| Field-test of the Canon EF 135mm
f/2.0L USM lens. In the discontinued manual focus FD lenses System, Canon offered three versions of the 135mm telephotos, the fastest of which had a maximum aperture of f/2.0 and a 72mm filter diameter. The second lens had a maximum aperture of f/2.8 and a 52mm filter diameter while the third had f/3.5 and also a 52mm filter thread. When the EOS System was newly-introduced, there was only one lens in this focal length made available - the EF 135mm f/2.8 Soft Focus (SF). This lens is both a 135mm telephoto and Soft Focus - when its SF mode is not being used, the lens functions as any normal AF 135mm f/2.8 optics. However, the focusing motor employed in the SF lens is not USM but the earlier AFD type. Focusing is not slow for this lens but it sure is noisy whenever AF is used. On the other hand, professional users of EOS equipment have been clamoring for a either an USM-equipped f/2.8 or f/2.0 version of the 135mm lens without the SF function. Canon has fulfilled that request with the EF 135mm f/2.0L USM telephoto lens. This is only the second L-series telephoto in the EF System for focal lengths below 200mm, the first being the EF 85mm f/1.2L USM, introduced in 1989 with the original EOS-1. The FD 135mm f/2.0 was a normal telephoto lens equipped with low refractive glass elements in its construction but the EF version, being an L-series version, uses two pieces of UD lenses in addition to the other normal optics to help combat chromatic aberrations.
The Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L USM is ideal for use in indoor sports and portraits with background blur. Like its FD counterpart, this EF lens also uses a 72mm filter thread but appearance-wise, it looks less bulky than the manual focus version. Weighing only 750 grammes, this lens is compact and quite lightweight for its class, considering the maximum aperture it has. However, on a side-by-side comparison, this L-series lens against the EF 135mm f/2.8 SF version, the latter is a pale shadow in size and appearance. If you don't like to use single focal length lenses, you are better off buying the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM zoom lens. This 135mm L-series version will not be necessary then. Furthermore, the EF L-series zoom lens uses a 77mm filter thread, hence is not compatible with any 72mm accessory that you may have for the 135mm telephoto. And, if you have a lot of 77mm accessories, the incompatibility problem is the other way around. The lens also has a focusing distance limiter switch, to be used for faster AF. Focusing distance selector 1 is set for 0.9m to infinity while selector 2 is for 1.6m to infinity. For situations where extreme close-ups of portraits are required, selector 1 will do the trick. If close-up shooting is not required, the lens can be switched to selector 2 mode instead. << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 . |
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