For those of you that haven’t been following my blog I’ll fill you in on the back story — I recently had my entire camera kit stolen and I am now rebuilding a new kit with the insurance money from my old equipment. The plan is to come up with a better and more useful set of equipment than I had before the theft. So far I’ve bought a Canon 5D and a Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L lens. My next step was to pick out a medium telephoto lens.
My original premise for building a new lens set was to put together the highest quality most versatile lens set possible. The goal is to have professional lens coverage from 16mm to 200mm by next summer. The obvious choice for medium telephoto lens was the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS L. I did a ton of research on the 70-200 and from the older reviews of that lens it seemed like a great choice, however the newer reviews of the 70-200 weren’t as kind. Photographers shooting full frame with either the Canon 5D or 1Ds complained that the 70-200 was a little soft, especially at the longer end of its zoom range. Could this be true? Is the most hyped lens in Canon’s line up and the most expensive lens in most Canon SLR shooter’s bag soft? Were these complaints from a few obsessive pixel peepers or where they legitimate? Well, I did a ton more research and found a few more reviews claiming the 70-200 was soft. With my faith in the mighty 70-200 f/2.8L shaken I started a search for other options.
I had had my eye on the Canon 135mm f/2 L for a few years. On fredmiranda.com the 135 L receives mythical reviews. Some photographers claim to get magical “nearly 3D” results from this lens. The technical reviews show that the 135 L is sharp corner to corner at f/2. I was intrigued, but was a bit frightened to pull the trigger and spend $870 for one focal length (non zoom).
After much thought I put together a bit of logic (others would call it an excuse) to buy this lens.
Q: What is halfway between 70mm and 200mm?
A: 135mm
Q: Did I use my previously owned 70-200 very much?
A: No
Q: Why not?
A: Because the 70-200 is too cumbersome to carry on camera. The 70-200 lives in the camera bag and a shorter lens lives on the camera 90% of the time. Most things that happen at medium telephoto distance are action and motion. These events need a quick draw/ stealthy lens. By the time the 70-200 is on the camera and ready to go the event is over.
With those things in mind I ordered a 135 f/2 L.
My initial impression of the 135 L was, “this thing is small, but look at all that glass.” the 135 L is light and slightly smaller than my 24-70 f/2.8 L. Looking at the front of the lens I am always impressed by the glass inside. Wow, f/2 is wide.
I really like working with this lens. It balances nicely on the camera, and focuses fast. The view finder is bright. The best part about this lens is I can carry it on my camera and it doesn’t create a commotion. It is so much easier to pop a quick portrait with this lens than the super imposing 70-200. I can carry the 135mm on my camera through a crowd and not get any stupid questions. So far I haven’t missed having a zoom at all
I’ve only had this lens for a few weeks and haven’t gotten any hero images yet, but here are some samples.
Above: Check out that bokeh! Pretty nice. I took this photo of Maria carrying Ella while walking through Latta Plantation here in Charlotte. It was a beautiful fall afternoon. I waited for Maria to step in front of some back li, glowing autumn foliage and snapped this photo.
Above: This is my dog Jack and another dog playing in the forest at Reedy Creek Park. This shot was taken in the shade, but as you can see f/2 was enough to stop the action even in the low light.
Above: Here is another action shot of my dog taken at f/2. Notice how sharp his head and shoulders can out and then the smooth transition into bokeh.
Above: This is the primary reason I bought this lens — natural light portraits of my baby girl. This shot was taken hand held in my living room at ISO 400 and f/2. The only light was coming through a window.
Here is a series of photos for any pixel peepers or street gang experts that might be reading this review. The photo below is a sign in my neighborhood shot at f/2 with my Canon 135 f/2 L. Can anyone tell me what the gang graffiti means?
Here is a 100% crop from the bottom of the sign post.
Here is a 100% crop from the middle of the sign post. notice the nice out of focus fence in the background.
Here’s the top of the sign, 100% crop
Conclusion: The Canon Ef 135 f/2 L is a great lens. If you are shooting a full frame camera and looking for an alternative to the bulky and expensive 70-200 f/2.8 you should check out this lens.
No comments:
Post a Comment