The other one is the inevitable and persistent regret that, because of chromatic aberration, the full 75mm aperture of this beautiful lens can not be used in full visible spectrum photography. Read on to find out which you should be using and why! I just love the lightning fast & accurate focus of this lens. Not rude at all, a fair comment. Find out what happens when Chris shoots some very expired APS film using old Canon and Nikon cameras. For DPReview, it's also an opportunity for a good old-fashioned camera fight. Samyang 135 f/2 astrophotography gallery Below some pictures I made using Samyang 135 lens with QHY163 mono camera and iOptron Smart EQ Pro mount. The Japanese word "bokeh" can be translated into English as "blur". Lots of wet blankets around here. I got many great shots from this lens but also missed ton of shots due manual focus only. It is a parade of photos that should have been galled out after a boring Sunday afternoon shoot of "Think I'll bring along a camera when I walk the dog", There are so many things wrong in this 'review' -- most of all the idea that 'you' should get this lens and somehow it magically makes the duck or the cat stuck right in the center of picture a great photo! One of Canon's best lenses for a reasonable price. Large hood. But I hardly used it in the 30+ years. Tack sharp at f/2. You currently have javascript disabled. (For Nikon users there's the new 105mm too.). Write your own user review for this lens. Thus the enthusiasm has a valid basis but may not be suitable for all shooting conditions. @juksu - you're such a hypocrite. Im so new to all of this so thank you for your insightful and educational posts. The aperture ring is marked with each f-stop, and you need to manually click through F/2 F/22 and watch the blades do their work. (purchased for $1,100), reviewed August 12th, 2009 My guidescope is a 5in F5 Jaeger's achromat with a 2.3x Barlow, and a 9mm illuminated reticle eyepiece. Samyang 85mm f1.83. Its fast f/2.0 maximum aperture is effective in low light and enables shallow depth of field control. It seems they are now quite comparable in quality to prime lenses. They account for much of the disagreement that we see on-line (but not for the rudeness and viciousness of some of it). I find 400gm as the tolerable weight limit for a lens on my panasonic gx85, and I am guessing following telephoto lenses would satisfy the itch to get good bokeh shots, 1. i also have the 300mm f4.5 non ED nikkor which is quite nice . The interest of a f/1.4 is to be able to be perfect at f/2.8, while a f/1.8 or f/2 might need to be on f/4 to have the same sharpeness and overall IQ.They are not meant to be used wide open, except in rare moments. There is no doubt that the 135L deserves it excellent reputation for image quality. Has a good weight to it. My work requires auto-focus. The first telephoto lens of choice, especially recommended for beginners, is the 135mm F2.5 SMC Pentax. If experience has taught me anything, its that the practical, pain-free equipment that gets the most use under the stars. Micael Widell is a photography enthusiast based in Stockholm, Sweden. This photo was captured with the Samyang 135mm F/2 lens using a UV/IR cut filter and a QHY168C dedicated astronomy camera. I have the Canon 135 f/2 and loved it from day one. Canon 135mm is a great lens. It is the lens I use as a reference point to compare all new lens acquisitions to after purchase to determine if they need to be returned for repair or replacement. Using the lens's diaphragm interferes with the light path and results in diffraction spikes which I find unattractive. Bye best lens, blur, sharp-super, no CA, minimal shading. Sharp, handy, strong colours and contrast. CANON LENS FOR ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY. Although this lens feels solid, it is rather light when compared to a telescope. Sme of the wide field are. As you'd expect from a premium prime lens, both maximum and average chromatic aberration is very low across the aperture range, with the maximum CA on the order of 0.02% of frame height regardless of aperture. 200mm Astrobin photos (not taken by me): https://www.astrobin.m USM F2.8 L II Ive spent a handful of nights testing this lens in my Bortle Scale Class 6/7 backyard, and my results live up to the hype it gets in terms of astrophotography performance. 1. The Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM Lens makes an excellent indoor sports lens. RATING. Depth of field at f/2 on the 135 is so shallow that I usually shot it stopped down to f/2.8 or f/4 anyway. I had one question that i cant seem to find an answer to.. (purchased for $890), reviewed October 21st, 2005 135 mm. Your first serious portrait lens should be a modern stabilized 70-200 f/2.8. (purchased for $900), reviewed December 14th, 2006 Unfortunately, standard photography lenses are generally poorly corrected for CA at the red end of the spectrum, relying on the human eye's poorer resolution in red than green or blue. I think youll find that this lens is behind some of the most amazing wide-field astrophotography images online! They were not however designed to be bokeh monsters though that was just a side effect of making them fast and people bought them for speed with bokeh being the afterthought so not Bokeh for the sake of Bokeh as he said. I just got the Samyang version of this lens and used it with my