Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsThe King of Bokeh, Portrait Master, Great Short-Telephoto
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2012
This lens is very, VERY good as a portrait/short telephoto on FX. On DX this ends up at an equivalent focal length of a 200mm f/2; it's a truly phenomenal medium telephoto and portrait (if you're willing to back up from your subject!). There aren't many frills and features on it; no VR, no aspherical elements; no nano-coating. The purpose of the 135mm f/2 DC is simple: create the best rendered depth of field as possible. The defocus effect is subtle, but under the right circumstances and lighting can create breath-taking images. Even without using the DC ring this lens is an incredible performer. One downside to this lens is it gets some quite noticeable color aberrations when wide-open or using the DC ring in certain lighting -just be wary of your lighting as the CA can get quite bad if you're not careful. Wide open at f/2 you can get incredibly sharp, high-contrast images and melt the background away. The sharpness wide open is very impressive and gets even better as you stop it down, and with the large, rounded aperture blades the bokeh balls stay round and wonderful. Speaking of bokeh, this lens is one the best there is. That's the point.
Mechanically this is a solid, solid hunk of tank-like glass and metal. It weighs quite a bit too, but it's a short lens so it doesn't feel unbalanced (depending on the camera you use of course). My only complaint with the design is that Nikon did not weather seal this lens which might disappoint some, but others may not need it. The autofocus is screw-driven as it's a D-type lens, but it works far better than any other D lens I've used. The focus is quite fast and snappy without much play. *NOTE: the focus will vary depending on the motor in your camera.* I'm glad to say the lens does not torque when you focus unlike other D-type telephotos like the 80-200 2.8D which can cause issues with steadiness; this lens has no vibrations or torque. The focus ring locks when in autofocus which is extremely handy and when you switch over to manual it's smooth, precise and weighted nicely; perfect for portraits and detail work. It's a rear-focus design so nothing moves externally. The focus scale is thorough and easy to read, though the lens doesn't have an infinity hard-stop because of the defocus control. The built-in lens hood is perfect, I wish more of my lenses had this. The mechanics and ergonomics are quite pleasurable and everything is well thought out.
Pros:
- Spectacular image quality and rendering
- Very sharp
- Unmatched quality of depth of field and bokeh
- Precise control of bokeh, softness and aberrations
- Virtually no distortion
- Fast autofocus (even for a D-type)
- Very, VERY good build quality and ergonomics -it's made like an old manual focus lens
- Built-in durable lens hood
- Locking focus ring
- Detailed distance scale
Cons:
- Strong color aberrations at certain apertures, but controllable with DC
- Defocus is tricky (not really a con, but a warning)
- Only stops down to f/16
- Not weather sealed
Verdict: This is the best F-mount lens I've ever used. Stunning image quality, sharpness, depth of field and bokeh; while a little difficult to use, the Nikon 135mm f/2 dc is very enjoyable to shoot and produces some of the best images at this focal range out there. Nikon doesn't make lenses like this anymore and using the DC lenses is an amazing experience.
