Canon EF 135mm lens
Encyclopedia
EF 135mm 2L USM
The Canon EF 135mm 2L USM is a short-to-medium telephoto lensTelephoto lens
In photography and cinematography, a telephoto lens is a specific type of a long-focus lens in which the physical length of the lens is shorter than the focal length. This is achieved by incorporating a special lens group known as a telephoto group that extends the light path to create a long-focus...
. The "135/2" is mainly used for portrait photography
Portrait photography
Portrait photography or portraiture is the capture by means of photography of the likeness of a person or a small group of people , in which the face and expression is predominant. The objective is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the subject...
and for indoor sports, where the lighting
Lighting
Lighting or illumination is the deliberate application of light to achieve some practical or aesthetic effect. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight...
is often poor. The fast
Lens speed
Lens speed refers to the maximum aperture diameter, or minimum f-number, of a photographic lens. A lens with a larger maximum aperture is a fast lens because it delivers more light intensity to the focal plane, allowing a faster shutter speed...
aperture
Aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are,...
makes the lens
Photographic lens
A camera lens is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically.While in principle a simple convex lens will suffice, in...
ideal for both of these applications.
Among Canon photographers, the lens is highly regarded for its sharpness, contrast, and color rendition. Arguably, Canon's sharpest lens to date. The lens is also popular because it is very sharp at its maximum aperture of 2, allowing the photographer to throw the background out of focus while recording a lot of detail on the primary subject. This gives the photographer fine-grained control over depth of field
Depth of field
In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image...
.
Specifications
- This is an internal focus lens; the length does not change while focusing.
- A maximum aperture of 2 is one stop faster than Canon's brightest SLRSingle-lens reflex cameraA single-lens reflex camera is a camera that typically uses a semi-automatic moving mirror system that permits the photographer to see exactly what will be captured by the film or digital imaging system, as opposed to pre-SLR cameras where the view through the viewfinder could be significantly...
zoom lensZoom lensA zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length can be varied, as opposed to a fixed focal length lens...
, allowing faster shutter speeds and shallower depth of field. - This lens is compatible with the Canon Extender EFCanon Extender EFThe Extender EF lenses are a group of teleconverter lenses made by Canon. These lenses are used between any compatible EF type lens and any of the Canon EOS line of cameras. When used with a compatible lens, such as the Canon EF 500mm 4L IS USM, they will multiply the focal length of the lens by a...
teleconverters.
EF 135mm 2.8 with Softfocus
The Canon EF 135mm 2.8 with Softfocus is a soft focusSoft focus
In photography, soft focus is a lens flaw, in which the lens forms images that are blurred due to spherical aberration. A soft focus lens deliberately introduces spherical aberration in order to give the appearance of blurring the image while retaining sharp edges; it is not the same as an...
prime lens
Prime lens
In film and photography, a prime lens is either a photographic lens whose focal length is fixed, as opposed to a zoom lens, or it is the primary lens in a combination lens system....
introduced by Canon Inc.
Canon Inc.
is a Japanese multinational corporation that specialises in the manufacture of imaging and optical products, including cameras, camcorders, photocopiers, steppers and computer printers. Its headquarters are located in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan.-Origins:...
in 1987 designed for portrait photography.
This is the only EF lens that has soft focus capabilities, allowing the user to control the lens's correction of spherical aberration. This feature is controlled by rotating the soft focus selector which has three choices; 0, 1, and 2. On the 0 setting, it functions as a standard 135mm prime lens. Settings 1 and 2 adjust the amount of softness in the focus. This is done by rotating elements that are inside of the lens to create deliberate spherical aberration
Spherical aberration
thumb|right|Spherical aberration. A perfect lens focuses all incoming rays to a point on the [[Optical axis|optic axis]]. A real lens with spherical surfaces suffers from spherical aberration: it focuses rays more tightly if they enter it far from the optic axis than if they enter closer to the...
.