Canon 3ti on a Skywatcher Star Adventurer. Photography is art and technology, the latter serving the first.Photography is not something arty with a lot of gadgetry. Your images have a chance at remaining sharper once critical focus has been achieved, but now you have lost the extra light-gathering power you wanted. you can see here a lot of photos mostly shot with the f/4 version. The cat is a case for the bit bucket i my opinion - it has no composition, a distracting background and a random parts of the body in focus - the same picture made with a smart phone could not look worse. The 135mm Rokinon with the Canon Rebel seems like a pretty good setup. Only con I can think of, and that may be a big one depending on how you plan to use the lens is the lack of weather sealing. Oh yes, and it leads to lusting after other primes! This lens is available for several camera mounts, including Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Samsung, and Fuji. f/2! I would only recommend this lens for casual photographers where missed shot means nothing. In general, prime telephotos should outperform zooms. (purchased for $650), reviewed June 6th, 2008 AHAB. However, all the reviews were made by nature and sports photographers, and I would like to find out more about their performance in astrophotography. The clip-in Astronomik 12nm Ha is one of their most popular filters ever and for good reason! Many lenses lose their appeal after time, but not this one. Often need f2.2 to f2.8 to gain sufficient DOF for human subjects. When I was teaching photography in 70's at a junior college, I critiqued students photos, but I never did so harshly. You would be hard pressed to find any other lens on a full frame camera that produces creamier bokeh. And if you want autofocus, I would recommend the Canon 135mm f2.0L, which is incredibly light for its performance at just 750g. (And cost less too). thank you for that great review and also the explanations. The article was based on the numerous lenses with which I have personal experience - that is naturally limited. Every different lens design has different "bokeh" even when the lenses are by specs same, like Canon 135mm f/2 vs Samyang 135mm f/2 are both same, but both render differently, even when both have same DOF. The Olympus Zuiko 180/2.8 and 100/2.8 impressed me in the 1980s, but in the digital era they are not so sharp. I do know, however, that I can take an equally framed photo I've shot with my Canon kit lens, both zoomed to 100% I run circles around this guy. There are a lot of photo/video cameras that have found a role as B-cameras on professional film productions or even A-cameras for amateur and independent productions. It's kinda curious how topsy turvy things have gotten since this article, just 4 years later, I think 135mm is possibly more niche than ever yet Samyang finally delivered an AF version of this concept at a lighter weight for E mount, but also at a higher price. I would never shell out hundreds of euros for a 135 prime let alone one with manual focus. Before I go any further, Id like to share a photo from Gabriel Millou of the Andromeda Galaxy using a Canon 1300D. The rest are relatively uncreative, and just seem lame to me. Thanks! Canon EOS 60Da with the Rokinon 135mm F/2 lens. (Dpreview), Use the 500 Rule to find the Perfect Exposure Length for Astrophotography, Use a DSLR Ha Filter for Astrophotography, AstroBackyard | Astrophotography Tips and Tutorials2023, Optical Construction: 11 Glass elements in 7 Groups. I am still very proud of some of the photos I shoot with a Pentax O450 15 years ago - a good smartphone camera today is at least as capable. Second of all, the incredible sharpness of the photo: I have owned many lenses, most of which I bought because they were supposed to have world-class sharpness, but the Samyang 135mm still stands out to me. The 50mm f/1.4 and f/1.2 is another story.While the 135mm f/2, in general, is a good lens, there are lots of lenses other than the 135 f/2 that will produce a very smoothly blurred background, including zoom lenses.It sounds like Micael is new to photography.Just my impression from this article. Hate these presumptuous kinds of articles and headlines. The lens is not weather-sealed, so you definitely dont want to leave your camera and lens (and your tracking mount!) Its a joy to work with every time. One thing I am most stun is its AF performance. The 200f2.8 L is excellent - I am using it right now. Focal length is great. I was very happy for this reason to eventually get a full frame DSLR in 2007 and sell the 85mm lens and buy a 105mm one to replace it. Now - THAT's a lens everyone should have ;). I really wanted to use, and like, a 135mm f2 lens so I bought the Canon version. In this post, Ill share my results using an affordable prime telephoto lens for astrophotography, the Rokinon 135mm F/2.0 ED UMC. I think prime users get too used to the idea of bokeh as the only answer. The image below highlights the creative freedom this lens provides. You got a criticism fine say it politely, and too the point. Yuri toropin tests a bunch of lenses on Flickr which is a great source. You can't really ask them to stand still while you move around. (cont. If You can not, buy Canon EF 85/1.8, which delivers quite similar results. Manual focus on wide angle lens, for landscapes, ok, if you have a reliable manual focus system, which Samyang, at least in my mount, does not have. The diameter of the lens is 77mm, with a non-rotating filter mount on the objective lens. In 3 months I got loosy focus ring. With a good smartphone, some creative legwork, and the photos scaled down as they are in this article you can make photos that at least just as good. I used this lens quite a bit years ago as my main working lens. Taking images at this focal length from the city will swell issues with gradients, especially when shooting towards the light dome. I found this highly restrictive for shooting indoors where there was seldom enough distance between me with my camera and my subject(s). 