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135mm Tele Lens - for what kind of photography do you use it?


George Stoichev

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Hi,

I know that Tele lens are not the most popular among Leica M users, but despite of this there are some old and new models in the market. My question is particularly for 135mm Tele lens, for what kind of photography do you use it? When you deicide to pick 135mm and mount it from your collection?

Photo examples will be highly appreciate it

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George, you are right. 135mm lenses are not often discussed. However, I refer you to this link A Gem from the Past here https://www.davidaskham.com/a-gem-from-the-past In it you will find another link which expands on my thoughts.

Because these lenses are seldom used, many are still in excellent condition. Any stiffness in focusing, through inaction over time, can usually be eased by gentle exercise.

Edited by wda
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Telephoto, mainly on crop cameras. Elmar 135/4 on Epson R-D1 here.

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135mm is when a bit more reach or compression is better.  90mm and 135mm are perhaps more difficult on a RF camera because of focusing fears.  However, like most other things practice brings better results.  35mm or other wider-angle focal lengths are just easier/faster to grab a shot.  Also, it is my opinion that wide-angle lenses are just more forgiving when it comes to possible composing, framing or focus errors.   135mm is fun and a challenge.

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35MM SUMMICRON

 

135MM TELE-ELMAR

Edited by m410
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135mm is when a bit more reach or compression is better.  135mm f4 Tele-Elmar (1971) on M10r.

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135mm for more COMPRESSION.  135mm f4 Tele-Elmar (1971) on M10.

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Edited by m410
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35mm for more REACH.  135mm f4 Tele-Elmar (1971) on M10.

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I began using the 135 as a naval officer when I had an assignment for the Apollo 11 astronaut pickup way back in 1969. Periodically thereafter I used it to photograph my daughter and around watersports. In recent years I've been using it for nature shots on my walks and also for birds which congregate on a nearby tree. I find the 135 focal length very versatile, both with film and digital.

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For compression - 135 Telyt - M10

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Edited by stephan54
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Reach - Telyt 135

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A 135mm lens can allow the photographer to capture well-framed candid images of camera-shy people and dogs. This included images of my late father-in-law, which are now much-treasured, after his passing.

Another use of a short telephoto lens, in general, is to frame an interesting landscape, in a place where nature/landscapes scenes seem to be “boring,” or where infrastructure makes it difficult to frame a “natural” scene.

The compression of the telephoto can assist in providing the creative look that the shooter wants. 

These are general thoughts, regarding 135mm and other short telephoto lenses. I do not yet have an M-mount 135mm lens. I do have ZE (Canon EOS EF) and ZF.2 (Nikon F) Zeiss f/2 135mm Sonnar APO lenses, plus a Canon EF 135mm f/2L, and tended to use a Nikon AF-S 70-200mm r/2.8G zoom lens mostly at 135mm, so, I obviously like the 135mm focal length. 

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Mostly for landscape photography, such as here 

 

 

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I use it alot for street photography, in rare cases for landscapes, its good to have far reach without alerting potential "victims"😅

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Edited by overexposed
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As others have said - subject isolation (both in framing and focus) - stronger 2D graphic effect - reach - compression. A "90mm with MORE!"

On the trip to Paris shown below, I took both a 90 and my 135. And when I noticed I was cropping many of my 90mm pictures to nearly 135 framing, that told me something. 135 is now my go-to longer lens, often with nothing else longer than a 50 or 35mm (although also a 75 sometimes for extra aperture speed - depends).

I even find a 135 slightly easier to focus, given the enforced moderate aperture (f/4-f/3.4), and the longer subject distances (I get the eyes and the tips of noses both sharp in portraits ;) )

All M9 with 135mm f/4 Tele-Elmar

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Edited by adan
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I also use the 135 for a lot of stage/concert pix, when the lighting allows.

All M10 with 135 Tele-Elmar

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I used to use a 135 for sports, concerts, etc. but these days just for a bit more reach for out-the-window snapshots. Today at 106F I stayed in and just happened to pull out my 135 again after a few years as these critters looked for shade next to our bird feeder. M10, 135 TeleElmar v1:

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Supposed to be 108F the next few days, so I'm staying in...

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Hello Everybody,

A 90 mm lens is useful for removing unwanted foreground, as well as extraneous visual matter on the sides of & above a subject. While, at the same time, recording that subject with a perspective that is not that different from the perspective viewed with a 50mm lens.

A 135mm lens takes a step away from that in the direction of isolating a subject within a scene. 135mm is that place where the separation of the subject from the scene that it is a part of becomes noticeably apparent. The photographer is "reaching" into the scene & abstracting a part of it. Not as much as would be apparent with a 400mm lens. But clearly separating the subject from the larger scene. And it does this with a small degree of image compression.

Interestingly, the angle of coverage of the long side of a 135mm image, 15 degrees, is the same angle of coverage as the short side of an image made with a 90mm lens. This means that the AREA of coverage of a 135mm lens is a little less than 1/2 of the area of coverage of a 90mm lens. Approximately 43.5%. When a person is using a 90mm lens: They can see the angle of coverage of a 135 mm lens by simply rotating the camera/lens 90 degrees & placing the short side of the 90mm frame where the long side of the 90mm frame was before. And then visualizing along the long side of the 90mm frame to a little less than 1/2 of the length of the long side.

Best Regards,

Michael

Edited by Michael Geschlecht
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I use my 135mm Tele Elmar for stage photography - also landscape:

 

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135 portraits from Dranouter, Belgium 

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