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Big Mick
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Registered: Mar 8, 2005
Location: N/A
Posts: 0
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Review Date: May 13, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Put it on my 10D and never took it off.
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Cons:
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IS would be nice.
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Wish I would have bought this lens sooner. This lens and a 1.4TC makes a nice small 300 mm f2.8 for a digital camera.
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 May 13, 2005
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mrand
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Registered: Jul 23, 2002
Location: United States
Posts: 423
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Review Date: May 10, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $750.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Fast, sharp and perfect size
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Cons:
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Excellent lens. Nothing more to say. Perfect.
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May 10, 2005
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donutley
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Registered: Mar 28, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 404
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Review Date: May 9, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $800.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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It feels right, works right, and seeing the results on print or screen is a religious experience.
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Cons:
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The only problem is that this lens diminishes the fun of using anything else.
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After obtaining and using this spectacular lens, I made immediate plans to sell my 100/2 USM and my 70-200/f4L. I know I'll never use them as long as this lens is an option in my bag. This lens makes photography thrilling!
Other lenses I have used were all considered "good value for the money"--this thing is just over the top. It is so much fun to use that sometimes I have to log on to FM and on to this review site--just to get a look at the thing while I'm at work. I'm a pathetic puppy--but this lens is inspiring.
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May 9, 2005
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sieracki001
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Registered: Mar 24, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 4
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Review Date: Apr 29, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $800.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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One of Canon's finest lenses. Maybe one of the finest ever made. Alongside the 200 f1.8, the 85 f1.2 as Canon's best primes.
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Cons:
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I wish it focused closer so I could do more closeups. Adding a teleconverter gives me pause, so I'm trying out an extension tube.
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Such a wonderful lens. People who haven't tried it just don't know. Primes are getting a little rare these days as I have seen most photographers going toward zooms. I really believe in the versatility of primes, perhaps an oxymoron. What I can do with this lens sometimes stuns me. Not to say I'm a great photographer, but this makes anything I do shine.
I'm into nature photography big time and I like using what might be considered a portrait lens for other purposes, perhaps not intended by the designers. I like the effect of out of focus areas, especially in plants. The unusual distortion in the out of focus areas is unreal at f2. Some might not like it, preferring to shoot everything at f16. Personally I enjoy making a bit of a risky statement in photography. This lens delivers what I want; actually it surprises me more than not with some interesting patterns I never saw in the viewfinder. Hard to describe until you see it.
I hope I've convinced the right photographer to go with this lens. It is expensive, but not absurdly so. I'd say get it while you can, as Canon may be dropping this lens. They dropped the 200mm f1.8 Their best ever prime IMO) so anything is possible.
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Apr 29, 2005
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Access
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Registered: Jun 6, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 914
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Review Date: Apr 27, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Incredible sharpness, detail. Reasonably fast focus that is extremely accurate.
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Cons:
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focus ring, build (minor), no IS.
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The detail and the sharpness of this lens is incredible. f/2 aperature is useful and looks great.
I wish they had added a switch to turn off the focus ring, especially in AF mode. A large focus ring may be nice for MF mode, but in AF mode it is too easily to inadvertently move the ring.
The build quality is not bad, but it has a loose feel to it compared to similarly sized but heavier 'L' zooms.
With no IS, stability is important for getting sharp pictures at some shutter speeds.
It is expensive, but for what it does, it's worth it.
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Apr 27, 2005
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lensjunky
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Registered: Apr 25, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 83
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Review Date: Apr 26, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $800.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Love it, smooth like butter, bright, sharp, briliant color from edge to edge.
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Cons:
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skill not included
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yum, its all ben said in the previous reviews, nice peice of glass
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Apr 26, 2005
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chounchai
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Registered: Jan 9, 2005
Location: Thailand
Posts: 13
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Review Date: Apr 24, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $750.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharpness is perfect (combine together very well on contrast and resolution, it remind me the character of Leica M lens), boken is exelences (very smooth as silk, especially combination with lowest noise character of 1D MarkII), color renting is neutral(becareful the reflex of color source light that may effected to your subject)
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Cons:
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if it posible to inculde the hood with the lens would be perfect for the design.
