Matthew Durr Photography

When most people think “fast telephoto”, they envision a large, heavy, and expensive lens that is suited for DSLR usage. Putting a 70-200 f/2.8 on a mirrorless camera seems silly for everyday shooting; though the weight advantage (the body) is still there over larger cameras, the size advantage is long gone. Part of the compact, lightweight, and inexpensive Series-E lenses by Nikon (more info here), the 135mm f/2.8 E is probably the cheapest, lightest, and smallest way to get a 135mm focal length lens (~200mm field of view on an APS-C sensor and ~270mm field of view on m4/3) with a fast f/2.8 aperture. This allows for greater light gathering and depth of field control than slower zooms–two factors that are extremely important to my photography.

So far I have had this lens for about a week and a half, and I’m consistently impressed with just how small it is. I mean, come on. Look up at the picture again. This lens is TINY compared to even the AI-s Nikkor version! Basing off the diameter and colors of the lens, it almost appears the 135mm was made for the NEX-7! It is just a tad thicker than the adapter (49mm vs 52mm) and the all-black color with silver grab ring highlight matches the styling as well. There’s a metal mount (unheard of for a “budget” lens), and the focus is just silky, buttery, you-name-it smooth. Ergonomically and aesthetically, the 135mm just feels right. Oh, and it takes pictures well too, surprisingly well wide open given the price point (~$90/€71). Detail seems sharp, purple fringing isn’t a big issue (which is another huge surprise), and contrast is good. See captions below, all the following were taken on an overcast day which provided extremely useful flat lighting (no harsh shadows, clipped highlights, etc.):

135mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/400
There is a distinct 3-D effect when using this lens near close focus. And yes, this is one of the pictures that is currently being used in my random header images at the top of your page. 🙂

135mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/320
There is a downside to the 3-D effect, the depth of field is thin! In this shot I had wanted to get everything (from the back of the moose to the eyes) in focus. At f/2.8 only the bird and right antlers are sharp. Stopping down to f/4 probably would have helped at least a bit. Next time!

135mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1250
Unfortunately depth of field control is not superior as the focusing distance increases, even at maximum aperture. In this shot I was trying to go for the look of having only the eagle in focus, with the flag a blur. The Nikon 135mm f/2 AI-s MIGHT have gotten me there. Hard to tell.

135mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/100
Due to the crop magnification factor of the NEX-7’s APS-C sensor, framing can get a little tight in many scenarios. Even though I was as backed up as I could possibly get, I just couldn’t perfectly frame the wheel. This isn’t necessarily a con of the lens, it is only something to keep in mind–i.e. don’t try to take group photos with the 135mm.

135mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/125
I’m also pleasantly surprised at the smoothness of the bokeh (initially, anyway), as well as the highlight handling. In this shot at f/4, the aperture shape is visible and there is a slight ring on some of the highlights, but it isn’t noticeable. f/2.8 is even smoother. This is MUCH better than the bokeh on the 35mm f/2.5 E. In fairness, however, they are both completely different optical designs.

Finally, I just had to throw this one in here again, couldn’t resist:

135mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/40
Though not a macro lens, with just a bit of cropping and careful placement of the close-focus point, very pleasing results are possible with the 135mm. I really do need to get a “real” macro lens soon… 🙂

That’s all for today everyone, thanks for dropping by, and I hope you enjoyed these. The full technical review will be up in a few days.  Comments and questions welcome, and as always, have a great day! 😀