45 minutes. With the high megapixel cameras, most people are going to ideally want to shoot at 1/200 or faster. This way the focus will favor the red light which is more objectionable within a star image than a bit of blue. Im getting a samyang to use with my 60D. One of them is simplicity: A clear, simple subject that constitutes a shape, standing out and contrasting against a calm and simple background. IQ will rival any other lens. (purchased for $890), reviewed July 17th, 2006 Perhaps you have seen the photos of masterful Russian portrait photographers such as Elena Shumilova or Anka Zhuravleva. Now we have to read this kind of ignorant misinformation on DPR articles. Have not used a 70-200 since. I cant decide whether to clean it up in processing or let it be. @ Juksu - you're pathologically clueless. Otherwise this lens is absolutely incredible. I want to see the bokeh and the sharpness at 100% mag, don't care about the photos. The one and only 300mm lens I tested is the Zeiss Tele-Tessar 300mm F4. However, I find the process tedious, and prefer single, manually guided, long exposures which seem to have deeper colors. Above $2500 cameras tend to become increasingly specialized, making it difficult to select a 'best' option. I rarely shoot static landscapes or posed, composed images. OTOH you can now get a 70-180 f2.8 zoom that weights virtually the same and is only a tiny bit longer (Tamron's on E mount, like 20mm longer than the AF SY or most other modern 135s), and there's lighter than ever 85/1.4s (eg Sigma's DN for L/E mount) that can achieve a very similar look while coming in at 600g, tho at an even higher price. The 135mm F2 lens design is truly special, and in this article (and the video I made), I want to try to convince you as well. Perhaps it's not a big thing, but for a L-graded lens this feature should be expected. 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 has a long focus adjustment ring, with great tension. I'm not a fan of the large hood. Great reach for street shots. For example, the legendary Canon 85mm F1.2L weighs in at 1025g, and the Sigma 85mm F1.4 Art isn't too light either at 1130g. Unfortunately it is not manufactured in a multicoated version, and produces prominent internal reflection artifacts on very bright stars. I love the lens for my modified Sony a6000! I thought I had to sell my 100/F2.8 macro L but thanks for letting me know I can keep it. Is there a reason why a 135/2.8 or even 135/4 would provide significantly different images? I actually have to walk 1/2 way up the stairs to be able get folk in the frame. Prime means that this lens is fixed at 135mm, it is not a zoom lens that allows for focal length adjustments. The extent of this influence lies mainly in photographer's perception and creativity.As all arts photography may serve given needs due to numerous reasons with the resulting integrity of the work not necessarily suggesting art.The photographic gear (from lens cleaning tissues up to s/w) is just the tool(s) of a photographer in order to produce its work. In fact, a light-weight 200/2.8 seems more interesting to own (e.g., the Minolta 200/2.8). In photoshop I love to zoom 200, 300 and even 400% to see the extreme details it is an absolutely amazing lens, great backround blur, great for low light weddings with available light. That means that it doesnt require a robust equatorial telescope mount as a larger, heavier telephoto lens would. Yeah I agree that the sentiment that they were designed to be used stopped down is wrong as they were designed to be used wide open because they had to be for speed (my point above). How's that for an endorsement? Sharp but smooth at the same time. The full extent of the relationship between Rokinon and Samyang is unknown to me, but the packaging on my lens says Technology by Samyang Optics. The Rokinon 135mm F/2.0 includes a lens hood, lens pouch, front and rear lens caps, and a 1-year Rokinon manufacturer warranty. Not too heavy. Target for bortle 9 astrophotography? The Andromeda Galaxy using the Rokinon 135mm F/2.0 ED UMC lens. The only reason i sell this lens is because of versatility. There was no reason to test any other because, when stopped down to 49mm, F6.1, this lens is simply perfect, comparable to any APO on the market. If you're using or are looking to buy the Samyang or Rokinon 135mm F/2, please let me know what you're imaging with it or any questions you may have in the comment section below. 