Here’s an updated long term review on what I call the “best lens that no one is using”. The Zeiss Milvus 135mm F2 APO Sonnar is one of the best optical instruments in the world, but it is in few people’s kits. I noted on B&H Photo that the Canon EF version I’m reviewing has only 5 user reviews (all five star, of course) despite being around for nearly four years. In my long term video review I explore what makes this lens so great, but also the reasons why few people are using it and why even I don’t reach for it as often as what I would like. If you want to read my original text review, you can find it here. I’m doing the video review on a Canon EOS R body, though photos in the gallery have been taken with everything from a Canon EOS R to a 6D to a Canon 5D Mark IV and even some shots adapted to Sony! Enjoy the video review of one of my favorite lenses!
Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like. Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support.
Great News! I can now offer a 5% discount on all purchases at Amplis Foto, Canada’s Leading Photographic Supplier. Please enter discount code: AMPLIS52018DA in your cart. It is good for everything in your cart, and is stackable with other coupons, too! It will take 5% off your entire order! Proceeds go towards keeping this site going and providing you with new reviews!
Keywords: Zeiss Milvus 135mm F2, Otus 135mm 2, Zeiss 135mm F2, Zeiss Milvus 135mm 2, Otus 135 Review, APO Sonnar, Milvus 135mm, Milvus 135 Review, Milvus2135, Milvus 135mm Review, Milvus 135 2 Review, Carl Zeiss, Zeiss, 135mm, F2, Canon EOS R, EOS R5, Dustin Abbott, Sample Images, Video, Video Test, review, Video review, Real World, Sony a7RIII, Sigma MC-11, Sharpness, Resolution, Bokeh
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Edward and Emily approached me about doing a portrait/engagement session, and, because I have a good relationship with them (and because they are a beautiful young couple), I asked if they would be willing for me to feature them in a tutorial video and this article. Edward and Emily were kind enough to agree. I would highly recommend that you watch this video episode:
Fall in Ontario, Canada, is the perfect season for a portrait session. We shot at the beginning of the second week of October, and though the available light was overcast and grey, it naturally diffuses the light and the colors were great!
Let’s talk gear for a moment, and then I’ll come back to some technique at the end.
I chose my Sony a7R3 for this photo shoot (my review of the a7R3 is here), primarily because I wanted to use several manual focus lenses, and the a7R3 is my favorite platform for MF glass. It’s quick and easy to confirm focus, and the built in image stabilization (IBIS) helps eliminate camera shake from the equation. I actually used several Canon EF mount lenses and elected to use the Sigma MC-11 adapter (I have about four “smart” adapters, but the MC-11 is the best all-round performer. While I use manual focus lenses only sparingly in event settings, I often reach for them when shooting portraits because A) I have space to be more deliberate and B) some of the best lenses optically happen to be MF only.
When I added Sony to my kit, I had some concerns about flashes/strobes, as everything I owned, from flash units to triggers, was designed around Canon E-TTL. I realized, however, that I actually hardly ever used TTL. For years I’ve used a Yongnuo YN-622C-TX wireless command unit on the hotshoe of the camera(s) that I was using and then I put my flash units on separate channels with Yongnuo YN-622C wireless triggers mounted to the flashes and manually controlled the output from each flash from the command unit. I typically want just a bit of fill light from my flashes so that my photos have a more natural look.
I put the flash command unit in Manual HSS (High Speed Sync) mode and control the power output from the TX command unit(s). This system seems to work well, and allows me to make quick adjustments on the fly and not worry about shutter speed due to being in HSS mode. Because the flash units are wirelessly controlled, I just use an assistant (or assistants, depending on the size of the group I need to light) to hold my light(s) at the height/angles that I want. I help shape and soften the lights by using the Lite Genius Super-Scoops on them (you can see my video review of these light modifiers here:). Fortunately this works just as well on Sony as it did on Canon, and this was the lighting setup I used for these photos. I only needed one assistant due to this being a couple, and I would often “hide” her beyond trees in wider shots or just out of frame in others.
