Did this forum cause a backorder on the 135mm f/2?

[Colin]

geez. Both Adorama and B&H don't have 'em...


Maybe, in my case, that's a good thing []


With the 70-200 f/2.8 IS already a good friend of mine, while I can rationalize that the 135 f/2 would bea little bit better in terms of sharpness and the ability to be one stop faster with potentially thinner DOF if I needed it...


Realistically, it would seem if you don't do a lot of portrait work with non-moving subjects, or things that don't potentially move away or toward you quickly....


I'd expect that for candids, with a lens this long, unlike the 25-85mm range, you'll find that you can't back up to get what you want in the frame without making a scene, regardless of how good your pair of legs are....


It's not long enough to such that the distance isn't really going to make a big difference, but to change the framing, you're going to have to move a LOT, and what you're trying to shoot will probably be alerted by that movement....


I'd be interested in what owners of both had to say. Is the difference in bokeh between f/2 and f/2.8 at 135mm really that great? What are the applications where you really, truly find this lens far more useful than other options in the same focal range? If I've already got an 85mm f/1.2, is there much benefit in a longer perspective?


I know it's a great lens, but other than the comfort of knowing you own one of the finest Canon makes, what's the real practical benefit over other lenses that can do a similar (albeit of course not the same) job?


Throw me your information please!

[Daniel Browning]

Is the difference in bokeh between f/2 and f/2.8 at 135mm really that great?

Yes.

What are the applications where you really, truly find this lens far more useful than other options in the same focal range?

Portraits of all varieties. (I'm sure there are many other uses, but that's what I do with it.)

If I've already got an 85mm f/1.2, is there much benefit in a longer perspective?

Yes. I have a full frame body, and the 85 isn't long enough for an extreme close up (ECU), headshot, and sometimes a three quarters. Sometimes 135mm isn't long enough either, and I'll use 200mm, but I find myself around 135 most of the time.


Sometimes the DOF on the 85mm f/1.2 is too thin. If I change the composition by backing up and compensating with 135mm f/2, the perspective will be different, DOF will be deeper, and background will have nice blur.


For portrait sessions on a full frame body, I like to shoot 24, 50, 85, 135, and 200. If I absolutely had to pick only one focal length, it would probably be 135mm on full frame. 85mm on a crop body.

[Colin]

Portraits at 24?


Have an example of what that looks like?

[Daniel Browning]

Portraits at 24?

Absolutely! Environmental portraits are awesome; I love them.

Have an example of what that looks like?

Here's one of mine:





For more examples, check out all the ultra wide angle shots in this article:


Obama's first 100 days (White House photographer Pete Souza)

[Colin]

Hey, that's a fresh concept, provide the environmental context of the subject!


On those 100 days... I'm wondering if HiFi guy also noticed every time there was an AMX touch panel [:P]

[HiFiGuy1]

Yes, I would definitely like that, but I didn't see them! Which pictures had them in the sequence?


BTW, did you see the one where President Obama appears to be taking a leak on the wall inside the White House? [:O] My wife and I both laughed out loud at that one. I think it is shot #80. Also, I thought the picture of Air Force One was really nice, #73, as well as the choppers flying low over The Mall, #79.

[Keith B]

I love 24mm for portraits. I use my 16-35 mk II most 90% of the time, but when I know I wnat the best wide angle potrit I can get I use my 24 1.4 mk I.


Daniel What lens is that shot with? 24 1.4 mkII? or mkI? Very shallow DOF for a wide.

[Daniel Browning]

Daniel What lens is that shot with? 24 1.4 mkII? or mkI?

Mark 1; this was a few months before I got the Mark II. I gave it f/2, but I would have shot it at f/1.4 for even thinner DOF, except the shutter speed was already at 1/8000! (You can see the EXIF in the full size image.) Normally I would have grabbed an ND filter out of the bag, but it was a really fast paced event shooting, and I was carrying an XH-A1 video camera and shooting video at the same time. I literally had only 3-6 seconds to shoot the portrait.

Very shallow DOF for a wide.

The 24mm f/1.4 II is my favorite lens ever precisely because I love wide angle shallow DOF so much. Wide angle shots include a lot of background, which can be very distracting from the main subject. But if you have the power to use thin DOF, then the background can be softened just enough, but still contributes valuable content to the image.

[Jon Ruyle]

Interesting. I've never been interested in fast wide lenses, because I always thought "wide is to include background, long is to get rid of it." So I'm usually thinking of stopping down with a wide lens or opening up with a longer one.


But the effect of "including the background but clearly relegating it to background status" in your picture is very nice.


That wasn't taken at OSP by any chance, was it?

[Keith B]

Daniel


Is it really a huge difference between mkI and mkII. I find my copy of the mkI one to be very, very sharp. I sent it in for service and when it was returned it was ridiculously sharp. My only complaint ever was flair.


I've just seen so many people say the mkII is so much better and how bad mkI was, but I never had the complaints anyone had.