Latter looks quite professional.. You won't get the excessive background blurr -- which for the beginning photographer may actually be a good thing. (purchased for $1,625), reviewed January 27th, 2010 My 24-70L needs to be stopped down to f5.6 to begin to match the sharpness of my 135L at f2.0 (the test shots were of the portrait of Andrew Jackson on a $20 bill). As it is it is earns a 9. Not too heavy. With a rounded 9-blade diaphragm, shallow depth of field imaging will be rendered with pleasing out-of-focus highlights. Your first serious portrait lens should be a modern stabilized 70-200 f/2.8. They just wanted to increase their joy from photography. Definetely the most sharpest lens which I have ever seen. We've selected a group of cameras that are easy to keep with you, and that can adapt to take photos wherever and whenever something memorable happens. The F/2.0 maximum aperture of the Rokinon 135mm lens offers a chance to collect a serious amount of signal in a single shot. Its a trade-off, and one that seems to surface time and time again in this hobby. For posed portraiture, it's a very nice budget option.FWIW, I'm a corporate portrait and event pro. I took a few shots with the lens on my way home after buying it. The lens arrived next day, less than 24 hours after I hit the order button. The 5D's larger pixels also make chromatic aberration somewhat lower at most apertures. The full name of this lens is the Rokinon 135mm F/2 ED UMC, with ED standing for extra-low dispersion, and UMC referring to the ultra multi-coated optics. AF is accurate and very fast. The lens is so crisp that the diaphragm blade pattern is visible on point light sources shot at large aperature. Thanks & Cheers One very popular lens for bokeh fiends is the Canon 85mm F1.2it can produce extremely creamy out of focus backgrounds. You can't really ask them to stand still while you move around. Do you expect me to gawk? Whereas quality apochromats can be corrected with broad band filters, such as the Astronomik UV/IR cut filter or the CLS-CCD filter, telephoto lenses can not. AF ring feels loose compared to my other L lenses. First of all, the background separation and the bokeh: I had photographed lots of animals in bushes before, but never before had I seen the bush melt away in the way it did with the 135mm lens. Never before (nor after) have I seen a lens with this level of sharpness wide open. Instead it means the style of rendering. In this post, Ill explain why I think the Rokinon 135mm F/2 is the perfect addition to an arsenal of astrophotography lenses. It's March, and in America that means it's time to start arguing over which college athletics team is the best at basketball. Over the last ten to fifteen years excellent apochromatic telescopes have become available for visual use and photography. I hope that this post has provided some practical insight into a popular camera lens for astrophotography. Seems like a great lens. Large focus ring. Round one of polls are now open, pick your winners and share your voice. Jordan's twin brother Gordon is back to review the cinema-focused Canon EOS R5 C! Most of these APOs have F ratios around 6.5, and are unable to comprehend in their field of view large celestial objects such as the Andromeda galaxy, the North America nebula, and comets. If you shoot things in motion on a Canon body, and need some reach without massive bulk, this is the one I recommend. Samyang 135 f/2 astrophotography gallery Below some pictures I made using Samyang 135 lens with QHY163 mono camera and iOptron Smart EQ Pro mount. If you want autofocus and great value for money, buy the Canon 135mm, as it has almost the image quality of the Samyang, and you can get it for under $1,000 new. I have an old 135/2.5 Takumar that is not bad at all, for the price. Sigma 105/2.8 DG EX Macro (very sharp at infinity) Creamy smooth bokeh. Because it manage to do so. The Rokinon 135mm F2.0 is considered to be a full-frame lens because it can accommodate a full-frame image sensor with its 18.8-degree angle of view. Great looking lens, if you ever saw it from the front. The focuser adjustment ring on the Rokinon 135mm F/2 is excellent, but fine-tuning your critical focus on a bright star at F/2 will take some trial and error to get right. I would be careful with the Nikon 135 f/2 DC (I have one). Yeah I agree that the sentiment that they were designed to be used stopped down is wrong as they were designed to be used wide open because they had to be for speed (my point above). I loved the Nikon 80-400G for a year, or so, and then found everything with it wrong, and