Recently I finally retired my 17 year old original 5D, which had been my main camera for the last 11 years. Honestly I'm surprised I was lucky enough to be able to rely on it for this long but in hindsight it feels like it could have gone badly during some important photo shoots. I upgraded to a slightly less older camera, a Canon 5D MKIII that I bought used in excellent condition for a really good price, and I also decided to buy a used lens that I have always been curious to use, the Canon EF 135mm f/2.8 Soft Focus lens. I used to own a 135mm f/2L, so I was looking forward to comparing the two.
I got to use both the new camera and lens for a shoot a few days ago, and I have to say that the upgrade from the original 5D to the MKIII was significant, most important to me being the auto focus system which makes the auto focus system in the original 5D look like a complete joke.
I'm also really enjoying using the 135mm focal length again and really love it's background compression, but I struggled a little bit with focus on some close up shots. I've gotten very used to 85mm and 100mm over the last several years and will need to get used to 135mm again. Regardless, in my opinion this standard non "L" version of the 135mm lens is just as good, and significantly less expensive. I think a lot of people don't want to give this lens a chance because the soft focus feature is so niche, but it has no effect on the images when the feature is turned off. I had it turned off for the entirety of this shoot, but I plan to experiment with it in the near future to see how it looks.
Anyways, here are some of my favorites from the shoot, which was a portfolio shoot for the model, Carrington.
Lit using natural light.
The first shot was one where I didn't get the focus perfectly where I wanted it to be, but I think the connection to the eyes and the emotion still make it a good portrait.
Nice work! The facial lighting on the fourth from the bottom is especially nice. Great series.
I love my 135L. The soft focus feature reminded me of my RB67 with the 150mm soft focus lens. You could vary the softness with discs you placed inside the lens. You had to screw the front of the lens off to place the discs. You'd then shoot wide open and the aperture would be determined by the discs. It would be from f5.0 to f6.3. You could also shoot without the soft focus discs when stopped down to at least f5.6.
I used to shoot a ton of Seniors every year and negative retouching was expensive. The soft focus helped take care of a lot of blemishes.
dmacmillan wrote:
Nice work! The facial lighting on the fourth from the bottom is especially nice. Great series.
I love my 135L. The soft focus feature reminded me of my RB67 with the 150mm soft focus lens. You could vary the softness with discs you placed inside the lens. You had to screw the front of the lens off to place the discs. You'd then shoot wide open and the aperture would be determined by the discs. It would be from f5.0 to f6.3. You could also shoot without the soft focus discs when stopped down to at least f5.6.
I used to shoot a ton of Seniors every year and negative retouching was expensive. The soft focus helped take care of a lot of blemishes....Show more →
Thank you so much!
I often photograph senior aged actors, so I'm curious how it might work out for that kind of work. I should probably keep it turned off for actors headshots regardless of their age, but maybe it will be good for personal portraits.
These are all brilliant Daniel, your use of natural light is always spot on, and here it is exceptional. And your compositions as always are astounding. I truly admire your talent.
Dneufarth wrote:
These are all brilliant Daniel, your use of natural light is always spot on, and here it is exceptional. And your compositions as always are astounding. I truly admire your talent.
Derek
Thanks Derek, I really appreciate that. I admire your work as well.
Danpbphoto wrote:
You have the handle on natural light portraiture Daniel. All very well done!
I loved my 135mm and used it for probably 25 years minimum!
Dan
Thanks so much Dan. I had another shoot with this lens yesterday and it feels nice to be working with this focal length again. I feel like I'm re-learning a few things however, because I'm not used to such a long focal length anymore and am having to get used to controlling this beast to get the outcome I want.
DanielScott wrote:
Recently I finally retired my 17 year old original 5D, which had been my main camera for the last 11 years. Honestly I'm surprised I was lucky enough to be able to rely on it for this long but in hindsight it feels like it could have gone badly during some important photo shoots. I upgraded to a slightly less older camera, a Canon 5D MKIII that I bought used in excellent condition for a really good price, and I also decided to buy a used lens that I have always been curious to use, the Canon EF 135mm f/2.8 Soft Focus lens. I used to own a 135mm f/2L, so I was looking forward to comparing the two.
