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SL with 135 APO


lpeeples

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This is a great combo... so easy to focus. A friend had the 135APO and 90-280 and I'm thinking about buying one or the other.  Both are great lenses. The 90-280 is so big and the 135 is nice and compact. Trying to convince myself I don't need both.... here is the 135 of the USS Detroit docked in Detroit.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/louppls/30221719402/in/dateposted-public/

 

 

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Don McCullin says that he can do anything with a 28mm and 135mm lens (see http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/Don_McCullin.do).  Of course he's talking about working with a Canon DSLR and has autofocus, but for a huge range of contexts (landscape, reportage, street etc.) these two focal lengths are incredibly flexible.  They're both bread and butter lenses for me on the M and now on the SL. I can't see myself ever buying the 90-280 - even if I could afford it! :)

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Don McCullin says that he can do anything with a 28mm and 135mm lens (see http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/Don_McCullin.do).  Of course he's talking about working with a Canon DSLR and has autofocus, but for a huge range of contexts (landscape, reportage, street etc.) these two focal lengths are incredibly flexible.  They're both bread and butter lenses for me on the M and now on the SL. I can't see myself ever buying the 90-280 - even if I could afford it! :)

 

I ordered the 135.  I agree with you... I am going to wait on the 90-280.  I love the way the SL works with the M primes and I can choose to shoot with the 240 or SL depending what I am doing.  Wondering if I need a 90.  With the 135 I go from 75 to 135.  90 is so close to 75 though.

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If robust weather sealing with the SL is needed, the only current option in this range is the zoom.  Tradeoffs.

 

Only a matter of time it seems before we'll see longer native SL primes.

 

Jeff

All true - but the weight and bulk of the AF SL lenses will remain an issue.  If you can live with manual focus, using R and M lenses on the SL continues to be an attractive option.  

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I have R lenses from 135mm to 250mm, plus the appropriate 2x doubler, yet the SL90-280 remains an interesting possibility/option for me. Why? Because, aside from its obvious size and weight and its equally obvious image quality, its optical image stabilization would mean that I could use it more flexibly, hand-held, than the manual focus lenses that I adapt to the camera. 

 

I have not been using the longer end of my current lenses' focal lengths very much recently, but I expect this would change some if I had the image stabilized 90-280mm lens.

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All true - but the weight and bulk of the AF SL lenses will remain an issue.  If you can live with manual focus, using R and M lenses on the SL continues to be an attractive option.  

 

Hence my one word sentence that followed....."Tradeoffs."

 

Jeff

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Tradeoffs indeed.  I own the 135 and for a little league tournament this July I rented the 90-280 fo a week.   Hence, I can make comparisons.  In regard to image quality they are both excellent lenses.  I did not do a test side by side, however, so this is subjective.  The 90-280 has the advantage of autofocus (which for sports is of high value).  The 135 obviously has half the reach but with a 24mp sensor, cropping is quite possible.  But I will not buy the 90-280 because it is simply too big and heavy to lug around.   If I have another particular project that calls for it I will rent it again.   For little league where I can get fairly close, I will stick with the 135, or use the T 55-135, which is like a 80-200.  The advantage there is autofocus, and the 10mp crop is utterly fine for the end uses of the images.

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The 135mm (I use older ones) are great for a private event, as they are quite unobtrusive. I agree completely, the 28 and the 135 make a wonderful combination, with or without a 50mm lens.

But for a serious event or a day long trip the Apo 90-280 is the best lens I ever had. Optically it is perfect (even better than the 70-200 Nikons I used before). And OIS makes it a sure thing (even if you are nervous or in a crowd). Additionally it is noiseless (a litttle bit of OIS noise, but less than the NiCan). Despite its size it is a phantastic portrait lens - also because of its very short close focus distance (0.6 m at 90 mm), in this regard the 135mm lenses are actually quite weak. (Their only big minus).   :)

 

The 90-280 is of constant length, different to many other tele zoom lenses. This makes it easy to hold and handle. I find it easier than the Nikon 70-200 VR or the Canon 100-400L IS II . As much as I dislike the SL 24-90, I am admiring Leica for constructing the SL 90-280.

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