got rid of it. - Actually though, it's performance is so good that you really have to consider it a bargain, even at the $800-900 street price. The lenses I selected are all affordable prime lenses, easily available on the second-hand market, and adaptable to the EOS system. So whats so great about shooting at 135mm anyway? My first photo of the night sky is of Comet NEOWISE, however I know its not the best photo I could capture. It also focuses really fast and accurate and is light. The logic of this article can be applied to a 200/2.8 as well. You will get perfectly round star images if you use an aperture stop in front of the lens made of a series of filter thread step-down rings. So I sold it for nearly what I bought it for and chalked it up to a learning experience. It's bokeh is comparable to the 85mm 1.2 but IMO not as nice. 1. Colour and contrast is great. A lot of us have been saying this for years. Still, all things considered, I prize this lens very highly and can not imagine giving it up. Often need f2.2 to f2.8 to gain sufficient DOF for human subjects. It's tiny compared to almost everything else in the 85-135 range, and used properly, it can produce results that hold up to my DC (all other factors being equal such as subject distance, f-stop, lighting, etc.). Backwards compatible (film). With the high megapixel cameras, most people are going to ideally want to shoot at 1/200 or faster. The aperture ring is marked with each f-stop, and you need to manually click through F/2 F/22 and watch the blades do their work. You might never need another lens in the overlapping range at 135mm there isn't much difference between the separation afforded by f/2 vs f/2.8, and the latest 70-200s are plenty sharp. 21P Giacobini Zinner NGC1499 California Barnard 8 Cr399 Coathanger North America and Pelican Veil nebula HORGB M11 cluster area if you really want to get the best gym photos that can be taken, use it and enjoy what you will see. I own a 135 since the film days (because you "had to have one" and could not afford much else), still have the zeiss Jena f3.5 M42 and even jumped for the zeiss f2.8 for my yashica when they were sold for next to nothing. Even if I wanted a 135mm lens (and the 70-200mm f/2.8 is more versatile) it would be the Nikon 135mm f/2 DC lens. This lens is one of canons finest lenses i have ever used. (37% is difference, so you get little more, about 15.5Mpix). I really wanted to use, and like, a 135mm f2 lens so I bought the Canon version. It starts out very sharp at f/2.0, gets even sharper at f/2.8, and softens only slightly at f/11. This leaves you with a buttery bokeh and an object in perfect focus. The lens has 14 stops when turning the aperture. But do some experimenting before you decide. Seems to me that with your gallery and website of images you should refrain from passing judgment on who is and isn't a photography master. The background blur is amazingly creamy with this lens. I have taken some of the coolest photos with this lens on a canon mark III which shoots ten frames per second. They were not however designed to be bokeh monsters though that was just a side effect of making them fast and people bought them for speed with bokeh being the afterthought so not Bokeh for the sake of Bokeh as he said. Many lenses lose their appeal after time, but not this one. I actually have to walk 1/2 way up the stairs to be able get folk in the frame. Bye Pocketable. Tack sharp even at wide open aperture. I am a complete amateur at photography in general and this is all new to me so thank you for all the information and videos. But I hardly used it in the 30+ years. The difference between modern and old telephoto lenses is probably similar to the difference between my APO and an old Jaegers 5in F5. There are quite a few other excellent lenses out there, and nowadays, quite a few that can be used wide open. As in all arts the client's likes influence the result up to a point. Fantastic IQ & Bokeh. Also, the lens can only be operated when aperture is set to 22, wondering how I could use F2. Moreover if we have a serendipitous moment regarding a new (or used) lens, that's a good thing. Just like the above samples, most are just bad. CANON LENS FOR ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY. Lenses with extreme sharpness and bokeh tend to be heavy. This is so annoying that I intend to replace the Canon lens cap with a Tamron cap. Im so new to all of this so thank you for your insightful and educational posts. Used with a FF body the DOF can be unforgiving, but if you nail focus the results can be magnificent. You just