Test shots with the Canon 135mm f/2 L

Tomorrow starts a week of shoots at Tumbledown Gymnastics Studio, and in preparation for shooting in pretty dodgy light, I ordered a little something from nice folks at borrowlenses.com – the Canon 135mm f/2 L lens.

To check it out, I accompanied my long-suffering daughter on her exploration of the arroyo beside our house, and grabbed some images.

This is far from a full review, but I really like it. It’s pretty small (at least on a 5D) and unintimidating (although the hood is a chunky addition), which helps in certain situations.

It seems to focus quickly (even on the slightly sluggish 5D), it’s very sharp (as you’d expect from an L prime), and it delivers some nice creamy bokeh. Both these test images were shot at f/2.5, and I love the way the backgrounds disappear as the long focal length, 8-blade construction and nearly wide-open aperture all combine.

So it’s off to the gym tomorrow with it (together with my 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.8). I’ll post some shots from the gymnastics shoots during the week.