I got to use both the new camera and lens for a shoot a few days ago, and I have to say that the upgrade from the original 5D to the MKIII was significant, most important to me being the auto focus system which makes the auto focus system in the original 5D look like a complete joke.
I'm also really enjoying using the 135mm focal length again and really love it's background compression, but I struggled a little bit with focus on some close up shots. I've gotten very used to 85mm and 100mm over the last several years and will need to get used to 135mm again. Regardless, in my opinion this standard non "L" version of the 135mm lens is just as good, and significantly less expensive. I think a lot of people don't want to give this lens a chance because the soft focus feature is so niche, but it has no effect on the images when the feature is turned off. I had it turned off for the entirety of this shoot, but I plan to experiment with it in the near future to see how it looks.
Anyways, here are some of my favorites from the shoot, which was a portfolio shoot for the model, Carrington.
Lit using natural light.
The first shot was one where I didn't get the focus perfectly where I wanted it to be, but I think the connection to the eyes and the emotion still make it a good portrait.
A wonderful series of portraits for his portfolio. This gentleman is handsome and charismatic and will make good use of your photos. I love the photo of him jumping rope, an "action" portrait emphasizing his conditioning and athleticism. For me, this is something out of the box that is the cherry on top.
eeneryma wrote:
A wonderful series of portraits for his portfolio. This gentleman is handsome and charismatic and will make good use of your photos. I love the photo of him jumping rope, an "action" portrait emphasizing his conditioning and athleticism. For me, this is something out of the box that is the cherry on top.
Hey Daniel, great series of portraits with any camera or lens.
Sometimes we don't realize just how hard we are working to get the shots till we switch cameras! LoL
I finally went ML after a session with a very contrasty background and my model right up against it. A FULL 25% of my shots were OOF including some of the best ones. The camera was locking focus right over her shoulder onto the BG and I couldn't tell on the rear screen.
I'm sure you'll love that new camera, especially doubling the mp, that's sharpness!!!
John
Your portraits are amazing and your skill with natural light is stellar. I am a landscape photographer and photographing people scares me. I have yet to see you post a bad portrait!!! I think that it takes special skill to create a good portrait of males and to make it engaging and interesting. Your work always seems to deliver! In a nutshell, a most enjoyable series, Daniel!
JohnSil wrote:
Hey Daniel, great series of portraits with any camera or lens.
Sometimes we don't realize just how hard we are working to get the shots till we switch cameras! LoL
I finally went ML after a session with a very contrasty background and my model right up against it. A FULL 25% of my shots were OOF including some of the best ones. The camera was locking focus right over her shoulder onto the BG and I couldn't tell on the rear screen.
I'm sure you'll love that new camera, especially doubling the mp, that's sharpness!!!
John
Ouch, I can feel your pain regarding the OOF shots. My old 5D has a very small display screen and would sometimes make it very hard to tell when something was out of focus.
Honestly I do really love my new camera. Even the shutter sound it makes is a big improvement. Honestly I wasn't expecting to notice so many improvements. At this point it would be very difficult to go back to my old camera.
Starfire8 wrote:
Your portraits are amazing and your skill with natural light is stellar. I am a landscape photographer and photographing people scares me. I have yet to see you post a bad portrait!!! I think that it takes special skill to create a good portrait of males and to make it engaging and interesting. Your work always seems to deliver! In a nutshell, a most enjoyable series, Daniel!
Best regards, David
Thank you so much David. It's a skill that I've had to develop over several years, as I am somewhat socially awkward, but I honestly feel as if conducting a portrait shoot brings out the best in me.
Great compositions! I've mentioned this before, but the ability to get models to relax, pose and be themselves has a lot to do with the success of a shoot. Something that's often taken for granted in portrait photography. You are obviously very successful in this regard. Nicely done!
johnld wrote:
Great compositions! I've mentioned this before, but the ability to get models to relax, pose and be themselves has a lot to do with the success of a shoot. Something that's often taken for granted in portrait photography. You are obviously very successful in this regard. Nicely done!
Thank you so much John. I honestly feel as if I become the best version of myself during a photo shoot and I think that helps my clients and models a lot, but on the flip side of that it's usually such a serotonin drain that I often need a day of rest afterwards unless I force myself to work through it as I sometimes have to.
Voted 
Nice work!