panned the subject for his photos and then turn around and needle thematic for looking into Ericsson. Will this ever get old? (purchased for $1,100), reviewed August 12th, 2009 Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality. (purchased for $800), reviewed March 15th, 2010 never mind.. confirmed from others that F19 is indeed the one that is excluded on this lens! The CA is pretty low wide open and it rivals my 200mm L lens. Contrasty, saturated, nice colours. Nothing just makes sense about the review -- the writer does not really understand the lens he is reviewing, very basic concepts are wrong. Yes, it is about the same as 85mm f/1.4 blur factor is 60mm, while 135mm f/2 blur factor is 67mm. These lenses go about as close as you could get without a dedicated macro lens. image quality wise it is by far one the sharpest lenses ive ever used. Really excels as indoor sports lens on a crop camera. Whats the best camera for around $2000? Ive set the f-stop to F/2.8, to sharpen up the stars a bit. The screws should be set sufficiently tightly to prevent shift, yet not so tightly as to interfere with fine focusing. The best 200mm lens is precisely the older 200mm F4 SMC Takumar, which comes with the M42 camera thread, and requires the M42-EOS adapter. It's gross, all is a matter of balance and the perfect one, given you want sharp and fuzzy elements in your picture, is in the blend, and the way details seems to disappear gracefully (while keeping a level of readability). I don't know about other photographers but I do not have many applications for this focal length. You can use Stellarium to preview the image scale with the 135mm lens and your DSLR. Super sharp and renders beautiful creamy bokeh. Valerio, Electronically Assisted Astronomy (No Post-Processing), Community Forum Software by IP.BoardLicensed to: Cloudy Nights, DSLR, Mirrorless & General-Purpose Digital Camera DSO Imaging, This is not recommended for shared computers, Back to DSLR, Mirrorless & General-Purpose Digital Camera DSO Imaging, Buckeyestargazer 2022 in review and New Products. Sometimes though, we stumble upon a great lens design which is strong in all three. You would be hard pressed to find any other lens on a full frame camera that produces creamier bokeh. At the other end of the aperture range though, the 5D's larger pixels actually help matters, as the softening starts later (it's very sharp even at f/16), and is noticeably lower at f/32. Barney and Chris have been shooting the new Sony 50mm F1.4 GM, and we have a bunch of full resolution samples for you to peruse. The Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM Lens makes an excellent indoor sports lens. For my purposes, this is a spectacular lens. Tamron has announced its 11-20mm F2.8 Di III-A RXD ultra-wide angle zoom will be made available for Fujifilm X-mount. Your images have a chance at remaining sharper once critical focus has been achieved, but now you have lost the extra light-gathering power you wanted. Add To Cart. And you can even crop a 135 efl with today's sensors should you actually need it. Far from being a generic run-of-the-mill image hosting website, it was created and is still operated by an astrophotographer, and boasts features that are very specific to astrophotography. Here's what I see from the photographs:#1: Woman in traffic. Are you really using 135 a lot? An update to the Mini 11, the new camera adds parallax correction capabilities, automatic flash control and a multi-function twist lens. When stopped down to 37mm, F5.4, it is almost identical to the Takumar except that on highly enlarged images it shows a hint of coma in the distant corners. How good this lens overall and how sharp and color-free? The only downside with that lens is that it is manual focus, which might not be suitable for photographing sports or children. Here is a recent ones taken with the canon xs and a lens. I haven't seen compassion with the excellent Zeiss lens you quote (That BTW costs at least 3.5-4 times, yet a good comparison as similar to Zeiss, Samyang believes in providing the exceptional Image Quality, with Manual focus) but compare with Canon's L 135mm F2.0, that by many reviews, is considered as one the best Canon lenses ever made (Not . The Rokinon 135mm F/2.0 ED UMC lens is a fantastic companion for the Canon 60Da, as it offers a useful "mid-range" focal length for a variety of deep-sky projects. I shoot it wide open 90% of the time. Second night out with mine right now and I am here in the comments looking for the part number or link! Sme of the wide field are. I liked the extra versatility of the zoom and the ability to shoot at 200mm. The only thing that could possibly make this better would be to add IS. 