I used a total of three different lenses on the a7R3: The first is the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II, a gorgeous lens that balances a great focal length with amazing optical performance. This is a great lens for adding a wider perspective and for environmental portraits, and the fact that I can easily shoot it at f/1.4 gives me the ability to play with the depth of field creatively. My review of the lens is here. I used the MC-11 to adapt it to the Sony, and thanks to more recent firmware updates to the MC-11, it works better than ever. Here is a gallery of some of the photos I took with the 35L II:
One of my current favorite lenses to use for a lot of things is the amazing Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 65mm f/2 Macro lens (my review here). It’s a manual-focus-only lens, but the combination of color, resolution, and contrast is just fabulous. I actually used it for the fewest amount of shots in this session, but that was more due to the types of shots I chose more than anything. I love using it. Here’s a gallery of the photos that I look with the Voigt 65:
The final lens I used (and the one I used the most heavily) is the Zeiss Milvus 135mm f/2 (my review here). I think this is one of the most special lenses optically in the world, but unfortunately on the native Canon cameras (I have a Canon EF mount lens), it’s not the easiest lens to use because DSLRs aren’t often very friendly to MF glass (focus is tough!). When I adapt it to the Sony (and I have high hopes for it on the new Canon EOS R, too!), it’s simple to visually confirm focus, and getting the image stabilization from the a7R3 is a great bonus. I think you’ll be able to agree that the photos from the Milvus 2/135 are special! Here are some of those photos:
I shared one photo from this combination on Flickr, and it was featured in Flickr’s Explore (Position #5) and quickly got more than 100,000 views and 1000 favorites! Apparently a lot of people liked this combination!
Let’s take a look at this photo and I’ll give you a little feedback on technique. Because I used a MF lens, it was important to prefocus the lens before the “action” started. I set up the couple near a branch with some autumn leaves still on it as that provided a static amount of leaves already in the frame, which meant one less variable (trying to get all those leaves in the air!). I shot a burst of shots after the leaves were thrown in the air over the couple, and for the final image I actually composited two of the photos together to give both a greater number of photos along with a more even distribution of the leaves. Everything here is natural, though, and I’ve not added anything to the photo.
Whenever I shoot a portrait session or wedding, I recommend to the couple or individual that they look online at photos that they like and have them send those to me. I put them all on a page (or pages) and print them out as a visual guide for the day. This helps in a number of ways. First, it gives me an idea of the personal style of the couple and what they like. I’ll augment these with some of my own poses, but at the end of the day I believe that these sessions are about them…not about me. Having the printed out poses helps to give them a visual aid of what I want them to do in that particular pose, which really helps certain people who are less comfortable with posing. I also often model the pose or positioning that I want them to do. If it is a couple, I will pose one of them, and then step into the position that I want the other to do. It provides some laughs and also helps them to see exactly what I want them to do.
Mixing that up with a little creative playing with depth of field (in this case I focused on a small plant to put the couple out of focus and composed the shot in an unconventional way) to create some different kinds of “storytelling” images helps make them the stars in their own world.
I don’t ever want to just clone images that someone else has done. I adapt the poses to the body types of the couple, the environment, and also to the body language that is natural to them. I get them in the basic pose, and then ask them how they would naturally interact in that setting. This allows these photos (and poses) to become their own.
One final point: I not only want people to be happy with their photos; I want them to be happy with the experience! I do my best to inject laughter and fun into the day. If they are loose and relaxed, it will make for both better photos and a better experience.
At the end of the day we had all had a great time and had a bunch of special images. Thanks to Edward and Emily for being such great sports!
Here’s a consolidated group of links to the gear that I used.
Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like. Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support.
Great News! I can now offer a 5% discount on all purchases at Amplis Foto, Canada’s Leading Photographic Supplier. Please enter discount code: AMPLIS52018DA in your cart. It is good for everything in your cart, and is stackable with other coupons, too! It will take 5% off your entire order! Proceeds go towards keeping this site going and providing you with new reviews!
Use Code “DUSTINHDR” to get $10 off ($15 CDN) Luminar and/or AuroraHDR
Keywords: Portrait, Sony a7R3, Dustin Abbott, Sony a7riii, Voigtländer, 65mm, Zeiss, Milvus 135mm, Milvus 135mm, Canon, 35LII, 35mm, f/1.4L II, Canon 35 F1.4, Technique, How To, Flashes, Strobing, Sample Images, Video, Engagement, Poses
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Don’t get me wrong; I do love to post-process images. It is that second dimension of modern photography where you can take a good photo and make it great. About four years ago I wrote a series of articles for Alien Skin Exposure’s blog on how to take an image from good to great through post processing. (Part 1 | Part 2| Part 3) Through quality (and nuanced) processing technique you can take a good photo and make it transcendent. If you look at the top-rated photos at most photo sharing sites you will see a lot of fantastic images…almost all of which have received a good deal of processing work. But today’s article and photo gallery is called, “In Praise of Excellence”, and it celebrates the exceptional nature of two of my favorite lenses in my own personal kit along with the kind of images that come right out of the camera when you are using great glass.
