Why I LOVE The Canon135mm f2 Lens
6 Reasons Why The Canon 135 f2 Lens Is My Top Favourite
In our Click Love Grow Community we chat about lenses a lot…what’s in our camera bag, which ones we love, and the lenses we lust after! My absolute favourite is the Canon 135mm f2 L series lens.
Here on the blog, you’ll find a lot of great resources about lenses, but today is all about sharing with you my particular favourite and why I love it so much.
In reality, I have three lenses that I rely on the most…the Canon 50mm f/1.2L, which is simply beautiful and a practical focal length. The quality of this lens is sublime! The second lens is a Canon 24-70 f/2.8L series, which I’ve owned for around 9 years. This lens is wonderful for travel and day trips because it gives me a wide aperture and the versatility of a zoom.
And that brings me to my beloved Canon 135mm f/2 L series.
Sure, its focal length isn’t as practical for everyday shots! It’s too long to use indoors for portraits or lifestyle imagery, and it’s a big beast of lens in size. But…I just can’t get past the images it lets me create!
1. Compression
Over the weekend, I took my delightfully willing children (ha! This is a lie, I bribed them with chocolate) to a nearby park for some photos.
The reason I love these images is primarily due to the way the canon 135mm f2 affects the surrounding environment. The compression, combined with shooting wide open at f/2, gently envelops my subjects into this beautiful scenery.
And what is compression, you ask? The technical answer involves a combination of perspective and optical distortion. The short answer? Long focal lengths bring the background forward so that it appears closer than it is in reality and blur it to create a stunning backdrop — from which your subject can really pop!
Related: How Lens Distortion Affects Your Photos
This was my location…notice the distance between myself and the trees, and the distance between the trees.
The Location
I took this shot from the same position as the photo above. You can see how the trees almost appear to layer upon one another, creating a beautifully condensed forest effect.
Related: How to Get Blurred Backgrounds with a Kit Lens
Canon 135mm f2 shot at f2
2. Location Versatility
The Canon135mm f2 also provides versatility in finding locations, because you only need small pockets of space to create a wonderful backdrop for your portraits.
The Location
Same location, resulting image.
This shot was taken against a small pocket of unattractive shrubbery in my back garden.
3. Bokeh
This one, I think, is self-explanatory. I adore the bokeh that the Canon 135f2 lens creates, and, in particular, the light bokeh when there’s light streaming through or bouncing off trees.
You can also get creative with your own lights!
Related: Twinkle Light Bokeh
4. Melt Away Backgrounds
We all know that blurry backgrounds are the solution to clutter in photos, making the difference between snapshots and beautiful professional photos. The Canon 135mm f2 simply melts away your backgrounds.
Related: DIY Photography Backdrop Ideas
5. Step Back For Moments
The long focal length of the Canon 135mm f2 means I need to step right back to get them in the frame. But this allows me to give my subjects some space, helping them relax and engage naturally. Then all I need to do is snap the authentic, impromptu moments.
This distance also means I can use much wider apertures, resulting in really gorgeous backgrounds.
6. Using The Canon 135mm f2 As a Macro Lens
I know, the Canon 135mm f2 is not a macro lens. It doesn’t allow me to focus really close to itty bitty subjects. But I do still have fun creating beautiful flower shots with this lens.
When I travelled recently, I forgot my macro extension tubes, and so I had to be a little more creative, and my 135f2 let me do that!
Bigger flowers, shapes, leaves and twigs are all perfect for abstract images using the shallow depth of field, beautiful bokeh and great colour that this lens creates! It’s super sharp, so as long as I nail focus, I can crop in later when editing and produce something similar to what I can achieve with a macro lens.
Related: 6 Breathtaking Macro Flower Compositions
Related: Creative Editing: 24 Stunning Photoshop Edits For Portraits
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Thanks for the great article Louise. Really interesting. Do you have an opinion on how the 135mm would compare to a 70-200mm lens? I would only be able to afford to get one of these.
Hi Sue,
Ooh great question! I’ve never shot with the 70-200mm but I know it’s a gorgeous lens! It has similar capacity to create the beautiful background blur and compression, and you have slightly more flexibility because of the range of the focal lengths! The downside to this lens is that it’s literally so so much bigger (it’s heavy and very long) and the cost is much more than the 135L. Perhaps weddings would be the one example where the zoom would be handy.
Is the “melt away” background effect with the 135mm f2? I love that kind of almost water colour painting effect of the background. In the absence of anything other than kit lenses and a nifty 50 – Could a nifty 50 do this with the right background (ie a beach after sunset, not light through trees which would probably create little round bokeh lights rather than a smooth creamy background?)
HI Michelle,
It’s a combination of the shallow depth of field, the compression of the lens itself… so the 135mm is relevant to create that..but all these shots with the melt-aways also have beautiful soft light which is a factor too!
With all the factors you mention you will still get a gorgeous background, it just won’t have the compression of the longer focal lengths, and will be a different effect. Xx
Thank you for the information. The more I look at lenses, the more questions I have. Does the number of focusing points really make that much difference to an enthusiast versus a professional? I am looking at one cameral that has 19 cross type sensors and one that has 65. Seems like I would take a gorgeous picture if I ever figured it out, maybe? I was looking at the 24-70 mm because of the low aperture allowed. The 18-55mm will only go f/3.5 to f/5.6. I think I am convinced to get the 135 f/2L. The pictures were wonderful! But I might not travel with that one when we are limited with weight restriction of 12 to 15#. But having the 24-70 would be a good mix. My husband would have our current SX 50HS for his shooting and distance.
CANON has a new to US camera , EOS M3 “mirrorless”. Is that something to even consider?
Hi Louise,
Stunning, doing images as always! You mentioned the 50mm f1.2. I have the 50mm f1.8. Would an upgrade to the f1.2 be worth it or would investing in something different be better? Thank you!
Please excuse the typo! My autocorrect often thinks its smarter than I am!
Hi Emmy,
The 1.2 is a beautiful quality lens, and I definitely enjoy using it as an ‘everyday’ type lens because of how wonderfully crisp it is! The lens questions is always tough to answer because it depends how you’ll use it… for portraits of kids I much prefer the 135L because for outdoors it’smy fave, but I bought the 50mm 1.2 for my boudoir/ studio work because it fit the space, I could get down to say f/1.4 and it was beautiful for backlit (the 1.8 has some chromatic aberration – or purple/green fringing in strong backlight) and it suited my style of photography. There is a 50mm f/1.4 that is MUCH cheaper than the 1.2 which I know lots of photographers use and love. Or also if you’re using a crop sensor camera the 35mm might be worth looking into aswell! LOL… see, that was totally not helpful huh, so many choices!
hey if you don’t mind me asking I know I’m about 4 years late haha but what DSLR did you use for these amazing photos
Hey James, these were a mixture of 5gmkii and 5dmkiii 😀