Lens User Reviews (428)

The lens with the preset is amazing and put it on a helicoid and you can get some wonderful bokeh (wide open). The lens is very sharp.

Weaknesses:

The T mount I have keeps loosening up, but I will solve that soon. RAF Camera to the rescue again.

Comments:

A solid, well made lens.

Sharp, APOchromatic and small. Long manual focus throw. Good build quality.

Weaknesses:

A bit pricey in the second market, you can still get them cheaper brand new. LoL

Slow f/3.5 max aperture.

Comments:

This lens was a discovery for me. Of course a f/3.5 medium telephoto lens seems not to be the most exciting lens in the world, but judge the results hot the specs.

This little gem is very sharp, close the aperture a bit and it is even sharper.

Not a cheap manual focus lens, but you will not find anything smaller and better build for this price. Well, may be the Tamron SP 90mm Adaptall-2 can compete here.

Manual focus is a pleasure, like cutting butter. As the lens has a chip on it, you can trust the focus confirmation on your Canon DSLR most of the time.

Remember that it is a APO lens.

And it is very small for an 90mm lens. Front thread is 52mm diameter like the other Voigtländer SL lenses (20mm, 28mm, 40mm), most Nikkors Ai and Ai-s and the firs batch of EF lenses (28mm, 35mm and 50mm primes).

Autofocus, lightweight, small, cheap.

Weaknesses:

Bad sharpness, feels cheap in the hand.

Comments:

Optically it is far inferior to my Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 Ai-S in any regard except autofocus. Optically It is more close to my Tamron 28mm f/2.5 Adaptall-2, but the Tammy is sharper at f/8.

If you need the borders to be sharp, simply forget this lens or begín to close at f/11...

On the other hand, you will not find a cheaper f-mount 28mm lens that can do autofocus.

Cheap, lightweight and fully pocketable (very small). Good center sharpness.

Weaknesses:

Strong vignetting and magenta cast.

No way to adjust focus nor aperture.

No lens cap, you can use instead a 56mm diameter binocular lens cap.

No lens hood, beware the sun.

Comments:

IMHO it is a toy lens, a funny one in anycase. Simply point and shoot... This lens renders subjects sharp when they are 3 meters away.

Mine is always on my Canon EOS M when the 22m is not in use.

Sharpness is good in center, a bit worse in the corners. Chromatic aberration is well controlled. But it has very strong vignetting, and a booring magenta cast. It has no bokeh to show.

If you shoot in black and white you will get nice vintage pictures without much post-processing, colour pictures need more work.

If you have concerns about damaging the front element of this lens as there is no lens cap, you can use cheap 56mm diameter binocular lens cap instead.

I also tried the second version of this lens which is less sharper in my opinion but provides manual focus function.

This lens is the sharpest lens I own. I know not everyone agrees with that. I use this lens for light table photography to import my negatives into raw format. And is hands down the sharpest, edge to edge of every lens I could use for that purpose. And as far as normal photography, this lens shines.Mine has 12 blades.

Weaknesses:

None.

Comments:

This is a keeper lens.

This is to my opinion the sharpes lens that mamiya has ever made, I use it  in my Mamiya 645AFn with a Phase one 50mp digital back. I have enlarged prints to 96 inches (244 cm) wide and the quality is excellent.

Weaknesses:

None

Comments:

Small and light, very unusual for medium format lenses.

This lens have a high IQ, it is very sharp and I used it at weddings for many years with excellent results.

Weaknesses:

It is big and heavy!

Comments:

It is build like a tank!

This is a very sharp lens and the images are saturated with beautiful colors. Small and lightweight. I use it for Landscape photography on my Sony a7Rii.

Weaknesses:

It is dificult to focus because the focus ring is big and in my copy not very smoth. I don't think is a good walk around lens but excellent for landscape photography.

Comments:

I got my at a very low price, it was mounted in an Exakta camera. The camera was damage, but I opened the lens and fixed,  (it was missing the rubber that goes on top of the focusing ring, I bought a generic one and was able to use it with good results) I manage to salvage the lens and I have used it with excellent results.