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 See more AHAB. Samyang 135 f/2 ED astrophotography modifications - astrojolo It really is about talent, creativity, and vision, not gear. However, for $15 I also bought an old Tamron Adaptall 2, 135 mm f2.5. Of course headline central sharpness is great, that is what grabs headlines, always shot at f2: any 135mm lens is going to give similar results. People mistake "Bokeh" to blurry background, what is very very common mistake. Build quality: excellent. This lens has a long focus adjustment ring, with great tension. I found with the 70-200 made me lazy. Interesting. Samyang 135mm F/2 ED UMC Review (Camera Labs), Does a F/2.0 lens become F/2.8 when used on a crop sensor camera? Thats quite a jump from 135mm, so the camera body you use with this lens may change the types of targets you shoot. Photography is full of fuzzy concepts. Personally, I can't stand these circles, and I see them as VERY distracting.Lots of fads come and go, and this is just another one of these fads that some photographers are obsessed with. Its fast f/2.0 maximum aperture is effective in low light and enables shallow depth of field control. But this lens changed my mind. It would not surprise me if modern lenses were useable at full aperture. However, stepping outside to polar align a small star tracker and attach a DSLR and lens is quick and painless. My copy has very stiff manual focus though and is quite heavy. To remedy this, I reduced the star size in post, and I started shooting at F/4 to really tighten things up. Used on a crop body the results are still splendid but you gain on DOF, making it a great combination for wedding/event and ambient/available light. Another lens to consider at this focal length (at maximum zoom) is the Rokinon 135mm F/2. The criterion I used in evaluating lenses was optical perfection with no reservations. Bokeh is buttery smooth, best you can get from a 135mm. LENSES FOR ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY: Samyang 135mm f2 REVIEW - YouTube They are by nature designed to compromise by magnification and distance, and are therefore not optically optimized at any single setting. The one and only 300mm lens I tested is the Zeiss Tele-Tessar 300mm F4. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a0721c0ca7d0974fd27b5d0ceb81918a" );document.getElementById("cfd2c22fe2").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Your email address will not be published. Built quality is wonderful, focus ring is well-damped. Rokinon FE14M-C Lens. reviewed August 2nd, 2017 You are entitled to your opinions, and I respect that! This lens has the Pentax K bayonet mount, and requires the K-EOS adapter for attachment to Canon EOS cameras. Focal length is great. And now important part: This lens can be stopped down if desired effect is not required and no, with 85/1.8 you will never get this effect. As you'd expect from a premium prime lens, both maximum and average chromatic aberration is very low across the aperture range, with the maximum CA on the order of 0.02% of frame height regardless of aperture. Chris referred to the Canon RF 16mm F2.8 STM as 'a little gem'! Lots of older lenses no longer satisfy. When you shoot a 135mm F2 lens at F2, your subject will stand out in this beautiful way, often without much work needed from you as the photographer. While there are certainly pricey 135mm F2 lenses out there (such as the aforementioned Sigma 135mm F1.8 Art, or the Carl Zeiss 135mm) there are a couple that give you extreme value for the money. AstroBin Show some humility and don't troll. The Rokinon website lists this lens as being useful for portraiture photography, and most telephoto applications. Add To Cart. Tack sharp at f/2. I can only guarantee that the TSAPO65Q would work very well. This is a very popular lens, and I am sure there are a ton of lens test reports for it available online. I love this lens, The Sharpest Lens available for Eos cameras IMO Really, just an amazing lens, easily worth the $800-900 it commands on the street. I just purchased a very lightly used Canon 200mm F2.8L II USM for $620 from a great online dealer and can't wait for an opportunity to try it out with my Astronomik CLS clip on a T4i at a dark site. 2. In the highest contrast situations there's a hint of both purple and green fringing but both are minor and easy to remove with software. Got it! Is it possible to get good results on a Baader filter modifed Canon 450D and a good