The fact that all of the posters here have made different guesses illustrate why the 70-200IS is my lens of choice in this range. The additional IS, the zoomrange and more applications of that compensate more than enough for the extra stop speed for me. I bought the zoom after thorough comparison between these pieces of glass and because of the minor differences that I could find (sensitivity to flare in the zoom being the biggest difference) and have never looked back to any other piece of glass in this zoomrange. The only exception might be the 85L, that is a very a seductive lens in this range, but any other could not make me sell my most favorite zoom. It's the glass whith the highest EOSfun factor to me!
In the 2nd set of shots, the 135 was clsoed down and the subject was closer so it is more noticeably better. But the zoom takes a nice, acceptable, shot! I use the 135 when I can and switch off to the zoom as needed for reach and quick framing. In most cases the prints are virtually the same.
The only way to fairly ask this question is to post comparison pics taken at the same focal length and the same f stop... eg. compare the 70-200 set to 135@ f2.8 and the 135 @ f2.8, too... Otherwise, people will just assume the pic with the shallower DOF is the 135, which, IMHO, is why the 2nd photo got more votes. Having both of these lenses myself, I am absolutely certain that comparison pics shot at the same FL and f stop would be absolutely indestinguishable when resized for posting here. The only possible way you can see a difference between these two lenses at 135 and matching f stops, is to pixel peep 100% crops, and to really look carefully. The marginal difference will never show in a resized pic.
Your right Roy about the closeness in image quality between these two lenses. With all things being equal, which in this informal comparison, they were not, it would take a practiced eye to distinguish the photos between the two.
I've been seeing this question come up a lot lately and thought I'd post what I had available.
RoyPertchi wrote:
The only way to fairly ask this question is to post comparison pics taken at the same focal length and the same f stop... eg. compare the 70-200 set to 135@ f2.8 and the 135 @ f2.8, too... Otherwise, people will just assume the pic with the shallower DOF is the 135, which, IMHO, is why the 2nd photo got more votes. Having both of these lenses myself, I am absolutely certain that comparison pics shot at the same FL and f stop would be absolutely indestinguishable when resized for posting here. The only possible way you can see a difference between these two lenses at 135 and matching f stops, is to pixel peep 100% crops, and to really look carefully. The marginal difference will never show in a resized pic....Show more →
I would just add to that to use static images as well. The kid on the bike is at different points on the course which are lit differently. It is quite possible both of the last two shots could have been taken with the same lens and look that different due to differences in lighting, background, etc.
