I am interested in buying a decent MF lens for my Sony A7r. I am looking at f/2.8, f/2.0,... with budget of below $400. Maybe some of you can give me suggestions on which lens is best for the A7r. Please give some reasons why you pick the lens. Thanks.
If size is your priority, take a look at the SMC Takumar 135/3.5. Tiny for a 135 and quite sharp. $100 or less on the used market.
For general use, look at the Nikon 135/2.8 AI-S. Very good performer, moderate size, builtin hood. $150-ish, very common and easily sold if you don't like it. For less money the Series E is almost as good.
For landscape, I'd probably look at the Zeiss 135/2.8 in Contax/Yashica mount. $300-ish, great colour and Zeiss rendering. lots of 3D. Leica's similarly priced 135/2.8 Elmarit-R is the way to go if you prefer Leica rendering.
For speed, you might be able to get into a Nikon 135/1.8 for $400-ish in OK shape. Vivitar has a well regarded 135/2.3 for $200-ish.
If you want AF, a Minolta 135/2.8 AF can be had for $300-ish. It will AF on the LA-EA4.
For Bokeh, keep saving and get a 135/2.8 STF from Minolta or Sony. Beware the T-stop though, it's f2.8 but T4.5.
Thanks PEKA62 and maws for your quick reply. I think I need to clarify my question with additional information on the 135mm lens:
I shoot mostly portrait, so I prefer the f-stop at 2.8 or smaller. I do not need AF since focus peaking on A7r is quite good and I am very comfortable with manual focus.
Also, I am interested in 135mm prime lens which is sharp and small enough to fit on A7r.
rongwam wrote:
Thanks PEKA62 and maws for your quick reply. I think I need to clarify my question with additional information on the 135mm lens:
I shoot mostly portrait, so I prefer the f-stop at 2.8 or smaller. I do not need AF since focus peaking on A7r is quite good and I am very comfortable with manual focus.
Also, I am interested in 135mm prime lens which is sharp and small enough to fit on A7r.
I find the focus peaking on the A7R to be not remotely accurate enough for fast lenses with shallow depth of field.
For a small and light 135mm f2.8, check out the Zuiko MC version - it's quite a nice little lens.
Thanks Molson for your suggestion. I will look into the Zuiko MC version.
Per focusing accuracy on A7r, I found that it might be little challenging to get 100% accuracy with f/1.2 -1.4, especially when I want to get the focus in the eyes. However, I found that it is easy to get accurate focus when stepping down to f/1.8, 2.0. or 2.8, and that is the range of f-stops I am looking at for my 135mm MF lens.
With your budget of < $400 finding a 100mm or 135mm f/2,0 lens will be difficult.
Try the Zeiss/Contax 135/f2,8 MM. If you don't like it, you can always sell it for the same money you paid for it.
molson wrote:
I find the focus peaking on the A7R to be not remotely accurate enough for fast lenses with shallow depth of field.
I agree with Cliff in this respect; focus peaking works great for wider focal length lenses and/or using slower lenses though. The magnification method works better and almost fool proof but it is slower but your target has to remain (semi) stationary between focusing and actually capturing the image.
p.1 #12 · Best 135mm manual focus lens on Sony A7r
I second Molson, 135/2.8 zuiko is pretty good and 358 grams, the lightest 2.8 135, I think. F/2 at 135 you are talking a monster lens. I have the Soligar 135/2, the Canon FD or nFD 135/2 is a bit more, and the Nikon a bit more yet. I think the Soligar goes for around 175USD. It is a sharp 135. But 791 grams + adapter, with big front elements, handling is awful. Ditto Canon and Nikon. F/2 at 135 is a superspeed lens.
p.1 #13 · Best 135mm manual focus lens on Sony A7r
For your price range the Minolta 135mm 2.8 is probably the way to go, unless you prefer manual focusing to AF. Even with the LAEA4 adapter, the combination is still quite small and very light. Of course the lens has very levels of CA, but this is easily correctable in LR. Other than that it is a pretty sharp lens and has that very nice minolta color
p.1 #14 · Best 135mm manual focus lens on Sony A7r
You can get an FD 135mm f2 for that price. Anyone know how it is? The FD 100mm f2 is apparently great (I really liked the EF version when I was shooting canon).
Sep 22, 2014 at 12:46 PM
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p.1 #15 · Best 135mm manual focus lens on Sony A7r
Since you prefer MF, or might for the price, the Minolta MC or MD 135 f/2.8 would fit the bill. If you were willing to spring for $800 or so and you are patient. I have always wanted a Minolta MD 135 f/2. It is a beautiful lens with lovely bokeh and would make an excellent portrait lens.
There are a lot of very nice 135, however, but my favourites are the Minoltas.
p.1 #16 · Best 135mm manual focus lens on Sony A7r
I haven't used one for many, many years, but I recall the Canon FD 135mm f2.8 was both quite good optically and also fairly compact.
Another lens I liked was the Canon EF 135mm f2.8 SF, which was very sharp with the SF set at 0; I don't know if this lens would AF with the Metabones adapters or not.
p.1 #17 · Best 135mm manual focus lens on Sony A7r
Beni wrote:
I have that Pentax Takumar SMC, it's junk.
Do you have the Pentax or the Takumar?
The Pentax Takumar 135/2.5 is junk.
The SMC Takumar 135/3.5 is excellent (note the lack of Pentax branding here).
The SMC Takumar 135/2.5 is very good.
The SMC Pentax 135/3.5 is very good.
If you see Pentax & Takumar on the same lens, it's Pentax's K mount budget lens. Generally best avoided. SMC or Super-Multi-Coated Takumar lenses however range from decent to excellent and the SMC 135's are at the upper end of the range.
p.1 #18 · Best 135mm manual focus lens on Sony A7r
Beni wrote:
You can get an FD 135mm f2 for that price. Anyone know how it is? The FD 100mm f2 is apparently great (I really liked the EF version when I was shooting canon).
I believe the FD 135/2 is quite good, but the 100/2 would so much smaller.
p.1 #19 · Best 135mm manual focus lens on Sony A7r
Leica 135mm 2.8R first version will be within your budget and one of the affordable leica lenses with all the leica signature qualities but it's heavy. OL 2.8 not far behind but a lot lighter and cheaper - make sure you get the later MC version. Peaking is OK for quick and dirty but for any critical focusing you need to use the focus magnification at 14x.