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. http://www.radiantlite.com/2009/01/canon-135mm-f2l-usm-mini-review.html Large focus ring. It is worth of it's price?Any links to astrophotos with this lens?Thanks. Photos posted are pleasing but I'd be into seeing something new. This lens is one of canons finest lenses i have ever used. They create a beautiful, mesmerizing dreamscape in their photos, and their secret weapon, besides an impeccable sense for aesthetics, is the 135mm F2 lens. Although if Bokeh and sharpness is your thing and you can live with MF the Laowa 105mm f/2 Smooth Trans Focus (STF) is amazing. 10/10 (Editor's Choice) Check Price. These include canon lens for night photography along with good budget lenses for astrophotography. It's a trade off. I need fast auto-focus, predictable focus lock and natural, vibrant color rendition. The foolproof image seems to be more a case of how a bright fuzzy cluttered moving background can completely detach from the offset dark subject matter and overwhelm it. Cost. Are you really using 135 a lot? (AVX). for sample photos and video tour, This is simply the best Canon prime lens that I have tested. Check out some of the photos he took. Is this Nikon already, Astro modified, without need for H alpha filters or any further modifications? It's bokeh is comparable to the 85mm 1.2 but IMO not as nice. Your Baader filter passes 420-680nm and, in theory, a good APO should be able to focus that part of the spectrum with no chromatic aberration. Have you ever come across this phenomena? The second best, is the Hoya Pro One Digital MC UV(0) filter. Let's unbox, review and test this lens to find out why it is one of the best bang for your buck deals in astrophotography! Meanwhile the ol' Canon 135/2 is still commanding a higher than average price on the used market (70%+ of MSRP isn't common), I guess the low weight and super easy resale have almost made it a high end commodity. Moreover if we have a serendipitous moment regarding a new (or used) lens, that's a good thing. I have a vintage Nikon135mm f/2.8 AI-s which produces virtually the same bokeh and weighs a quarter of this or any other 135mm AF lens. Also, I used to have a Nikon 180/2.8 ED IF AF and 300/4 ED IF AF. +1 for the 135mm lens. Due to the weight, at times I didn't move my shooting position and just zoomed to a composition that worked. If canon puts an IS on this lens, it would be perfect! I am no stranger to the full manual control of this lens, for both aperture and focus. My canon is clear modded and I use a an Astronomik EOS-clip L filter to block the uv and ir. As you can see, the magnification of the lens used will dictate the type of projects you shoot. Build quality: excellent. For the rest there is Sigma 135 /1.8 Art also fantastic value lens. When i check a F stop chart, i see 15 stops if i count the main, and the secondary ones: 2, 2.4, 2.8, 3.3, 4, 4.8, 5.6, 6.7, 8, 9.5, 11, 13, 16, 19, 22. Rokinon 135mm F2.0 ED Lens. I shoot dozens of weddings every year but the 135mm stayed in my bag a majority of the time; I just didn't find myself needing to use it. This is one of the sharpest lens i've ever owned. image quality wise it is by far one the sharpest lenses ive ever used. The first example is good to show that you can take photos of persons in front of an ugly background without completely ruining the shot (important for people shooting events), the last one is the only one I really like (because of the color) but you could shoot this with any lens with short MFD. My tests on it are described on http://pikespeakphoto.com/tests/canonlens135.html, i have never been a prime lens fan, just seems to leave you feeling trapped in a single dimension. Make sure to select your camera mount when checking the price (Check current price). This is an amazing lens.Very sharp wide open and no improvement when stopped own. :). I loved the Nikon 80-400G for a year, or so, and then found everything with it wrong, and got rid of it. But the Rokinon f/2 version fits into a different market. 135mm and 200mm lenses are suitable for wide angle star-field views, and comet and asteroid hunting, while 300mm lenses serve very well for the Andromeda galaxy, large emission nebulae, open clusters, and even larger globular clusters. My first photo of the night sky is of Comet NEOWISE, however I know its not the best photo I could capture. So, for Joe User or especially for Jane Client, one really has to look closely to see much of a difference. I enjoied the use of this lens many years before the DSLR. It is by far the fastest focusing, best bokeh, and lowest light lens you will ever find. I took a few shots with the lens on my way home after buying it. It would not surprise me if modern lenses were useable at full aperture. http://johncarnessali.com/camera-lens-tests/5109, After reading too many long, and arduous threads pertaining to the new Zeiss 135, I felt compelled to share my perspective on the wonderful Canon 135. A coupe of stage shows, one very recent, and a random collection using this lens exclusively Panasonic 35-100mm f2.8. This looks to be an excellent lens with fantastic results. These lenses go about as close as you could get without a dedicated macro lens. We sell a wide variety of digital cameras from all the top brands like Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus, Fujifilm, Pentax, Leica, Samsung, and more. With an effective focal length of roughly 216mm when coupled with a Canon crop sensor body, the field of view is nearly identical to the one youd find on a full-frame camera with a 200mm telephoto lens. There are a total of 8 stops actually written on the lens. Typical L construction.