good gear to good use
been thinking aobut the nikon equivalent myself... should be able to pick one up cheapish.
Yup... Gotta admit this lens has become my #1 portrait lens... Perfection.
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...
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.
Hobart Camera semi newbie
Canon 50D
Canon EF-S 17-55 2.8
Tamron 18-270 mm
Canon 10-22mm lens
Canon 50 mm 1.4
Benro Carbon Fibre Tripod C-258 + B-1 Head
Canon 10D EF 100mm 1:2.8 Macro Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX
imac 24" 2.8 Aperature II
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...
Last edited by campo; 31-05-2010 at 8:21pm. Reason: typo
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.
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.
http://www.ausphotography.net.au/for...ad.php?t=58407
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Looked everywhere; is this a Canon?
Yes.
Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM.
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).
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 ;-)
Hi Im Darren
www.darrengrayphotography.com
SONY A850 (FF)] + GRIP | SONY A350 (APS-C) + GRIP | SONY NEX-5 +16 2.8 + 18-55 E-MOUNT LENSES | CZ 85 1.4 | 50 1.4 | 28-75 2.8 | 70-200 2.8 | 2 x 42AMs | 24" imac | LR | CS4 | + loads of other junk
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.
Valentine
7D 30D 400D 580exII 17-55f2.8 70-200f2.8IS 100f2.8macro 85mmf1.8 50mmf1.8 135mmf2 10-22mm
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.
Criticism & Suggestions welcome
A pretty standard Canon setup covering the 17-200 range.
Sigma 50 1.4
Various film cameras
My Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arubaato/