135 f2 makes the better photographer

[ving]

good gear to good use

been thinking aobut the nikon equivalent myself... should be able to pick one up cheapish.

[James Axford]

have to disagree...

the camera gear does nothing for the photo... its all in the photographer... where the light is coming from and other settings, and knowing what you can hand hold and what you need a tripod for... there is too much in a great photo for it to be just a good camera...

an example would be a portrait being shot with the sun in the back ground...
- a guy with a good camera, could get the aim right, but the settings in "auto" would be all wrong...
- a average guy with a camera, would try to over come the light with some fill flash...
- a photographer would manually set the F and Tv to suit the face conditions, or maybe just maybe, turn the subject around... so their face was lit byt he sun.....

there are the differences...

M

you have some good points. but as i said it makes the "Better" photographer.
I still stand by that, No way i could have taken these with out good equipment eg the 135mm f2

[Xenedis]

I'd rather use good gear than not so good gear.

Of course.

If you're a dreadful photographer, it won't make a difference, though. :-)

By the same token, a sixteen-year-old L-plate driver isn't going to be any better a driver in a Lamborghini Diablo than a Datsun 120B.

[Bear Dale]

If you're a dreadful photographer, it won't make a difference, though. :-)

Well it's not going to make you a worse one and there's a chance that it might make you better.

[James Axford]

Well it's not going to make you a worse one and there's a chance that it might make you better.

there's truth to this. better equipment give better opportunities and better odds of getting something better from it. so you are more likely to want to take more photos and try and improve.

[PaulMac]

Yup... Gotta admit this lens has become my #1 portrait lens... Perfection.

[campo]

its a cracker lens, but it needs an experienced operator.

Out of curiosity, were these the only photos you took of those subjects or were there multiple frames and you picked the best? Not that there's anything wrong with that, we all take "bad" shots but when working with precision equipment like this lens, one small human error could mean the subject's eyes are out of focus with such razor thin DOF.

I had a second shooter work a wedding with me and he had this lens, at f2 the shots were very hit and miss due to depth of field and focus point selection...

[kmcgreg]

How well do you think this would work on a 1.6 crop like my 50D? A nice portrait low light lens like this would be much nicer to carry than a 70-200 2.8.
Rumour has it that this may get IS added shortly - no doubt adding to the weight and the cost.

[Xenedis]

How well do you think this would work on a 1.6 crop like my 50D?

It'll work beautifully, but you'll have a tighter cop (216mm equivalent). If you want to use it for portraits, you'll need considerable working distance.

[campo]

kmcgreg, i shoot an 85mm on a 1.5 crop body and I find this pretty long when doing portraits. I also have a 105mm and that's getting too long for portraits if you want to be in the same room. I dare say you may find 135 x 1.6 = 216mm quite long for portraits...

[Xenedis]

I dare say you may find 135 x 1.6 = 216mm quite long for portraits...

It's only too long if you don't have the space.

For outdoors work, a lens of that focal length can produce some excellent, full-length or two thirds-length portraits with the background nicely diffused.

[kmcgreg]

Thanks - yeah I was thinking of it as a high quality lens for travel/people/ street photography where you don't want to be in peoples faces as well as being able to get a good background blur to isolate the subject. Yes all outside with space to move. Additionally some low light/night markets where I can shots of people working without being intrusive.

[PaulMac]

The 135 at f/2 does require experience. But once you have nailed it it gives beautiful results. Near perfect optical clarity and the best bokeh you will find. I also wouldn't hesitate to use it on a crop sensor. I use my 70-200 @ 200 all the time. Just focus on that eye while your braced and don't be swaying around. Also be careful ( especially with the 135 ) that your shutter speeds are kept up to at least 120 sec or more.

I used this lens on the weekend in my latest thread in images 6-10. Love this lens.


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[jibbonpoint]

Looked everywhere; is this a Canon?

[Xenedis]

Looked everywhere; is this a Canon?

Yes.

Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM.

[campo]

As above, this thread is discussing the Canon 135 f/2L USM

Nikon also have an equivalent at this focal length too: 135mm f/2D AF DC Nikkor. DC stands for defocus control allowing the photographer to control the bokeh (out of focus areas).

[mpot]

Some great sample shots posted at the beginning of this thread!

However, it's not the gear that makes the photographer - but good gear certainly does help ;-)

[bigdazzler]

have to disagree...

the camera gear does nothing for the photo...

and ill disagree with you ... I promsie you #1 wouldnt look like that shot with a kit lens at 135mm @ 5.6 .... So yes the lens absolutely does something for the picture

[val2002]

I use my 135L f2 on 30D and it is just awesome for outside head and shoulder shots. I'm thinking though that a 5D would utilise the qualities of this lens a lot better. But without doubt my favourite lens. It does allow me to take shots that a normal kit zoom wouldn't get close to. Ditto for other special ones like the 35L and the 85L.

[arubaato]

I have this lens and when I get the focus spot on it's magic. However, i find that a lot of times, I have missed focused, or the subject has moved, or I have moved.

Also with the 135 focal length, even at f2, it's difficult to use it handheld in low light without pushing the ISO. On the 5D2, I'm comfortable shooting up to 3200ISO, anything above that it gets a bit noisy, so I give up and use the 50 1.4 (sigma) instead.