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I'm not really need portrait lens, so I'm always using other lens for this purpose, but after try this lens, I would say it remind me the time using Leica M with their lens.
It so perfect on sharpness until never need to high up the sharpness on processing state and it DOF keep smooth skin as it need for portrait.
The sample of photo I took for my wife which she did not make up her face much when I would take her picture, she really don't want to the out come but this lens make her so happy.
(see this link for some sample)
http://www.pbase.com/chounws3/canon_ef_135_f2_l
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Apr 24, 2005
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robbrown99
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Registered: Apr 15, 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 42
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Review Date: Apr 15, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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1. f2 at 135mm! Enough said
2. Bokeh - is divine
3. Great focal length for portrature and street work on 35mm or full-frame digital.
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Cons:
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1. Not many really - wouldn't give it up even though I've had a problem with it.
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This is my favourite lens. I bought it last year as I was getting more serious about my photography and wanted sharper, more pleasing images than my (now sold) 75-300 IS could deliver. I almost bought the 70-200 f4L, but after reading reviews on here I was swayed towards this. I must say I am extremely pleased with this decision - I believe this lens has really changed the way that I approach my photography. Having used a 28-135 IS most of the time I found it really enjoyable having to think about framing my subjects and positioning myself instead of using a zoom and mis-framing by including too much of the subject.
The detail you can get from this lens is astonishing. I was blown away when I got my first set of trannies back from the lab! Not only is it capable of drawing minute details onto film or digital, but also faithfully reproduces colours and tones. The out-of-focus backgrounds at f2 are lovely and for portraiture I believe this is a really solid piece of equipment to own. Such a wide maximum aperture gives you so much extra light that it is possible to hold in low lighting. Perhaps one drawback is that at 135mm you can see wobble if you drop your shutter speed too low. I have steady hands, but would only dare to shoot down to maybe 1/60 sec for a keepsake, or 1/125 sec for a real keeper.
I've had one problem with this lens - just after I bought it I noticed that the manual focus ring was not functioning properly - autofocus was fine, but the tensioning was not correct - the ring would turn but the focussing element would not! I was a bit annoyed, but sent it back for warranty and got it back in good time. To be honest that was 8 months ago and I'd forgotten about that until I started writing!
Anyway, a great lens - buy one if you can! Forget that whopping white 70-200 2.8 IS - this lens is small (weighty), super sharp and super versatile. The 1.4 extender works well with it too. I was a film devotee and still am. Last week I got myself a 1Ds after debating about the various merits of the other cameras in Canon's digital lineup - I didn't want to change this focal length. For those of you with 1.3x or 1.6x crops who grumble about this focal length: you are really missing the point! This was ( I think) developed for a 35mm frame - I just wouldn't find anything longer that useful. This is the one lens that I own that made me hold off digital for so long and now I have my full-frame 1Ds I am a very, very content man 
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Apr 15, 2005
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Barry F.
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Registered: Apr 10, 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Apr 10, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Tack sharp even with the 1.4 converter
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Cons:
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None at all
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Combined with any of my SLR's this outperforms any of the lenses I own for sharpness and contrast. Without doubt the best lens I own.
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Apr 10, 2005
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Jay Ouellet
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Registered: Mar 13, 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Apr 4, 2005
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Recommend? |
Price paid: Not Indicated
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Pros:
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-135+1.4X combo:wonderful
-portable,sharp platform
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Cons:
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UPDATE: EF 135 f:2L
I recently brought along this lens with the 1.4X on a trip to beautiful Vancouver...I transfered my memory card to my Epson P-2000 card reader and viewer...it was immediately apparent how well this 135 +1.4X combo works.Wonderfully sharp and contrasty images in a light package.
Gotta remember:w/20D and other 1.6 sensors,your shooting with an effective FL of 300mm...so keep that shutter speed high.
