Sagittariansrock, the color does not jump off the screen at me...I don't know why you're not mentioning the bokeh! The 135 has the smoothest background bokeh of any Canon lens I'm aware of. Also has terrific contrast and sharpness. The color the lens is capable of, is not mind blowing, but it's nice. The whole point of this lens, is the bokeh...for those that say you can't tell the difference going from f/2 to f/2.8, it's usually because they're comparing the long end of the zoom, 200mm f/2.8, to 135mm f/2. But at 200mm, you aren't taking in as wide of an angle of view...so the subjects are necessarily smaller or farther away...to see a similar degree of bokeh. And that's just not the same experience, or effect. Sure the 85L can also do a fantastic bokeh, but not as many mention using it instead, as much as they mention using the 70-200 instead. It's really just personal preference, but this does not mean the 135L, is not "special".