Mid-tele bargain fits many bills
Written: Sep 27 '01 (Updated Jul 25 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Compact, sharp, fast.
Cons: Close focus, availability may be of issue.
The Bottom Line: My hands down favourite fixed focal length lens - try one.
|
|
|
| gbraun's Full Review: Konica Minolta 135mm f/2.8 STF for Maxxum |
There are two separate issues regarding the potential value you place on this lens:
1. Whether it is a focal length and speed of lens that you will enjoy using (subjective)
2. Whether it executes it’s given attributes well (technical)
I’ll address them in reverse order (because #2 is the easy part).
The technical:
This lens is an excellent example of a 135mm fixed focal length lens. It focuses quite quickly, is quite sharp, has good contrast and colour rendition, and even has nice bokeh. It’s that simple. The only possible technical downside might be its somewhat weak close focusing ability, at a fairly long three feet, but that may be more or less important to you depending on how you’re going to use it (read on). This has never been a sore point for me.
Other technical pluses include a solid construction, built in lens hood, not-rotating front element, and a fairly standard 55mm filter size. On a weakly technical note, it’s pretty compact and balances well on my 600si (and looks pretty cool).
The non-technical:
Whether you will enjoy this lens will depend on what kind of pictures you want to take. If you already know you want a 135mm fixed focal lens, go back to the technical part and then go buy one. If not…
I love 135mm for portraits and for parties (yes parties). The focal length forces me to make interesting decisions about cropping and gives me a predominance of closely cropped shots. Even wide open the lens is decently sharp, and it focuses quickly enough that you can spot focus on a pair of eyes and get in a shot that works with the limited depth of field. Depending on the situation I will sometimes want to pull out my 70-210 in order to be more flexible, but it is a heavier, slower (f4), more imposing lens. When I get proofs back, I’m always pleased with the 135mm shots; they just seem to stand out somehow.
Indoors (for me) it’s somewhat too long for more than head and shoulders type portraits, however outdoors it’s my preferred lens for full length and small group pictures. It seems to be a combination of the image qualities with the perspective of the shots, but whatever else it may be, I find myself reaching for this lens very often.
If you’re unsure about whether you’re going to like this focal length I would suggest a couple of things. You could buy it, and live with it for a while, and sell it if it doesn’t suit you. You will probably be able to sell it for little to no loss when bought used. You could alternatively go down to your local camera store and try a camera with the lens on (even an equivalent lens in another brand on a different body would do fine if you don’t need to assess autofocus speed) and take a short roll of pictures of shoppers and staff (or equipment). Develop them on site and see what you think of your instincts with this lens; you may be pleased.
Buying one:
Your options here are pretty limited. At the time of this review there were a couple of variations at each of a couple of online retailers selling used for $150 - $180. I picked up a very clean example from a New York store with a webpage, so it’s worth looking around. There’s always ebay too. The other option in Minolta is the 135mm f/2.8 STF Manual Focus (Maxxum mount) which includes a very cool Smooth-Trans Focus feature, but which I’ve never evaluated due to the high price tag.
Conclusion
If you think the focal length might suit you, go find one of these and buy it. If you’re not sure, either experiment a little or buy one anyway – it will always sell well if you don’t love it as much as I do.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
gbraun
|
|
Location: Cambridge, ON, Canada
Reviews written: 25
Trusted by: 14 members
About Me:
"I think not," said Descartes, and promptly disappeared.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.