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Canon 135mm f2 L
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Just wondering if anyone here owns the Canon 135mm f2 L lens? I am a few hours away from buying it, so just wanted to hear any nightmare stories, glowing reviews etc before I commit! UK internet price is about ?650, but I’m going to order from Hong Kong so it will only be ?500 with any duty etc being refunded to me – worth the money?
I have seen many sample images, read many reviews, and it seems to be the sharpest lens Canon make. The bokeh is amazing, and the sharpness wide-open is supposedly just as sharp as it is at f8 i.e. it is more than usable wide-open. This gives me 216mm on my 30D…..at f2 of course!!! I plan to get the 1.4 tele-converter so it will double up as 302mm f2.8 lens!!!! I hear the 1.4 does not really degrade the image at all! :D :D :D
I don’t have one, but if I had the disposable cash I would. I love the 135mm length on a crop camera, it’s just about perfect for long portrait/headshots. I have two old manual 135/2.8s which are nice (a Meyer and a Zuiko) but from what I’ve seen the Canon stuffs them on sharpness and bokeh, never mind the convenience of warp speed AF and the goodiness of f2. I sincerely doubt you’ll be disappointed ;)
Thanks for the feedback Steve. How would you rate the image quality against something like the 70-200 L series?[/u]
Well as I said I don’t have one so I can only comment on other people’s stuff I’ve seen, but it’s a prime and it’s f2 against the f2.8 of the fastest 70-200, so it should be a noticeable improvement in sharpness and bokeh. Certainly sample pics I’ve seen on Flickr are outrageously good. Comments I’ve seen are things like “this is simply the sharpest lens Canon or anybody can make” and “11/10” ;)
Bear in mind that the 135 length is almost ideal in terms of ease of lens design (none of the compromises involved in making wides apply, and even ancient lenses are great performers in terms of flatness of field and freedom from distortion), then multiply that by L technology and it really has no excuse for being a bad performer. I’m sure you’ll love it. I find the 135/(216 on a crop) length ideal as a walkabout lens (strangely? I dunno, but it’s great for candid portraits; with a bit of legwork you’ll even get full length portraits with it, and it’s also excellent for detailed slot view landscape work and panoramas).
Check the Fredmiranda reviews. I don’t usually take FM user reviews *too* seriously, but a 9.9 rating (only topped by the far more expensive 200/1.8 at a perfect 10) speaks for itself. http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=34&sort=7&cat=2&page=1
Steve, thanks for the info. Just found this sample image…….decision made lol!
http://k41.pbase.com/u35/kodachrome/upload/23407216.IMG_0269_lswallow_flightor.jpeg
I have one…if you still haven’t bought it. If you have bought it already…you probably already realised that this lens it the daddy! It’s so sharp you could cut yourself on the photos. The bokeh in the pictures taken with this lens is incredible. For portraits the only lenses in this focal lenght range that challenge it are the 85mm f1.2 and the 200mm f1.8. Both of which are a hell of alot more expensive. BTW, did you buy from Digialrev…that where I got mine..with a mega price as they paid the duty back to me!
markcapilitan wrote:
BTW, did you buy from Digialrev…that where I got mine..with a mega price as they paid the duty back to me!
Very interesting Mark, I always wondered if people here in Ireland had any trouble with duty from the likes of DigitalRev.
How long did it take to get all that sorted?Carl, I’ve actually just moved back to Ireland having been living in England for over 4 years. Hence, I bought all my DigitalRev stuff from Ebay and shipped to my home in England. I think most if not all of their ‘duty paid’ offers only apply to customers in England…which is a shame. Because they’re really quick to pay back. Within a week of sending off the duty receipt (a JPG photo of the receipt is enough) they’ve paid the money back. I had a small problem when I bought a mk2 N camera in that one guy said the ebay item didn’t include duty paid. So I just emailed him back with the ebay page stating that the duty was to be paid back. Within a couple of hours he replied stating that it was his mistake. So they are good to deal with.
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