In general, prime telephotos should outperform zooms. What's it got and what's it like to use? $449.00. And with our first long lenses we were all impressed were we not? Love the shot of the blue anemone, which also displays nice bokeh, and blur! 8MP is plenty for the usual 8x10 or 16x20 portrait print. " Thomas, I do have no experience with the Canon lens you mentioned but zoom lenses have limitations concerning aberrations while providing more flexibility.The Nikkor 70-200/4 that I like as a travel lens is a very good performer but the Zeiss 135/2 APO is in a different league. Far from being a generic run-of-the-mill image hosting website, it was created and is still operated by an astrophotographer, and boasts features that are very specific to astrophotography. Perhaps I missed it, but did you use a clip-in light pollution filter with your 60D and this lens? The Rokinon 14mm F/2.8 was the first lens I had ever used like this, and these aspects do not hinder the astrophotography experience whatsoever. Otherwise this lens is absolutely incredible. @juksu - you're such a hypocrite. One of my very best lenses! It's a trade off. Of my last 3500 shots only 62 were made with the 135 f/2. OM System's latest lens is a whopper of a macro, featuring optical stabilization, full weather sealing, up to 2x magnification and a whole lot more. this lens typifies modern design being confined to sharpness, colour & bokeh. Orion nebula shot with Canon T3i and Rokinon 135mm @ F2.0 150 shots with dark bias and flats stacked and edited. And if you want autofocus, I would recommend the Canon 135mm f2.0L, which is incredibly light for its performance at just 750g. It improves slightly stopped down. (purchased for $1,625), reviewed January 27th, 2010 We think it rises to the challenge. Part of it might be that they were designed for film photography and modern digital sensor are far more demanding in terms of optical quality. In this review, however, I am using the lens on a crop sensor (APS-C) Canon EOS 60Da, which puts the field of view at 12.4 degrees. With the high megapixel cameras, most people are going to ideally want to shoot at 1/200 or faster. Im a newbie at astro.. and photography in general really! Online since 2011, AstroBin is the #1 complete solution for image hosting of astrophotographs. Optics quality, sharp,very special picture, sharpness, clarity, weight, fast, accurate AF (fringe benefit of f/2), price, no IS, makes you regret buying any zoom lenses, compact, very sharp wide open, good color contrast, bokeh, this is the lens. I got many great shots from this lens but also missed ton of shots due manual focus only. Ive been using kit lenses for the past year, favoring the Nikkor 50mm 2.8. Many students just wanted to take better snapshots of family, vacation, pets, etc. One is the price, which starts around $800 for the smallest units, and rapidly climbs into thousands of dollars for larger apertures. Can I assume that this article applies only to full frame & not to micro four thirds? I had both for a while. Well, after lugging that lens around for years, I'm experimenting with adding the 135L back to my kit. . It also focuses really fast and accurate and is light. The few occasions I use a 135 FL usually are landscape shots (where I have no use for f2) and childrens playing (where I need zoom and fast af). Its a trade-off, and one that seems to surface time and time again in this hobby. It is fantastically sharp, can make beautiful blurred backgrounds and bokeh, and is both light and inexpensive for what you get. There are, of course, outlierssuch as the legendary unicorn lens Canon EF 200mm F2but that one isn't a great alternative unless you are cool with spending $5,700 and carrying around something about as wieldy as a fire hydrant. Beautiful portrait lens. Selecting between it and the 200mm Takumar was not an easy choice but, in the end, I chose the Takumar because it seemed to have slightly better contrast. Over the years, Ive shot deep-sky targets at varying focal lengths from 50mm to over 1000mm. They seem to be really good for NB work. If they could make 135 f2 lighter version with AF for Sony and price is slightly under Sigma 135 /1.8 and obviously Batis 135 2.8 it could sell like hotcakes. (purchased for $900), reviewed August 22nd, 2008 It's just "girl" in front of blurriness.#2: Plants on a pond.It's okay. +1 for the 135mm lens. [emailprotected]. Lots of older lenses no longer satisfy. Micael Widell is a photography enthusiast based in Stockholm, Sweden. Do you expect me to gawk? I am telling them - don't! http://www.flickr.com/photos/tbrigham/314771597/ The article was based on the numerous lenses with which I have personal experience - that is naturally limited. http://www.adstateagent.com | http://www.printradiant.com | http://www.hitsticker.com, I love this lens. Large hood. The rest are relatively uncreative, and just seem lame to me. AF is accurate and very fast. The 135 L handles this well. I liked the extra versatility of the zoom and the ability to shoot at 200mm. The thing is, on my APS-C body the 100mm is challenging enough. i too use the 135mm nikkor[ with a MB speed booster on fuji x for outstanding separation], also a samyang 85 mm 1.4 nikon mt with speedbooster also gives excellent separation, yes, I think I have read that the old Nikkor 135mm f3.5 was even sharper than the f2.8. The main problem with the old lenses is spherical aberration and colour error, especially pronounced on digital sensors. For some objects a reflection can take away from the photo because it covers interesting details of the object (Think Alnitak in the Horsehead Nebula). USM works so quickly and accurately, it puts my 24-70/f2.8L to shame. Lots of wet blankets around here. It is harder work than using a zoom lens, and some shots I just cannot get at all (cannot get close enough, or far enough way) but the shots I do get are so much nicer looking than I get with any other lens that for me and my goals it is a