Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM - A prime lens for beautiful portraits

[@randi1494]

I just got this lens instead of the 85 1.8. The price of the 85 was much more appealing but I love how fast AF is and how sharp the image is even at 2.0! Compression is on point! I don’t see myself going back to the 50mm that often

[@Anarki2U]

The Canon EF 135mm L are very sharp, with crisp colors and a good contrast, I had that lens, but now I have got the Sony 135 1.8 GM which is much better in any way ! I only wish that Sony will make 1.4x and 2x teleconverters for this lens !

[@raserex]

Thanks for this! I'm looking at getting my first prime lens for portraits into more wildlife styles. This helped alot going through the f-stops. Kudos!

[@Touchtechnologyreview]

Great to hear! Enjoy the new lens. Nothing beats a good prime!

[@padidivemaster1963]

Your f3 is more in focus compare to photo taken on f5.6. What is that?

[@scothu]

yeah, i think he messed up lol. 3.2 is way more blurred than his "f3"

[@Touchtechnologyreview]

Yeah I have to say that it doesn't make sense at all. So looks like a misplaced image on the timeline....😞

[@fredpeçanha]

@@Touchtechnologyreview what is f/3 anyway?

[@iancurrie8844]

Very useful. Thanks

[@Touchtechnologyreview]

You are very welcome!

[@mordavian]

Using it on R5 for a while. Lack of IS is not a problem thanks to IBIS system of R5. Background separation is really good. Contrast is tad low at wide open. Chromatic aberration is visible. Sometimes it can not be corrected in ACR. Yes, this lens is little soft at F2. Adding some sharpness or down scaling image solve this issue. AF speed is really good. I have 70-200mm, 100mm, 50mm and 85 mm but 135 mm is the best for portraits IMHO. There are better lenses with high technology but it is a gem for this price. Long short story, it will be in my bag from now on.

[@JamesEvans-ow1wc]

135 is THE vocal length. Lots of flattery and background pull without getting too cardboard-ish

[@Touchtechnologyreview]

Yes it’s my fav for portraits

[@joeldoxtator9804]

One thing that always bothered me about this lens is the cool color cast it seems to impart on the image at wide apertures and the lack of contrast. It's very sharp and vibrant but I still prefer the look of the 100MM L IS F/2.8 Macro. They are also around the same cost as well with the macro having the 4 stops of IS. The 135MM L would still be my pick for indoor sports though.

[@vinvanid]

Does the 100mm F2.8 focal length good enough for portrait ? I'm struggle to choose between 85 F2, 100 F2.8 and 135mm as my portrait lens..

[@joeldoxtator9804]

@@vinvanid Depends on your sensor size. If you are full frame 35mm then it will be great for portrait. If you are on a crop sensor the 85 F2 will give you a similar perspective to the 100mm F2.8 on full frame.

[@gdb2db]

Just recently purchased this lens. So I found this video very helpful. Thank you.

[@Touchtechnologyreview]

Fantastic, lovely lens. As I mentioned, has to be my favourite for portraiture especially. Enjoy!

[@I666U]

TY

[@ace98]

Can I use this lens with my canon 80D?

[@Touchtechnologyreview]

Yes it is an ef mount lens so will fit right on. Keep in mind the APS-C sensor on the 80D has a crop factor of 1.6, So it will have an effective focal length of 208mm.

[@ace98]

@@Touchtechnologyreview thank you for your response. I'm in between getting this lense or sigma 18-35mm 1.8. This 135 lense I want to use it mostly outdoors , Portrait and for shooting out in city streets. Do you recommend it to go well with a 80D? Or should I go with the sigma 18-35mm?

[@Touchtechnologyreview]

@@ace98 I would say that the 135 Prime is going to be too long for you on the 80D. I don't know that much about the sigma. Certainly it has a good range allowing you to shoot wider at 18mm and then mid range portrait at 35mm. If it were me I would stick to Canon and if you wanted a good zoom at a reasonable price, I like the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM Lens it only stops down to F4 so you do get some background blur but not as much as the prime lenses or the 24-70L which goes down to f2.8.....

[@LolitaDavidovich934]

Yes

[@Cjcool03]

So I found this video very helpfu, but how about event photography if this lens will work out ? i am just asking . Thank

[@Touchtechnologyreview]

I think that you could go with a combo for event photography. Firstly a good all rounder like the 24-70mm L series f2.8 or 24-105 f3.5-5.6 to give you wide angle coverage and close up portrait. So a pick of either of these then a nice prime like the 50 1.2 as an option if you wanted to shoot a few really wide open shots for low light and extreme background blur, but only as a second option there as you would be better served by one of the zoom lenses for event photography.

[@Cjcool03]

@@Touchtechnologyreview i like that. 24-70mm l series F 2.8 will be good ..Thank so much

[@ivandj707]

If I`m going to use f2 lens (any lens generally) on f5.6, I`d rather by f4 lens - smaller and cheaper. However I want f2 for bokeh.

[@Touchtechnologyreview]

Yeah you can get an incredible amount of bokeh on f2 with this lens so nice to have.

[@marvona3531]

👍✳️👍✳️👍✳️

[@Touchtechnologyreview]

👍👍

[@furuveien]

I think the aperture were wrong. Don't blame the lense but ask our friend the potographer to sharpen himself up! :) :) :)