There are definitely some things that you can improve through processing. Color rendition, contrast, tone curves, highlights, shadows, and more. You can change the whole look of an image. But there are some things that software simply cannot emulate. The quality of the rendering, the creaminess of the bokeh, subject isolation, and that unique three-dimensional look the best lenses can give.
I am unquestionably blessed to get to do what I do. I have access to all the most recent lenses and gear, and it is exceptionally rare that I don’t have gear that belongs to someone else sitting around. But can I make a rather jaded confession? There are moments when I crave using my own gear. I don’t want to use the latest and greatest; I just want to use what’s familiar. I have carefully put together a kit that includes a number of my favorite lenses, and often I’m not shooting with them because I need to be covering the newest gear.
Thursdays are my day off, and I often like to just get out in the woods for a few hours to hike, decompress, and shoot “just for the fun of it”. Thursday arrived somewhat cool, overcast, with periodic rain. The upside? Colors were rich and saturated. The downside? After a very wet spring and a damp morning the mosquitoes are out in force. I felt like I deserved a blood donor sticker by the time my hike was over.
When I selected the gear for my hike, this is what I chose:
I used the Cotton Carrier harness/vest to allow me to carry two camera bodies with lenses attached for quick access. I find that a backpack is less practical for me on these types of hikes (where I don’t need to carry other things) for the simple reason that if I don’t have quick access to the cameras I end up passing on photo opportunities because I don’t want to mess with stopping long enough to get at the gear. The quick access provided by the Cotton Carrier means that I come home with more photos.
I carried a 5D Mark IV with the exceptional Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II mounted on it. Both of these items cost too much (particularly here in Canada), but when I tested them they stood out to me as being worth the extra money. I think that the 35L II is the best prime lens that Canon makes under 200mm. It has the most Zeiss-like rendering of any Canon lens that I’ve used, with that amazing mix of contrast, sharpness, and three dimensional subject rendering while also offering very smooth bokeh rendering. Combine that with one of the best builds ever in a Canon lens and fantastic autofocus, and you have a lens that just might be worth its lofty asking price. Roger Cicala from LensRentals said this after tearing down the 35L II and inspecting its build: “Sometimes things are expensive because they’re worth it. Sometimes they’re heavy because they’re so solidly constructed. This is one of those times.”
I also carried a Canon 6D with the also exceptional Zeiss Milvus APO Sonnar T* 2/135mm lens attached. The predecessor to this lens (APO Sonnar 2/135m “classic”) was the first modern Zeiss lens that I reviewed, and it was an eye-opening experience. I was shocked by how badly it outperformed the Canon 135mm f/2L that I had in my kit at the time. I definitely was interested in the lens, but it is extremely expensive…and manual focus only. Last year I reviewed the newer Milvus version of the lens, and was again reminded of just how exceptional a lens this is. I’ve reviewed all three of the Otus series lenses (Zeiss’ most high end line), and frankly the Milvus 2/135mm deserves to be named with them. It definitely upholds that standard of excellence. When I had an opportunity to add the Milvus 135mm to my kit, I didn’t hesitate. I keep a Canon 6D body setup for MF (manual focus) glass because the 6D allows the focus screen to be easily swapped out. I have an EG-S matte precision focus screen installed that makes manual focus a much simpler (and more enjoyable) process because you can literally watch things come into focus in the viewfinder. The sensor on the 6D has held up really, really well, and still provides beautiful image quality.
And so, here are the images that I got from these combinations over the process of my hike. Many of them are at very large apertures, to provide a unique depth of field look to set them apart. None of them have had any processing other than a RAW conversion in Lightroom. I’m sharing this article, and these photos, to let you know that while great photography is and will always be about the photographer and his or her eye, that quality gear does matter. These photos simply wouldn’t be possible with a kit lens…no matter how much you processed them!
Some lenses are just expensive, but others are expensive because of a wonderful excellence that sets them (and your photos) apart from the pack. This article and gallery is in celebration of excellence.
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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