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135mm for A7ii


rayparlour
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Hi all,

 

I'm looking for a 135mm for my a7ii. Does anyone have some advise?

 

I'm looking at various lenses, and it is though to choose.

 

I'm looking at lenses like:

 

Canon FD 2,5/135

Olympus OM Zuiko 135mm f/3,5

Minolta Rokkor 135mm f/3,5

 

Maybe even a Carl Zeiss/Contax Sonnar T* 135mm f/2.8, but this one is more expensive

 

Greatly appreciate your input!

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I have a Minolta Rokkor 135mm f/3.5 that has great colors are is really sharp on my A7r, I tend to use my X-Fujinar 135 f/2.5 just for the Depth of field when I'm doing portraits, but the Minolta is one of the smaller and makes a great walking lens.  I actually have another Fuji variant in f/2.8, both have a funky X mount so I had to order a different adapter, that was a whopping $35 on Amazon.  I've read good things about the Olympus Zuiko 135 and if it's anything like the Oly 35 and 50 I have it should be great.  I found that exact Oly 135mm lens at a garage sale over the weekend but they were selling it and the 35mm camera as a package and wanted $150 so I passed.  I saw them on the auction site for $25 and up.  

 

I found a number of lenses at local pawn shops.  Usually they will have a couple 'newer' Canikon AF lenses in a case and then if you specify that you want OLD film camera lenses they will bring out a box with a thick layer of dust and cobwebs filled with old lenses and parts.  With pawn shops you can usually barter down the price with the knowledge that the shop knows that you are probably the only person in years asking about those lenses.  Despite the dust coating and lack of care I have managed to find a few jewels in the rough such as a Minolta Rokkor 58mm f/1.4.  I found a Rollei 85mm Planar body and lens at an antique shop but it was $600 so I passed on it too.  Just be sure to check the aperture blades for obvious signs of damage/oil/fungus, along with scratches and see what mount it is for.  I have adapters for Minolta, Pentax, Canon, Fuji, and a few other odd balls, just in case I run across something.  With adapters starting at less than $20, it's nice to be able to adapt almost anything to these cameras.  I've taken a few lenses apart and repaired minor issues or used Lighter Fluid to clean the blades without much issue but the main thing is getting the body cleaned up before putting it on your camera so you don't contaminate your camera, adapters, sensor, or anything else down the chain. 

 

Best of luck.

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I have the Olympus OM Zuiko 135mm f/3.5 and it is fantastic for its size and weight, very sharp and contrasty; probably the best value for this focal length.  I also have the Zeiss Sonnar T 135mm f/1.8 which, while it is both considerably larger and considerably more expensive, also is autofocus and is simply as good as it gets for image quality.  Neither Canon nor Nikon or anybody else even makes an autofocus 135mm f/1.8; if you do any portrait or other shallow depth of field work and bokeh is important to you then the Zeiss 135 1.8 is worth every nickel. 

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I also have a sweet 135/3.5 SMC Takumar. Sharpest glass in my kit. Like many Taks, you have a full range of useable apertures from wide open to at least f16 on most of them. I generally use mine on a tripod but with an inexpensive MAF M42 adapters you can focus/shoot very accurately handheld at a swift enough shutter speed.

 

Bokeh is a search effort. Find the right aperture/distance relationships and it does well with homogenous backgrounds. Few lenses do well with detailed areas when producing their Bokeh.

 

Shopping for these optical bargains is an art in itself. Go after the later SMC versions, not the Super Taks. Some Taks have specific numbers on their Auto/Manual switches that represent the optical formula. Research these numbers to get the cream of the crop.

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For the actual image quality, I vote for the Samyang, too. I tested several legacy 135mm lenses but the Samyang beats them all, even the modern Canon 135L or Zeiss 135/1.8. It's too good for the money. Since I had the Samyang, I never used other 135mm.

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Be careful with Contax Zeiss (C/Y) 135mm f:2.8. I had one, and while the rendering was lovely -more detailed than bitingly sharp-, it was very suceptible to flare and CA. Not saying it is a bad lens, or that you shouldn't buy it, just don't expect it to perform like like today's Zeiss 135 APO f:2.0.

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