Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

by Canon

• EF mount; telephoto lens
• Ultra-low Dispersion glass with Fluorite elements; inner focusing ring
• 135mm focal length f/2 maximum aperture Ring USM motor
• Comes with Leather bag & lens hood

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.5 x 5.4 inches ; 1.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000053HC5
• Item model number: EF 135mm f/2L USM
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (120 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 2, 2006

Product Description

Amazon.com

The fastest 135mm telephoto lens in its class, the Canon EF 135mm f/2L lens is ideal for indoor sports photography and portraits with background blur. Although the lens offers complete automatic focusing capabilities thanks to its Ultra Sonic Motor (USM), you can still take advantage of its manual focus function even when the camera is in AF mode. The lens also offers two UD glass elements that help minimize chromatic aberrations, giving your images outstanding sharpness and color. Other details include a 3-foot close focusing distance, an 18-degree diagonal angle of view, and a 72mm filter size. The lens--which is compatible with EF 1.4x II and 2x II extenders--carries a one-year warranty.

Specifications

• Focal length: 135mm
• Maximum aperture: f/2.0
• Lens construction: 10 elements in 8 groups
• Angle of view: 18 degrees
• Closest focusing distance: 3 feet
• Focus adjustment: Rear focusing system with USM
• Mount: Canon
• Filter size: 72mm
• Dimensions: 3.2 inches in diameter and 4.4 inches long
• Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Warranty: 1 year

Product Description

The fastest 135mm telephoto lens in its class. Ideal for indoor sports and portraits with background blur. Two UD-glass elements correct secondary spectrum for outstanding sharpness and color. Compatible with Extender EF 1.4x II and 2x II.

See all Product Description

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

109 of 109 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Stuff of Legends August 2, 2007

By J. Caruso

Amazon Verified Purchase

I was in the market to expand my prime collection. I had a rewarding experience with purchasing an 85 f/1.8 (a fantastic lens), and was interested in exploring the 135. After reading all of the reviews here (yes, every single one) as well as reviews on other sites, I got to thinking: can this lens actually be THAT good? A part of me didn't want to believe it. I wanted to think it was some sort of mass hysteria. But another part of me knew that such accolades aren't tossed so casually here. So I broke down and bought one.

And I haven't looked back.

I've been used to using zooms--and L zooms at that. I thought they were wonderful. I loved them. I never thought I'd want for more. However, this lens really drives home the difference between primes and zooms. The performance of the 135 is nothing short of stunning. I had read the reviews of people using this lens and then marveling at the results. I thought this was quaint, and a result of "lens placebo." But after seeing what this lens produced for me, I knew all the gushing was true. I then took comparison shots with this lens and my 70-200 f/4L. The results were quite convincing: sharpness and color produced by the 135 are definitely on another level than the 70-200 f/4L (and I won't even talk about bokeh because of the f/2 vs. f/4 difference). Since I bought the 135, I haven't put the 70-200 on my camera except to make the comparison shots.

Believe the hype. This lens is THAT good.

198 of 204 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 135 f2 is amazing January 10, 2006

By terry uy

Everyone gives this lens a rave so maybe i should approach this terrific lens from a shooting POV.

Shooting wide open at f2at 135 gives your pictures a distinct quality you would never get from zooms, there isn't a zoom at this focal length that is this speed either. A few primes come close but they're nowhere near as sharp wide open.

the af is fast and very accurate and the lens has a great feel on a 20d/5d/10d body even wo the battery grip of the cameras.

Close up magnification of .19x to.21 therabouts is a nice bonus of this lens, letting you get closer wo being too in your face for tight headshots.

I always felt that photographers usually have a sweet spot when shooting certain things like some portrait photographers like the distance the 85mm gives them when approaching a subject, turns out I'm liking the 135 focal length quite a bit for headshots and the 85 for torso and head shots.

One thing I like about this 135/f2 combo is that there's enough DOF to get most of the main subject in view and focus but the background will still be blurred out. It's really great when you want the subject in focus and nothing else, as opposed to the 85 1.2 parts of the subject could melt into the background resulting in images that be a little too ethreal for some tastes. Couldn't you just stop down the 85? Sure but the relationship of the foreground to background would still be different with the 135.

The 135 f2 can give a result that's juuust right. The backgrounds just a little more compressed with the foreground but the foreground is sharp but the background is gone. Almost like you lurred the background in photoshop. But you'll never get the same results from blurring in photoshop, for one thing the highlights would get muddied in a blur treatment in PS while the highlights stay clean at f2.

Don't just use this thing for portraits, use it the way you would use a 50mm and try and frame as such, again the focal lenth and wide aperture will give an interesting result. I basically use it for candids and portraits during a wedding.

Fantastic lens, very sharp, very handholdable, the focal length is terrific for portraits and the bokeh is very beautiful, equal in sharpness to the 85 1.2 or any of Canon's $5k lenses. This is probably the best lens you can get for the price, the only lens I've used with better saturation and contrast is the 35 1.4L.

Downside: Not as handholdable as the 50,35 1.4 or the 85 1.2 during low light situations due to it's focal length.

129 of 135 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Canon lens for about $1000 December 1, 2004

By Roy

Amazon Verified Purchase

I believe this is one of the best lens for about $1000. Forget about zoom lenses even if they are L. This lens is far better than 70-200L in my opinion. It is very sharp at f2 and even more sharp at f2.5. With zoom lenses you have to set to f/5.6 for better result and f/8 to match this lens. It is very well built but not excessive heavy, come with hood and bag, but unfortunately, Canon have decided to remove the hard cases for all the L lenses.

Combined with a Tamron 1.4X teleconverter this lens provide very good optical quality on par with any zoom L lenses at 189mm focal length. Yes I know I lost the convenience of a 70-200 zoom lens. But I am really happy that I decide to change the plan of buying a 70-200IS to 135/2L+1.4X. This not only saves me the money but also let me to get better pictures, especially at wide open. Better portrait lenses, like 200/1.8 and 300/2.8, would cost several thousands of dollars. Trust me, once you play with primes, you will not like zoom anymore.

I am also using a 24-70L to shoot my small kid. After using this lens, I don't like it anymore and thinking about change to primes someday, the only reason preventing me doing that is the 1.6X crop factor of digital camera. A 35mm/1.4L will become 56mm which is really not good.

Order from Amazon with free shipping even though it says not in stock. They shipped mine in 2 days and this happened before even though item stated "in stock soon".

Pros:

Very sharp at f2 and super sharp start from f2.5.

Very fast lens with f/2

Very good bokeh (background blurring).

Overall extremely good picture quality with good contrast/color.

Smaller size, less weight and black color compare to those white 70-200s.

It is a L lens: best build quality, fast/quiet ring USM AF with FTM.

Cons:

No hard case.

No inexpensive.

Effective focal length is 216mm on 10D/20D/Rebel/300D which is a little difficult to use for portrait.