Portraiture King
By Daniel
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2021-08-06
Once you get used to manual focus and start to understand the advantages of tilting and shifting, a TS-E will quickly become a lens that sets you apart from others. It will definitely replace you standard auto-focus lens before you know it. For me I can focus very quickly and find automotive speed shots incredibly easy and accurate. For any type of photography this lens can have a huge advantage in the effects. Horizontal or vertical corrections or getting both eyes in focus at f-4 can be a game changer. Tilted and shifted 16000 x 10000 pixel automotive panoramas make for incredible prints. A great focal length for detailed shots, product images or especially portraiture. Macro is another great feature. When you need everything in focus with your lens wide open for great bokeh,. This top quality Canon product is definitely King .
Great Product Photography Lens
By John
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2018-12-14
I was so glad when this lens came out. Ive been using a 45mm & 90mm ts-e for years. This L lens is a much better focal legnth for my product work. As today this lens allowed me to shift the plane of focus where I could shoot only 1 image or 2 to focus stack instead of 2-4 images per shot. The narrower angle of view compared to the 90mm keeps me from running out of background as easily. Great lens, a bit big and $$, but glad I added it.
One of the best yet from Canon
By Steve
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2018-02-22
I planned to get all 3 of the new TS-E lenses, but this one wasn't available when my new 50mm and 90mm arrived. Then, initial tests showed the 90mm had to go back (soft on the left), and of course B&H delivered the usual great service on that. The 135mm had arrived in stock in the meantime, and we swapped them.
The 135mm came via UPS the next day, featuring—to my surprise—a single-digit serial number. Never had one of those before. I take that to mean B&H has notable clout with Canon. It suggests B&H may be a good place to try while heavily in-demand items remain in short supply.
Used on my Canon 5DS R, the lens performance is near flawless. Sharp wide open, all the way to the corners, even with near-maximal shift. There is almost no image quality difference at any aperture up to f/11. If there is a sweet spot, it might be at f/5.6, but even in side-by-side comparisons, any aperture in that range is hard to tell from the others.
In the most demanding contrast situations, very slight color fringing is evident, but you have to strain to see it. Far, far less fringing than with the Canon 135mm f/2.0, even when that is used at f/4.0.
Sharpness, color, and contrast� are all among the best I have seen from any lens, including Zeiss lenses with which I have extensive experience. This new lens is one of the best I have for shooting toward the light, while suppressing veiling and flare.
Mechanically, the tilt and shift controls are easy to use, function accurately, and give fine control—except that the lock knob for the shift function is slightly inconveniently located, cramped against the camera body on the 5DS R. Not a big deal for your bare hand, but an issue with gloves on.
The one other slight negative I have is that the manual focus ring—which clearly functions perfectly as designed, turns silky smoothly, and is perfectly-damped with no sign of slack—turns just a bit too freely for my taste. And it moves the focus point pretty quickly, so you need sharp visual concentration and fine motor control to optimize focus.
The focus rings on the 50mm TS-E, and the new 90mm TS-E feel stiffer and slower, and I would rate them as perfect. I wish this one was more like the others. I am trying make it a practice never to brush against the focus ring when using the tilt and shift controls. Even a light accidental touch may shift the focus slightly. That's a small objection, and I still rate the manual focus very highly for ease of use, and for results.
In summary, this is the kind of lens that renews photographic enthusiasm—getting me up and out early, full of anticipation, looking for targets to shoot. Even in someone who has been taking pictures professionally for too many decades, this experience stands out.
Unreservedly 5 stars. And by the way, so is the new 50mm TS-E, and so will be the new 90mm TS-E when I get one that carries its full performance all the way to the left of the frame. On the one I sent back, the image quality in the right 85% was every bit as good as the others.� These lenses show a striking family resemblance in the superb look of the images they deliver.
