Canon EF 135mm f2.8 Soft Focus review

I bought this lens used(but mint) back in 1998. I loved using in on film bodys for portraits and general use. The portaits shot look like potraits should look.
On APC digital bodies I was dissapointed. Wrong perspective since it became a 216mm lens. I bought a 5D and this lens shines again. Don't bother with Canon APC cameras if you shoot portraits,you will be dissapointed, get a used Full Frame 5D and pick up this lens, you will love the Bokeh at f2.8-4,its the best in its range.Just keep the sf on 0.

I bought this lens used(but mint) back in 1998. I loved using in on film bodys for portraits and general use. The portaits shot look like potraits should look. On APC digital bodies I was dissapointed. Wrong perspective since it became a 216mm lens. I bought a 5D and this lens shines again. Don't bother with Canon APC cameras if you shoot portraits,you will be dissapointed, get a used Full Frame 5D and pick up this lens, you will love the Bokeh at f2.8-4,its the best in its range.Just keep the sf on 0.

I purchased this lens two years ago, to use with my 40D camera. To get the effect this one lens give you, years ago I would buy Softar filters for my Hasselblad at over $200 each! Now, this Canon lens gives me sharpness, or different degrees of softness, like the old-fashioned portrait lenses, and all at a fraction of the price. Just be careful not to overdo the softness when doing portraits.

I bought this lens in the 1990s, chiefly because a number of my family members are older and don't appreciate photographs containing facial wrinkles. Although this problem can now be eliminated through the use of various Photoshop (TM) techniques, these techniques still leave the individual's skin with an artificially smooth appearance, or an appearance that is so perfect that it is not life-like. The soft-focus features of this lens allows the photographer to veil the subject's skin, to place a sort of glow on it instead, leaving matters in a more believable condition than what I can achieve in Photoshop (tm). Additionally the 135mm focal length of the lens gives an excellent perspective on the subject's face; the lens is ideal for portraits, though you do have to use it with care, so as not to do overdo the soft focus appearance.
If you use the lens as a short-length telephoto, all I can say is, don't use use it wide open. That said, the lens is a genuine bargain for its price, and for portrait use, excellent.

I bought this lens in the 1990s, chiefly because a number of my family members are older and don't appreciate photographs containing facial wrinkles. Although this problem can now be eliminated through the use of various Photoshop (TM) techniques, these techniques still leave the individual's skin with an artificially smooth appearance, or an appearance that is so perfect that it is not life-like. The soft-focus features of this lens allows the photographer to veil the subject's skin, to place a sort of glow on it instead, leaving matters in a more believable condition than what I can achieve in Photoshop (tm). Additionally the 135mm focal length of the lens gives an excellent perspective on the subject's face; the lens is ideal for portraits, though you do have to use it with care, so as not to do overdo the soft focus appearance. If you use the lens as a short-length telephoto, all I can say is, don't use use it wide open. That said, the lens is a genuine bargain for its price, and for portrait use, excellent.