Due to its old design, the 135mm SF does not sport USM
Ultrasonic motor
An ultrasonic motor is a type of electric motor powered by the ultrasonic vibration of a component, the stator, placedagainst another component, the rotor or slider depending on the scheme of operation...
technology; rather, it uses arc-form drive technology. Despite this, focusing is quite fast and reasonably quiet and, since focusing is achieved with the rear element, the front element does not rotate or extend. The lens supports all 52mm filters.
The lens can be use with any EF camera but cannot be used with Canon's teleconverters.
Specifications
| Attribute | 2L USM | 2.8 w/Softfocus |
|---|---|---|
| Image | ||
| Key features | ||
| Full-frame compatible |  |
|
| Image stabilizer |  |
|
| Ultrasonic Motor | |
|
| L-series | |
|
| Diffractive Optics | |
|
| Macro Macro photography Macrophotography is close-up photography, usually of very small subjects. Classically a macrophotograph is one in which the size of the subject on the negative is greater than life size. However in modern use it refers to a finished photograph of a subject at greater than life size... |
|
|
| Technical data | ||
| Aperture Aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are,... (max-min) |
2-32 | 2.8-32 |
| Construction | 8 groups / 10 elements | 6 groups / 7 elements |
| # of diaphragm Diaphragm (optics) In optics, a diaphragm is a thin opaque structure with an opening at its center. The role of the diaphragm is to stop the passage of light, except for the light passing through the aperture... blades |
8 | 6 |
| Closest focusing distance | 3.0 ft/0.9 m | 4.3 ft/1.3 m |
| Max. magnification | 0.19x (1:5.3) | 0.12x (1:8.3) |
| Horizontal viewing angle Angle of view In photography, angle of view describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term field of view.... |
15° | |
| Diagonal viewing angle Angle of view In photography, angle of view describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term field of view.... |
18° | |
| Vertical viewing angle Angle of view In photography, angle of view describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term field of view.... |
10° | |
| Physical data | ||
| Weight | 1.65 lbs. / 750 g | 0.86 lbs. / 390 g |
| Maximum diameter | 3.2 in / 82.5 mm | 2.7 in / 69.2 mm |
| Length | 4.4 in / 112 mm | 3.9 in / 98.4 mm |
| Filter diameter | 72 mm | 52 mm |
| Accessories | ||
| Lens hood | ET-78II | ET-65III |
| Case | LP1219 | LP1016 |
| Retail information | ||
| Release date | April 1996 | October 1987 |
| MSRP Suggested retail price The manufacturer's suggested retail price , list price or recommended retail price of a product is the price which the manufacturer recommends that the retailer sell the product. The intention was to help to standardise prices among locations... $ United States dollar The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies.... |
$1089 | $450 |
| Street price $ United States dollar The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies.... |
$900 | $279 |
See also
- BokehBokehIn photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light."...
- Canon L lensCanon l lensAn L lens is a line of SLR photography lenses made by Canon.L lenses are Canon's top-of-the-line lenses. The "L" officially stands for "Luxury", a reference to the lenses' high price and proclaimed build quality. The use of "ASPH" was common to notate aspherical elements throughout Canon's and...
- Canon EF lens mountCanon EF lens mountIntroduced in 1987, the EF lens mount is the standard lens mount on the Canon EOS family of SLR film and digital cameras. EF stands for "Electro-Focus": automatic focusing on EF lenses is handled by a dedicated electric motor built into the lens...
- Canon EF Portrait LensesCanon EF Portrait LensesCanon makes several lenses for the EF lens mount and EF-S lens mount that are well-suited for portrait photography. These lenses may also be used for other purposes, often being suited for indoor sports photography as well, due to suitable focal length and wide aperture, though autofocus speed is...
- Canon EF 85mm lensCanon EF 85mm lensThe EF 85mm lenses are a group of medium telephoto prime lenses made by Canon Inc. that share the same focal length. These lenses have an EF type mount that fits the Canon EOS line of cameras....
– 136mm equivalent on 1.6× cropped sensor