"Best" 135mm manual lens for portrait -for the money?

[NandorHUN]

Hi!

I am looking for a lens that is 135mm and good for portraits for a reasonable price.

I'm not familiar with manual lens but I was thinking about Pentax, Nikon Q, Canon FD or Minolta Rokkor f2.8 lenses....

What lens would you buy? I dont plan to invest much money, but I want to get the best I can for it if possible.

Thanks.

 

[third son]

Hi!

I am looking for a lens that is 135mm and good for portraits for a reasonable price.

I'm not familiar with manual lens but I was thinking about Pentax, Nikon Q, Canon FD or Minolta Rokkor f2.8 lenses....

What lens would you buy? I dont plan to invest much money, but I want to get the best I can for it if possible.

Thanks.

I just bought a nikon 135mm f 2.8 non ai lens today. It is well regarded. I will let you know ;-)

 

[NandorHUN]

Hi!

I am looking for a lens that is 135mm and good for portraits for a reasonable price.

I'm not familiar with manual lens but I was thinking about Pentax, Nikon Q, Canon FD or Minolta Rokkor f2.8 lenses....

What lens would you buy? I dont plan to invest much money, but I want to get the best I can for it if possible.

Thanks.

I just bought a nikon 135mm f 2.8 non ai lens today. It is well regarded. I will let you know ;-)

 

[JpGomez]

Hi!

I am looking for a lens that is 135mm and good for portraits for a reasonable price.

I'm not familiar with manual lens but I was thinking about Pentax, Nikon Q, Canon FD or Minolta Rokkor f2.8 lenses....

What lens would you buy? I dont plan to invest much money, but I want to get the best I can for it if possible.

Thanks.

if you want modern design 135mm manual focus then look at samyang/rokinon FE 135mm f2.8

IQ comparable to the expensive 135mm CZ that is highly regarded.

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[NandorHUN]

Hi!

I am looking for a lens that is 135mm and good for portraits for a reasonable price.

I'm not familiar with manual lens but I was thinking about Pentax, Nikon Q, Canon FD or Minolta Rokkor f2.8 lenses....

What lens would you buy? I dont plan to invest much money, but I want to get the best I can for it if possible.

Thanks.

if you want modern design 135mm manual focus then look at samyang/rokinon FE 135mm f2.8

IQ comparable to the expensive 135mm CZ that is highly regarded.

 

[third son]

Hi!

I am looking for a lens that is 135mm and good for portraits for a reasonable price.

I'm not familiar with manual lens but I was thinking about Pentax, Nikon Q, Canon FD or Minolta Rokkor f2.8 lenses....

What lens would you buy? I dont plan to invest much money, but I want to get the best I can for it if possible.

Thanks.

if you want modern design 135mm manual focus then look at samyang/rokinon FE 135mm f2.8

IQ comparable to the expensive 135mm CZ that is highly regarded.

I thought of that as well but for the cost the old glass performs quite well.

 

[W3PYF]

Hi!

I am looking for a lens that is 135mm and good for portraits for a reasonable price.

I'm not familiar with manual lens but I was thinking about Pentax, Nikon Q, Canon FD or Minolta Rokkor f2.8 lenses....

What lens would you buy? I dont plan to invest much money, but I want to get the best I can for it if possible.

Thanks.

Easy - hands down, the Canon FDn 135mm f2.8 is razor sharp wide open, plentiful, and costs about $50.

Check out Phillip Reeves on this lens: https://phillipreeve.net/blog/guide-canon-fd-lenses-digital-age-2/#Canon_nFD_2820

I’ve owned mine since the film era. But for portraits, I prefer to work closer with my Nikkor 85mm f2 AiS or my Nikkor 105mm f2.5 AiS - the latter arguably the most highly regarded portrait lens of the film era. But they each cost 3-5X a Canon FD 135mm f2.8 in excellent/mint condition.

 

[Mathieu18]

Nikon 105/2.5 is hard to beat. I have a rough body with clean glass for under $100 if a 105 works.

Otherwise Minolta 100/2.5, Minolta 135s are all pretty good and cheap. Not the sharpest but smooth bokeh. Canon FD 135/2.5 is large but cheap and good. Takumar has a few good 135s too. It was kinda like a long 50, inexpensive and not too many terrible ones.

Hi!

I am looking for a lens that is 135mm and good for portraits for a reasonable price.

I'm not familiar with manual lens but I was thinking about Pentax, Nikon Q, Canon FD or Minolta Rokkor f2.8 lenses....

What lens would you buy? I dont plan to invest much money, but I want to get the best I can for it if possible.

Thanks.

 

[lattesweden]

Hi!

I am looking for a lens that is 135mm and good for portraits for a reasonable price.

I'm not familiar with manual lens but I was thinking about Pentax, Nikon Q, Canon FD or Minolta Rokkor f2.8 lenses....

What lens would you buy? I dont plan to invest much money, but I want to get the best I can for it if possible.

Thanks.

The Samyang 135/2 (not 2.8) is a more modern manual lens and it gets good reviews.

Or vintage ones like others already have mentioned. Of all the different Minolta 135/2.8 lenses those with 4 elements in 4 groups are the highest regarded ones.

 

[DVT80111]

You are supposed to follow the model movement instead of worrying about focusing. Let the EyeAF do the work for you.

 

[PWPhotography]

Canon 135L/2.0 is excellent, still can AF via adapter. You can find in bargain price from Canon factory refurbished in additional 15% or 10% off deals from time to time, or used copies in eBay. It has great colors and bokeh.

 

[RandyMagnum93]

I had the Rokinon/Samyang 135 f2 for awhile and it's sharp as hell, but I shot less portraits than I imagined and it's too heavy for a landscape prime. I picked up my Nikon mount for about $240, looks like prices have gone up though, but my Nikon adapter ran me less than $20 from Amazon. At that focal length range I'd look at the Minolta and Zeiss 100mm lenses, check out Phillip Reeve's website.

 

[QuietOC]

Otherwise Minolta 100/2.5, Minolta 135s are all pretty good and cheap. Not the sharpest but smooth bokeh.

My Minolta AF 135 F2.8 is very sharp wide-open. It certainly can be used as a manual lens. The internal focus mechanusm is very light and smooth. It is not electronic other than a lens ID chip.

 

[ASRBriggs]

Contax Zeiss 135mm f2.8 (make sure to get the japanese made MMJ version, not the German made AEG version)

 

[jonpais]

You are supposed to follow the model movement instead of worrying about focusing. Let the EyeAF do the work for you.

Hard to disagree with that

 

[ASRBriggs]

JPEG SOOC. At f2.8 from memory.

 

[jonpais]

JPEG SOOC. At f2.8 from memory.

Nice portraiture.

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The Daejeon Chronicles

The number one resource for information about HDR technology, workflows, tutorials, news and opinion.

jonpais.wordpress.com

 

[third son]

You are supposed to follow the model movement instead of worrying about focusing. Let the EyeAF do the work for you.

How's that supposed to work with a manual focus lens?

 

[ASRBriggs]

Use your imagination and extrapolate. I'm not entering a contest. It's a quick backyard shot to show centre sharpness and bokeh quantity/quality.

 

[QuietOC]

You are supposed to follow the model movement instead of worrying about focusing. Let the EyeAF do the work for you.

How's that supposed to work with a manual focus lens?

You have the lens mounted on a Techart Pro adapter.