I use to be a portrait photographer for 40 years and still today I do some portraits. This is the lens I use for outdoor portraits, I love the skin tones and the bokeh of this lens.

Weaknesses:

Some times it may have a little chromatic aberration, but it can be fix in LR.

Comments:

I have sold most of my Canon EF lenses, but I don't think I can depart from these one.

This is an exellent lens if you like the fisheye effect. 

Weaknesses:

none

Comments:

I have the Canon EF version and in more tham 20 years it has never been for repair.

This is one of the sharpest lens I own. It is also build like a tank.

PERIOD OF USE IS 5 YEARS, (For some reason i pick 5 years and it shows 5 months).

Weaknesses:

None

Comments:

I will never leave home without it, it is always in my bag.

This lens has good contrast, small and light, and overall decent IQ, I compare it and it is lighter and a little sharper than my manual focusing Nikkor 28mm 2.8. Especially on the edges.

Weaknesses:

Has Plastic in it, but it makes it lighter. Actually it may be and avantage.

Comments:

Good quality at low price (about $60). If you want a better performer you can buy an Art lens 28mm for about $600

This is a beautiful lens and it is a great performer, it is very sharp and the colors are amazing.

Weaknesses:

None

Comments:

I also have the 58mm 1.4 that has a nice Boke but I like the colors of the 1.8 better. For Landscape and Nature photography the 1.8 is better. I do mainly Landscape.

This Lens is amazing, It is so sharp and it has some magic in it that makes an average picture look like art. I never use it at f3.5 becouse I do landscaping and I need the deep of field, but at f8 or f11 it will beat all my new canon lenses. I have also compared it to my Topcon 35mm 2.8 and it performs a lot better. This is the only wide angle lens I have that is sharp in the corners. 

Weaknesses:

To me it has no weakness, but if you photograph people or moving objects it may be slow.

Comments:

My copy is the Exakta mount and I use it with an adapter on my Sony a7Rii. If you can find one, buy it you will never regret it. I bought my in Europe and had to wait 3 weeks for it.

Weaknesses:

For some people the weaknes could be that is a f5.5, but for me it doesn't matter because I always use f8 or f11.

Comments:

• Sharp
• pleasing colour rendering
• good flare control
• bokeh

Weaknesses:

• Singapore made lenses are prone to mechanical defects
• bokeh on photos taken from close distance on cloudy day with no light points may be ugly.

Comments:

Optically, it is the same lens as Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f1.8 and Rollei Planar 50mm f1.8 in QBM mount. That means very nice rendering, sharpness, centre sharpness even wide open. Bokeh is a very subjective affair. I personally like planar bokeh, but a lot of reviewers are not pleased with it. To get good results, one needs to know the lens and use it according to its strengths. That means that in some situations Ultron (planar) will create ugly background, but it is easy to avoid it.

Optical quality!!!

Bokeh!!!! The best of 2 dozens of 135s that I've tried on Sony A7ii/iii

Build

Weaknesses:

Heavy and bulky

Comments:

I've tried many highly praised manual Nikkors on FF Sony A7ii/iii, didn't like the images they produced and swore to stay away from NIkon. That is until I found a clean copy of this lens at local shop with 2 weeks return policy. Well, this one stayed in my stable. Color rendering/transitions and BOKEH!!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127536411@N03/50858619447/in/dateposted-public/

sharp

10+ blades

MFD 1.35m

Weaknesses:

Filter diameter 54mm. it has a rather uncommon 54mm filter thread I used the hood of a Steinheil tele-quinar 135mm f/2.8.

Comments:

http://forum.mflenses.com/isco-gttingen-tele-iscaron-135mm-f-2-8-test-t78622.html

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Weaknesses:

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Comments:

In searching for a lenscollar  for the Samyang AF 135mm F1.8 FE I found this one: the iShoot IS-S24240FE. It fits perfect. This lenscollar has the 61.5mm diameter like the Samyang at the lensmount.

Excellent build
Very smooth focus
Ultra long focus trow - about 600° degrees!
Useful integrated lens hood

Nice clean colors, good sharpness, strong 3D-pop.

Weaknesses:

Weight a lot
Some fringing in extreme contrast situation 

Comments:

Still learning how to get best of this lens.