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Apr 4, 2005
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Jia Wang
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Registered: Apr 3, 2005
Location: Singapore
Posts: 120
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Review Date: Apr 3, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Fast, sharp, excellent bokeh, reasonably priced (for an L lens)
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Cons:
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A little heavy (but not something that's difficult to handle)
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Before I got this lens, whenever I shoot portraits where I need this focal length, I'd be using my Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 EX APO HSM. The Sigma does a wonderful job for me as well, but the weight is a bit of a let down especially when I need to handhold and shoot portraits for a long period of time...
I've not shot with this lens extensively yet, but the test shots I did with the 135mm f2L has been very satisfying...
I've uploaded some of my test shots at:
http://www.pbase.com/jiawang/135mm_testshots
I'll post another review once I've shot more human portraits.
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Apr 3, 2005
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d10d
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Registered: Nov 29, 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 1090
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Review Date: Mar 25, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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fast and sharp!... great bokeh... 'comfortable' to hand-hold
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Cons:
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none really... (wish list - closer focusing distance... but i would say that about all of my lenses except the 100 macro, 17-40, and 28-75 XR)
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This is a great lens that I am starting to absolutely love... I have slowly switched over to primes (with a couple of exceptions) and the 135 f2 another reason to do so... it is super quick and ever so sharp! The image results are stunning... at first i just noticed that images with this lens were 'different' (based on test subjects that i have shot with my other lenses)... when I got a chance to zoom in in post processing then I saw the difference!!...
I also find the size 'comfortable' to work with... it is on the larger side but a little easier to manage than the 200 f2.8...
I definitely look forward to getting better at shooting with this lens!
expensive... but highly recommended!
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Mar 25, 2005
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jimyd
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Registered: Mar 23, 2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 7
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Review Date: Mar 23, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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this lens behaves and feels like a lens should. I cant fault this lens.
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Cons:
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none
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Brilliant..better than my 300F2.8L...a tad sharper..not by much but. On a fuul frame digital camera this is the best walk around lens...street stuff
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Mar 23, 2005
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Jay Ouellet
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Registered: Mar 13, 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Mar 13, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Ultra-sharp at all apertures,light,super-fast at f:2.
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Cons:
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Expensive
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Just bought it.Absolutely first-rate optics.I need fast lenses which are sharp wide open.This complements my 200:1.8 wonderfully.As a bonus,it doesn't weigh 7 lbs...so I will be using this as my pick-up-and-go lens.A MUST for those demanding pin-point sharpness wide open...and highly portable.
I have only partially star-tested this lens,but so far I find no reason to doubt this is Canon's second sharpest optic,behind the 200:1.8.
Star Test:
Enlarging a star's image is the ultimate test one can perform on a lens.By taking 3 exposures: one in focus,and the other two inside and outside of focus.Then upon enlargement,check the shape of the Airy disk. It should be uniformly round,not eliptical.
Spherical and chromatic aberations on the 135:2 and 200:1.8 are simply outstanding.
By comparison, my 300:4L and 28-135 IS show significant spherical aberation.For example,the 200:1.8@1.8 reveals considerably more and sharper craters than the 300:4@4,despite having a 2/3rd image scale.
Both the 135:2 and 200:1.8 are very expensive but worth the money if you intend on producing large,detailed prints.
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Mar 13, 2005
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justruss
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Registered: Jul 5, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3641
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Review Date: Mar 7, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Everything. Color, contrast, sharpness, speed...
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Cons:
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zip, zero, ziltch
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Not much to say really. One of canon's best lenses, up there with the 85 1.2, and 200 1.8.
Pretty much a razor at 2.0, thin dof, bokeh to die for.
Focues on a dime, great build. It's my benchmark lens.
Russ
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Mar 7, 2005
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IraGraham
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Registered: Oct 30, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 622
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Review Date: Mar 5, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $830.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, Excellent Color, Wonderful bokeh, fast focus, great contrast
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Cons:
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None, worth the price. To see the images quality will make you a believer in this lens. A must have lens for the serious portrait photographer.
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Buy this lens, you will finally see what the big deal is about "L" lenses. This is the sharpest lens I have ever had with the best colors and contrast.
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Mar 5, 2005
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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383
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503719
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May 20, 2013
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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96% of reviewers
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$1,301.92
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.80
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9.41
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9.9
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