better than the centre sharpness of nearly all the other lenses I own - flat out astonishing!
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Our village emblem - a stack of oak hurdles.
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Bunting is going up for the big party on Sunday. I love the way the background is being softened enough to make the subject pop.
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More bunting preparations. I took a lot of shots straight into the light, no lack of contrast issues here!
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I'm 'officially' covering the two big events being held in the village this weekend. I'm pretty sure I now know what my kit selection is going to be; the 5DII with 135mm f2 at f2, and everything else with the Fuji X10 :)
 
I'm so pleased you are pleased with the lens :)

Don't forget to send me the link when you post the Jubilee images from the weekend.
 
sssheikh said:
How about a little flavour of Asia through a Nikon 135 f2 AFD?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saadsarfraz/tags/afdnikkor135mmf2dc/show/
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Those are really wonderful images.
I wish I'd discovered the magic of 135mm f2 years ago!

michael23 said:
Very nice results of that lens, looks like it is a great choice for the weekend. (y)
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Cheers (y)

The village is quite used to me pointing a camera at them, but they don't know what my new lens is capable of - yet!
One thing's for sure, I'm going to have a lot of fun this weekend.

Here's a couple from last Autumn taken with the 24-105.
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It is, without doubt, my favourite lens
It has been up for sale twice, removed from sale twice before sale, unused for 6 months......but I simply cannot sell this lens because it has taken my favourite photo's of any of the lenses I have.

Like you say, stunningly sharp at f2, lovely contrast and colours and instant auto-focus

What more could you want?
 
Very nice shots indeed (y) ...

Hmmm might be being added to the "wish list" now :D
 
I'm sorely tempted... 135mm is a classic portrait lens, which only makes sense if you have a full-frame body, but I suspect most people who have one of these bad boys will be shooting full frame :nuts:

A.
 
Anorakus said:
I'm sorely tempted... 135mm is a classic portrait lens, which only makes sense if you have a full-frame body, but I suspect most people who have one of these bad boys will be shooting full frame :nuts:

A.
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LOL - I hadn't thought about that, you are right - it's definitely best on full frame.
However, on the 60D with the 1.4TC it is the equivalent of a 300mm f2.8 - gonna have to give that try! :D
 
Probably gonna pick one of these up around september time this year :) Really looking forward to it.
 
My 135mm doesnt get used much anymore as i have the 70-200 mkII .. However i doubt I will ever get rid of it as its such a perfect lens it would make me cry.. its a backup now if ever cant use the 70-200 ... Even if i never use it I probably wouldnt part just in case.. its just sooooo good :)
 
Sadly the nikon will only work with third party teleconverters...
 
I find it to be an excellent lens for diffusing a fussy background. I shot cyclocross last winter and OOF trees and branches can be distracting with the 70-200 but the 135L declutters the shot much better.

Comme-ci
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Bob
 
Canon Bob said:
I find it to be an excellent lens for diffusing a fussy background. I shot cyclocross last winter and OOF trees and branches can be distracting with the 70-200 but the 135L declutters the shot much better.

Comme-ci
Bob
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Yeah!
I read a review that said this lens doesn't render backgrounds out of focus, it obliterates them!

I'm going to have to give sports a go too!
Closest I'm going to get to action shots this weekend is tug of war; should be a right laugh and I have high hopes for a few decent shots.
 
futureal33 said:
It is, without doubt, my favourite lens
It has been up for sale twice, removed from sale twice before sale, unused for 6 months......but I simply cannot sell this lens because it has taken my favourite photo's of any of the lenses I have.

Like you say, stunningly sharp at f2, lovely contrast and colours and instant auto-focus

What more could you want?
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135 @ 1.4 :p
 
Talking of obliterating backgrounds; how about this hound?
His name is Basil !
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And the 100% crop is still impressing me...
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As for this thread :thinking:
Feel free to add your own 135mm f2 at f2 images (y)
 
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Ok for wildlife too.. Sorry for the high ISO noise :)
 
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DuncanDisorderly said:
Yeah!
I read a review that said this lens doesn't render backgrounds out of focus, it obliterates them!
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It certainly can obliterate the background but sometimes that's not too desireable. It's quite often the case that the subject needs to stand out whilst maintaining enough background detail to keep the context of the shot. The 135L can do this and maintain the environs without the fussy look of some other lenses.

Bob
 
Canon Bob said:
It certainly can obliterate the background but sometimes that's not too desireable. It's quite often the case that the subject needs to stand out whilst maintaining enough background detail to keep the context of the shot. The 135L can do this and maintain the environs without the fussy look of some other lenses.

