Amin Sabet
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The Rokinon 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC Lens for Sony E-Mount is a lens you should buy right now if you want a manual focus 135mm f/2 lens. That concludes the review for practical purposes. Read on if interested in the details.
Key Specifications:
Focal Length: 135mm
Equivalent on APS-C Format: 202.5 mm
Aperture Range: f/2 - 22
Minimum Focus Distance: 2.6' (.79 m)
Elements/Groups: 11/7
Diaphragm Blades: 9, Rounded
Image Stabilization: No
Autofocus: No
Tripod Collar: No
Filter Thread Front:77 mm
Dimensions (DxL): Approx. 3.2 x 5.83" (8.13 x 14.81 cm)
Weight: 29.63 oz (840 g)
You can click through any of the images below to see full-resolution (42MP) captures from my Sony A7RII.
You don't lug around such a large and heavy lens unless you want to use it wide open at least some of the time. Most people will use it for portraits.
No beating around the bush, this lens is absurdly sharp at f/2.0. Skin flaws take notice!
All of these were shot wide open (f/2.0):
So yes, this lens is crazy sharp at f/2. It also shows very little of the longitudinal CA (bokeh color fringing) which is so common with fast telephotos. I shot all except the first of those handheld using the body image stabilization of the A7RII manually set for 135mm, which proved very effective. The first one had the body image stabilization set for 15mm but came out sharp anyway.
Don't buy this lens if you expect it to autofocus
. If you shoot action with it, count on sometimes missing focus at f/2, but even the misses can be fun:
Bokeh series (f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6)
Focus is on the bolt in the upper right corner of the frame (yes, the extreme corner is that sharp at all apertures):
For my tastes, bokeh is perfect. Just the right swirly character wide open and nearly perfectly round as you stop down.
Sharpness series (f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11)
Focus is on the center of the frame:
As you can see, sharpness is outstanding throughout the frame wherever depth of field is adequate. There is no distortion to speak of and lens contrast is high from wide open. Light falloff is noticeable at f/2, detectable at f/2.8, and gone (for practical purposes) at f/4. I didn't encounter any flare but didn't specifically test for this.
The bottom line is that the Rokinon 135mm f/2 lens is incredibly good optically. I've paid 5x as much for telephoto lenses which weren't half as good. None of the excellent primes I've used at this focal length (Canon 135mm f/2L, Nikon 135mm f/2 AIS, Vivitar Series 1 135mm f/2.3) can keep up optically with the affordable Rokinon.
Will I buy this lens? I haven't decided yet. If it were autofocus, I would buy it right now at twice the price without a second thought and probably at four times the price after some careful deliberation. But manual focus at 135mm is a challenge when you have kids who don't keep still or have a lot of patience for dad's photography, and that's where I find myself!
Download all raw files from this review: Rokinon135raw.zip
Rokinon 135mm f/2.0 Lens pricing / availability: Rokinon 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC Lens for Sony E Mount 135M-E B&H
Key Specifications:
Focal Length: 135mm
Equivalent on APS-C Format: 202.5 mm
Aperture Range: f/2 - 22
Minimum Focus Distance: 2.6' (.79 m)
Elements/Groups: 11/7
Diaphragm Blades: 9, Rounded
Image Stabilization: No
Autofocus: No
Tripod Collar: No
Filter Thread Front:77 mm
Dimensions (DxL): Approx. 3.2 x 5.83" (8.13 x 14.81 cm)
Weight: 29.63 oz (840 g)
You can click through any of the images below to see full-resolution (42MP) captures from my Sony A7RII.
You don't lug around such a large and heavy lens unless you want to use it wide open at least some of the time. Most people will use it for portraits.
No beating around the bush, this lens is absurdly sharp at f/2.0. Skin flaws take notice!
All of these were shot wide open (f/2.0):
So yes, this lens is crazy sharp at f/2. It also shows very little of the longitudinal CA (bokeh color fringing) which is so common with fast telephotos. I shot all except the first of those handheld using the body image stabilization of the A7RII manually set for 135mm, which proved very effective. The first one had the body image stabilization set for 15mm but came out sharp anyway.
Don't buy this lens if you expect it to autofocus
. If you shoot action with it, count on sometimes missing focus at f/2, but even the misses can be fun:
Bokeh series (f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6)
Focus is on the bolt in the upper right corner of the frame (yes, the extreme corner is that sharp at all apertures):
For my tastes, bokeh is perfect. Just the right swirly character wide open and nearly perfectly round as you stop down.
Sharpness series (f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11)
Focus is on the center of the frame:
As you can see, sharpness is outstanding throughout the frame wherever depth of field is adequate. There is no distortion to speak of and lens contrast is high from wide open. Light falloff is noticeable at f/2, detectable at f/2.8, and gone (for practical purposes) at f/4. I didn't encounter any flare but didn't specifically test for this.
The bottom line is that the Rokinon 135mm f/2 lens is incredibly good optically. I've paid 5x as much for telephoto lenses which weren't half as good. None of the excellent primes I've used at this focal length (Canon 135mm f/2L, Nikon 135mm f/2 AIS, Vivitar Series 1 135mm f/2.3) can keep up optically with the affordable Rokinon.
Will I buy this lens? I haven't decided yet. If it were autofocus, I would buy it right now at twice the price without a second thought and probably at four times the price after some careful deliberation. But manual focus at 135mm is a challenge when you have kids who don't keep still or have a lot of patience for dad's photography, and that's where I find myself!
Download all raw files from this review: Rokinon135raw.zip
Rokinon 135mm f/2.0 Lens pricing / availability: Rokinon 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC Lens for Sony E Mount 135M-E B&H
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