telephoto lens, or do I need to get a good APO? The following image was captured by Eric Cauble using the Samyang branded version of this lens. This allows for less aggressive camera settings for night photography such as using a lower ISO setting and shorter exposure. I find neither the cat nor the duck particularly good. It is by far the fastest focusing, best bokeh, and lowest light lens you will ever find. It is NOT extremely sharp wide open, it often requires massive AF adjustment on DLSRs (sometimes beyond what the body allows as micro-adjustment) and AF is not reliable enough to consistently ensure sharp focus at full aperture. To shoot indoors under typical gymnasium lighting, you often need f/2.0 or wider to get a shutter speed high enough to stop the action. Samyang 85mm f1.83. Very sharp even at f2, build quality, price, weight, autofocus is fast, bokeh, No IS, flare, autofocus isn't quite as consistent as some newer lenses, focus speed, image quality, predictability, Image quality, build like a tank, focus ring, weight. Fast focus, Super sharp, Well built, Awesome for low light. Tiring. Because it's an L-series lens by Canon, you can be sure that the image quality and performance of the 24-105mm meet the demanding aspects of astrophotography such as focus and star quality. In this review, however, I am using the lens on a crop sensor (APS-C) Canon EOS 60Da, which puts the field of view at 12.4 degrees. The shot of the cat could certainly be improved through cropping, though. What next, an article extolling the virtues of 43mm, or 70mm? Its a no brainer if you use this focal length. Super sharp from f2. The foolproof image seems to be more a case of how a bright fuzzy cluttered moving background can completely detach from the offset dark subject matter and overwhelm it. I found this highly restrictive for shooting indoors where there was seldom enough distance between me with my camera and my subject(s). But you just know that there is the professionalism that is lacking here -- and the writer's Instagram page confirms that. You can barely tell it's a pond.#3: Duck.Birds with bokeh are fine. However, these APOs have a couple of drawbacks. After a three-year hiatus, we've been at the return of the CP+ camera show in Yokohama, Japan. I enjoied the use of this lens many years before the DSLR. I got many great shots from this lens but also missed ton of shots due manual focus only. How's that for an endorsement? Juksu, your point is well taken. Can't argue with your reasoning, Juksu, about the framing of the article, but just stopping by to say I really liked that cat picture, am shopping for a new smartphone, struck that this type of photo is in another league - all newbie observations, of course, which sort of supports your thoughts that an article like this would be better framed as a "Love this new long lens stuff" sort of thing. Image quality is great, it is tack-sharp wide-open even though for partraiture, a little bit of softness is needed. This way the focus will favor the red light which is more objectionable within a star image than a bit of blue. The diameter of the lens is 77mm, with a non-rotating filter mount on the objective lens. Samyang should definitely make 135 f2 with the same optical formula and AF for Sony EFF and also Nikon F plus Canon EF mount if possible. Rokinon 135mm F2.0 ED Lens. They account for much of the disagreement that we see on-line (but not for the rudeness and viciousness of some of it). We have come to accept that most lenses are strong in only one or two of these three factors, that I personally focus on when researching lenses to buy. (purchased for $900), reviewed April 15th, 2011 I have the Canon 135 f/2 and loved it from day one. Anyone use the Samyang 135mm for astrophotography? I have done a review comparing the sharpness and quality of bokeh to the Canon 70-200 2.8. My work requires auto-focus. You get what you get.#4: Cat in Underbrush.That's pretty good.