Bob
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I was having pretty much the same thoughts as yourself Bob while reading through the thread.
One of the images from the thread Duncan referred to in the first post, I wanted to keep a hint of BG interest, particularly the plane, without it intruding, perhaps I've erred on the 'blur' side and another quarter stop would have provided better context?

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That one just about works Les. There's no problem discerning that it's a plane...the subject leads you there. Some of the offerings from Zeiss have mastered the art of separating the focal plane from the background whilst keeping the OOF region fully recognisable.

Bob
 
you have a handle on it at first i thought it was a Nikon lens :)
 
I miss mine and will probably end up getting another this year. some of my favourite images were taken with it on a crop camera the thought of it on my 5d does excite. 35L first to order this week then later in the year for the 135L.
 
Must say this is on my wish list of lens`s seen the reviews on digitalrev tv as kai calls it the lord of the red rings
http://youtu.be/zyqByJsdjxQ
 
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It is probably the best bang for buck L glass made. I paid a touch under £800, cheapest of the holy trinity.
 
Cracking lens, and it takes wonderful portraits. Andy
 
now would you say this on the 5d mk11 is a good portrait lens
how does it compair againest the f1.4 or even the f1.2 50mm lens`s
 
It's the best portrait lens IMO, though the 85/1.2 is another favorite.
 
RD400 said:
now would you say this on the 5d mk11 is a good portrait lens
how does it compair againest the f1.4 or even the f1.2 50mm lens`s
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For portraits, I much prefer the 85mm F1.2 or 135mm F2, I find on single shots, particularly head & shoulders, the 50mm is not as kind on perspective as the longer lenses, although both first class lenses, and for the money, the 50mm F1.4 takes some beating.

vaizki said:
It's the best portrait lens IMO, though the 85/1.2 is another favorite.
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My preference is the other way around, 85mm F1.2 is my favourite portrait lens, the bokeh is so creamy you could eat it, the only downside is the speed of focus, it has so much glass to move around it sometimes seems to take an age, while the 135mm F2 is lightning fast.

If you are out and about doing street photography at events like war weekends, I do think 135mm is the longest you should go, I find anything longer you lose communication with the subject, you generally have to work quick, grab and retain the subjects interest for a few seconds to get your shot, so maintaining a comfortable communication distance is important. That was one of the reasons (the main one being bulk and weight) I gave up on the 70-200 F2.8 for this kind of street photography.
 
Canon Bob said:
It certainly can obliterate the background but sometimes that's not too desireable. It's quite often the case that the subject needs to stand out whilst maintaining enough background detail to keep the context of the shot. The 135L can do this and maintain the environs without the fussy look of some other lenses.

Bob
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Bob, Les,
Very interesting topics being brought up here - cheers :)

I'm finding the background obliteration only happens at close distances.
This is nicely illustrated by the last two images in my first post, both at f2.
The head shot background made the background completely unrecognisable, but at longer distances the background has just a pleasing hint of softness.

Here's a shot at f2 from yesterday at middle distance. The background is very recognisable (I can identify about half the people), but it is pleasantly non-distracting.
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I don't shoot much action, so getting the runners in focus proved really tricky - I've got a lot to learn!
 
DuncanDisorderly said:
Bob, Les,
I'm finding the background obliteration only happens at close distances.
This is nicely illustrated by the last two images in my first post, both at f2.
The head shot background made the background completely unrecognisable, but at longer distances the background has just a pleasing hint of softness.
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Your depth of field is dependent not only on the aperture but also the distance to your subject so close up your DoF will be tiny, further away your DoF will increase;

At 5 feet;
Depth of field
Near limit 4.98 ft
Far limit 5.02 ft
Total 0.05 ft

At 30 feet;
Depth of field
Near limit 29.1 ft
Far limit 30.9 ft
Total 1.78 ft

At 100 feet;
Depth of field
Near limit 90.9 ft
Far limit 111.1 ft
Total 20.2 ft

(All 135mm on full frame at F2)
 
Neilptnms said:
Would this lens be a bit wasted on a cropped sensor DSLR?
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markmullen said:
It would give you a 216mm f2 (assuming a 1.6x crop, not a 1 series 1.3x) which could be handy for some stuff but probably a bit long for portraits.
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Agree with Mark on this, it would be a bit long, plus as I mentioned in the previous post, 200mm is really out of 'communication distance' with the subject.

Where it would excel is in indoor sports with a crop camera, 200mm, F2 & lightning fast focus.
 
Awesome shots. I presume these are all the L lens.Expensive.
 
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