fair trade off. Fast. Most of these APOs have F ratios around 6.5, and are unable to comprehend in their field of view large celestial objects such as the Andromeda galaxy, the North America nebula, and comets. Thanks, Chris, hi Trevor my name is sagar i have same lens but i have one question why lot of stars are appearing in my image which is taken thru rokinon 135mm, Your email address will not be published. http://www.astrovale-f-2/index.html, Hi Lord_Vader, - in my subjects' skin. (purchased for $970), reviewed March 17th, 2011 Another article that I read only the headline and saw a couple of samples then jumped directly to comments. To fit the Heart and Soul Nebulae in a single frame requires an extremely wide field of view (compared to the magnification of most telescopes). If you don't like that article that's your right as a member. Chris referred to the Canon RF 16mm F2.8 STM as 'a little gem'! Available in other Styles, Configurations & Kits. Interesting. With weather sealing this would be a 10. Could use a few updates. Used on a crop body the results are still splendid but you gain on DOF, making it a great combination for wedding/event and ambient/available light. I wanted to add my experience with some lenses that I thought worthy of being considered too, and some of the equipment that I have used. A camera tracker (or star tracker) is necessary for long exposure deep-sky astrophotography, but a compact model such as the iOptron SkyTracker or Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer will do just fine. That setup will give you all that you really need. In fact, a light-weight 200/2.8 seems more interesting to own (e.g., the Minolta 200/2.8). I hope that this post has provided some practical insight into a popular camera lens for astrophotography. As if absolutely clueless Youtube instructors who have no idea what they are talking about weren't enough. You got a criticism fine say it politely, and too the point. If you want the best value possible for your money, and can survive without autofocus, buy the Samyang. It disagrees completely with the definition that you give! (And cost less too). They're heavy, and expensive, but you can carry one lens instead of three, and can vary the compression and field of view to a significant degree - from nearly normal, to long portrait focal lengths. When I was teaching photography in 70's at a junior college, I critiqued students photos, but I never did so harshly. Even if the background is very close to your subject, somehow the optical construction in the 135mm lens will still manage to separate the background beautifully. Touching the telescope, even ever so slightly, will introduce vibrations which will ruin the photograph. I would like to make this work with the Nikkor 180mm ED (i.e., what I have versus what I cannot havelol). When the aperture is stopped down to 37mm using step-down filter rings, this lens produces incredibly tiny pinpoint star images from edge to edge. Now i have the f2.8 version, and while the resolution is better it s under no circumstance as good as the f/4 one. Have you ever come across this phenomena? You will never be able to beat this lense, believe me, i have tried them all. the lens is built strong, very strong. No telephoto lens, and no apochromat, is sufficiently corrected to accomodate such a wide spectral range. This lens is very sharp, corner to corner wide open. I have the Sony SaL 135F1.8 Zeiss Lens and think that is excellent. Which is the better buy? I also tested 200 f/2.8 tele and it is one of the most perfect lens in existence, as well as the 135. It's bokeh is comparable to the 85mm 1.2 but IMO not as nice. lol, nice images, and i nearly bought this lens myself a few years ago. I have no experience with that lens, Jerry Lodriguss however published a review of that lens on his websitehttp://www.astropix.NIKON_180MM.HTM. My canon is clear modded and I use a an Astronomik EOS-clip L filter to block the uv and ir. When stopped down to 37mm, F5.4, it is almost identical to the Takumar except that on highly enlarged images it shows a hint of coma in the distant corners. This is one of my all time favourites. When i just judge by the indicator line as i click through, it seems like its 19 that gets skipped wondering if there is anything more definite? I have found myself shooting wide open almost all the time. If you have pictures taken using the Rokinon 135mm F/2 lens, please feel free to share your results in the comments section (links to Astrobin, Flickr or your personal gallery are fine). This lens is available on Amazon for most camera bodies. You don't have to worry about shopping for a better lens anymore. Yes, it is about the same as 85mm f/1.4 blur factor is 60mm, while 135mm f/2 blur factor is 67mm. So I feel I'm being cheated. People mistake "Bokeh" to blurry background, what is very very common mistake. Sharp, handy, strong colours and contrast. But she might as well be in front of a green screen. But, since fast 300mm ED lenses are beyond my toy budget, I would appreciate seeing magnified center and corner test images of actual star fields. Your first serious portrait lens should be a modern stabilized 70-200 f/2.8. 135 mm. There are only a handful of foolproof strategies for making a great photograph. It's an ideal portrait lens. It is good to know that the 200/4 SMC Takumar is good. (purchased for $800), reviewed March 15th, 2010 I'm thinking a modern (but expensive) Nikon 200mm f/2.0, 300mm f/4 or f/2.8 or a Borg telephoto/telescope would all be very good. Film Friday: DPRTV reviews Fujifilm's Acros II film, Fujifilm launches Instax Mini 12 instant camera, DPReview March Madness, vote for your champions, Canon RF 16mm F2.8 STM sample gallery (DPReview TV), OM System M. Zuiko 90mm F3.5 Macro sample gallery, Live from Japan: Highlights from CP+ 2023, Retro Review: 24 years later, the Sony F505 is still pretty cool, Hands on with the OM System M. 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