# Canon 135mm F/2



## MagnumJoe (Aug 18, 2013)

Question about the Canon 135mm f/2.0/L. I have a T3i as well as a 6D, my favorite lens today is the Canon 85mm f/1.8. Would I gain any thing buying the Canon 135mm for my 6D, vs using my 85mm on my T3i or would it be a waste of money?


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## Dylan777 (Aug 19, 2013)

No comment on 85 f1.8 - never own one

135L is great lens for outdoor portrait. It will be tight for indoor, even on FF. AF is really fast. Sharpness at f2 is EXCELLENT. Bokeh is really good. It's so much lighter than 70-200 f2.8 IS II.

Note: keep shutter speed above 1/80. If not, mount it on monopod.


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## Pi (Aug 19, 2013)

Only you can decide if the price difference is worth it. But the 85 on crop is like 135/2.8 on FF (in terms of DOF, noise and FOV) with much worse sharpness/CA/PF wide open:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=108&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=2&LensComp=106&CameraComp=736&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0

Those crops do not say it all: the 135L has excellent bokeh. 

On the other hand, the 85 should perform quite well on your 6D. Some find 135mm a bit too long.


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## MagnumJoe (Aug 19, 2013)

Pi said:


> Only you can decide if the price difference is worth it. But the 85 on crop is like 135/2.8 on FF (in terms of DOF, noise and FOV) with much worse sharpness/CA/PF wide open:
> 
> http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=108&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=2&LensComp=106&CameraComp=736&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0
> 
> ...


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## Random Orbits (Aug 19, 2013)

MagnumJoe said:


> Pi said:
> 
> 
> > Only you can decide if the price difference is worth it. But the 85 on crop is like 135/2.8 on FF (in terms of DOF, noise and FOV) with much worse sharpness/CA/PF wide open:
> ...



Make sure you're comparing with the same camera and aperture. The embedded link compares the 135 on a FF body at f/2.8 to a 85 on a crop body at f/1.8. No contest.

If you compare both at f/2 with the 1Ds III, then the 85 f/1.8 looks much better than it did on the crop but still falls short of the 135 f/2.


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## Pi (Aug 19, 2013)

Random Orbits said:


> Make sure you're comparing with the same camera and aperture. The embedded link compares the 135 on a FF body at f/2.8 to a 85 on a crop body at f/1.8. No contest.



Yes, I am, as close as possible. The question was how they compare on _different _cameras. 

OP: _Would I gain any thing buying the Canon 135mm for my 6D, vs using my 85mm on my T3i? _

135/2.8=48.xxx
85/1.8 = 47.xxx


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## alexanderferdinand (Aug 19, 2013)

Both nice lenses.
135L would be my choice (I have both.....


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## chris_w_digits (Aug 19, 2013)

You will probably find some situations where the 135 f/2L will allow you to get shots you might not get with an 85mm since the 135L is FAST autofocusing and does well at f/2. I've been in a couple of situations where the 135 f/2L was the ONLY lens I have that would allow me to get closeups in low light situations without a flash. To me, it's a must to have with me, since it's saved me a couple of times. I shot an outdoor show with several bands and once it got dark enough, my 70-200 f/2.8L simply stopped being able to autofucus. The event was lit by one sodium vapor parking lot light. The 135 f/2L allowed me to keep shooting and it allowed me to get some fantastic shots, even though I had to get a little closer to the performers to get the facial close-ups. My Sigma 85mm f/1.4 would have been far too slow autofocusing to get many of the shots that I got, where the 135L didn't struggle at all. I was shooting with the 5D mark III.


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## kennephoto (Aug 19, 2013)

I just got a 135mm f2 on Sunday(yesterday) and my use with it has been limited but the shots I took at f2 were awesome! It's really a great lens!


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## RLPhoto (Aug 19, 2013)

135L is gracefully flawed with no IS. It's close to perfection for a 135mm prime.


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## neuroanatomist (Aug 19, 2013)

RLPhoto said:


> 135L is gracefully flawed with no IS. It's close to perfection for a 135mm prime.



It's other flaw is that it's f/2, not f/1.8, right?


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## CarlTN (Aug 19, 2013)

MagnumJoe said:


> Question about the Canon 135mm f/2.0/L. I have a T3i as well as a 6D, my favorite lens today is the Canon 85mm f/1.8. Would I gain any thing buying the Canon 135mm for my 6D, vs using my 85mm on my T3i or would it be a waste of money?



I own both the 6D and 135. Used the 135 for 4 years on my old 50D. The 135 is simply one of the best lenses Canon makes, especially where image quality is concerned. If you can use the focal length, you can't go wrong buying one. Its bokeh and contrast, are a touch better than its color...but the color is quite nice as well. The sharpness can be mind-blowing...but I feel there might be some sample variation.

As for the fast focus...yes it's fast. However, oddly enough, on my 6D, my 70-200 f/4 lens autofocuses a tad faster. The reverse was true for the 50D...the 135 seemed to focus faster on it than the 70-200 did.

I feel a fast aperture lens in the 85 to 100mm focal length is highly useful and necessary on full frame such as the 6D. There are times when 135 feels too long...which is odd since I had gotten used to it being equal to 215mm on the 50D...

The comments above are also pretty much spot on.

There are lenses to be bought, used a while and then sold. The 135 still seems like a keeper 4 years on, for me.


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## BLFPhoto (Aug 19, 2013)

They can have my 135mm f/2 when they pry it from my cold, dead hands. It and 35mm L are my two favorite Canon lenses. I have all of the good 2.8 zooms too, but something magic happens with the 135. It will take one heck of an improvement AND IS to get me to ever consider giving mine up.


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## sdsr (Aug 19, 2013)

It depends on your taste, what you're looking for in such a lens, etc. You may want to do what I did and rent one - which may prompt you, as it did me, to buy one. Nice though the 85 1.8 is on a Rebel (I've used that precise combination), on your 6D the 135L will provide better bokeh and shallower focus (among other things), not to mention better low light/high ISO performance, even though the fov will be much the same. (I'm surprised, though, to see some say that the 135 focuses faster than the 85 1.8 - my 85 1.8 focuses extremely fast as, I thought, did everyone else's. Could they be confusing them with the 85L?) 

Note, too, that it's not just a one-way street - try the 135L on your Rebel too, where it will give you 216mm fov equiv. (albeit at a slight cost in some other respects), while, as you've doubtless found out, the 85 1.8 performs better on your 6D than most (all?) 50mm lenses do on your Rebel.


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## RLPhoto (Aug 19, 2013)

neuroanatomist said:


> RLPhoto said:
> 
> 
> > 135L is gracefully flawed with no IS. It's close to perfection for a 135mm prime.
> ...



The real problem is zeiss. ;D


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## MagnumJoe (Aug 20, 2013)

Thanks everyone, I'm going to rent it have it here by Friday.


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