#5: Woman with Blanket.It's like a snapshot. The lenses I listed are certainly not the ONLY exceptional lenses made over the years. Great question Scott I think it depends on the image. In the right hands this lens really does have "magic pixie dust", as a friend once described. Back in 1999, Sony released the F505, their first digital camera with a Carl Zeiss lens. The lens is not weather-sealed, so you definitely dont want to leave your camera and lens (and your tracking mount!) No one yet mentioned a zoom lens, I had an opportunity to test my Canon 24-105L f/4 on M31 Andromeda Galaxy and received wonderful results with Canon 60D unmoded, I set it to 105mm, No vignatting, slight coma on the corners and no false color on bright stars. Excellent color and saturation, a virtually perfect lens. Digital Cameras & Digital Camera Kits | Camera Gear | B&H In this buying guide weve rounded up all the current interchangeable lens cameras costing around $2000 and recommended the best. Several functions may not work. Litepanels Studio X2 Bi-Color LED Fresnel Light. These are affordably available on eBay, and result in perfectly round star images, the way nature intended them to be. After the first exposure in M mode, the camera throws an error saying Error please press the shutter button again. Focus are dead on with my Fullframe or APS system. I think they are an outstanding value for any wide-field astrophotographer, and are particularly suitable for newcomers. I seems many people he are confused about the meaning of the word. I have the Sony SaL 135F1.8 Zeiss Lens and think that is excellent. There are times that making no comment at all is far more telling than posting negative - and sometimes offensive - ad hominem attacks on the author for daring to show some enthusiasm. I just love the lightning fast & accurate focus of this lens. I am no stranger to the full manual control of this lens, for both aperture and focus. I guess thats where practice will come in handy. (purchased for $700), reviewed June 13th, 2009 A Canon 70-200L IS II at 200mm at f2.8 has all the same characteristics of the Canon 135L. Required fields are marked *. There are a lot of photo/video cameras that have found a role as B-cameras on professional film productions or even A-cameras for amateur and independent productions. The 135mm Rokinon with the Canon Rebel seems like a pretty good setup. Jordan has a simple fix camera manufacturers could implement to improve their video autofocus. Focus throw. Neutral yet very nice colours. Especially for beginning astrophotographers, who should first invest most of their finances into a good telescope mount, telephoto lenses are an excellent and affordable solution. The North America Nebula captured using the 135mm lens with a clip-in Ha filter. It may be superfluous to add, but it can't do any harm, that in astrophotography all shutter control must be done with a wired or wireless electrical shutter release swith. Whatever lens you pick in the end, you will make a great purchase. No telephoto lens I tested, nor my TSAPO65Q, was suitable for use with a DSLR "clear glass" modified to include deep red and IR. Aside from being much more affordable, telephoto lenses are easier to transport, easier to mount and easier to guide, and are much more likely to produce encouraging results to a beginner. Yes, she's isolated. There is no agreement about what Bokeh means. The Rokinon 135mm F/2.0 includes a lens hood, lens pouch, front and rear lens caps, and a 1-year Rokinon manufacturer warranty. Panasonic 35-100mm f2.8. Some people do not like this and consider Bokeh to refer only to the rendering of out of focus points of light. Yet the Jaegers becomes essentially color free when stopped down to 3in. Standards have risen in recent years. There is no doubt that the 135L deserves it excellent reputation for image quality. Great reach for street shots. Particular properties of modern 135/2 lenses are resolution with e.g. Now we have to read this kind of ignorant misinformation on DPR articles. Unfortunately I haven't more the Canon lens. Many students just wanted to take better snapshots of family, vacation, pets, etc. This gives me the power of 162x, which is barely sufficient for my 420mm fl APO astrograph at full camera resolution. Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Rokinon 135mm F2.0 ED UMC Telephoto Lens Unfortunately it is not manufactured in a multicoated version, and produces prominent internal reflection artifacts on very bright stars. Large emission nebulae like the California Nebula (pictured below) are a great choice for this focal length. See the full-size version on Astrobin. The lens is available on eBay for around $200. Prime lenses are typically lighter as they do not need the additional glass and mechanics required to zoom at varying magnifications. My guidescope is a 5in F5 Jaeger's achromat with a 2.3x Barlow, and a 9mm illuminated reticle eyepiece. Yes, because it is not f/2. He has quite a breadth photos many of which are quite good. I've done comparisons between my brand-new Samyang 85/1.4 and the old big Apollo 135/1.8 lens I had lying around, and the shots were for all practical purposes identical (exept, obviously, for the pixel count once cropped).