Mitakon 135mm f/1.4 Coming Soon

[Canon Rumors]

Is the Canon EF 135 f/2L not fast enough for you? Well Mitakon will remedy that issue, albeit without the aid of autofocus. A new Speedmaster 135mm f/1.4 is coming from Mitakon and will come in Canon EF, Nikon F and Sony E mounts.</p>
<p>You can <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/68748978@N02/sets/72157659989744331/" target="_blank">head over the flickr</a> to see full resolution samples with the lens.</p>

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[9VIII]

Hopefully this can help give Sigma some ideas.

 

[rs]

A 135/1.4 has pretty much the same size entrance pupil as a 200/2 lens. I'm guessing it'll be closer to the 2500g of the 200/2 than the 750g of the 135L.

 

[Etienne]

This looks really cool. On a Sony A7s II (with IBIS) it might be awesome, but it'll cost ya I'm sure.

 

[drs]

It seems to be more interesting to have a "worlds first" than anything else, I guess the motivation for Sigma or Canon to work on such lens is lower now.

So, let's hope for a 100mm 1.4 Art or L instead, the 85 F/1.4 is hopefully in the hand of testers already ;o)

(For me a set of lenses is only as fast as the slowest one, if we talk about filming on a given set, so, I enjoy the development of the Art 1.4 series from Sigma a lot)

 

[fyngyrz]

"Full resolution samples on flickr"

Seems doubtful. Low resolution in the 1k horizontal range. EXIF data removed so there's no record of the actual camera resolution or lens settings or cropping, if any. And the nearest image of the license plate shows significant sharpening around the plate alphanumerics, which makes me worry about the sharpness of the lens itself.

I want this to be a thing, an actual sharp lens I could point at nearer deep sky objects and take tracking free shots of, but... the images feel pretty darned... "not quite right."

Price is a very important question too -- price as related to performance, anyway. If it's not a sharp lens, then I wouldn't pay much for it. I already have a Canon f/2 200L and that's not a bad lens, though hardly perfect. If it is a sharp lens, and it isn't plagued with chromatic aberration and coma wide open (cough, my Canon 24mm f/1.4L cough), then I could be persuaded to part with several k$.

Well, it's intriguing, that's for sure. I'll be waiting with interest for actual lens performance tests.

 

[Mistral75]

A 135/1.4 has pretty much the same size entrance pupil as a 200/2 lens. I'm guessing it'll be closer to the 2500g of the 200/2 than the 750g of the 135L.

The Vivitar Professional 135mm f/1.5 from the '60s weighted a hefty four pounds, eight ounces (2,040g).

 

[EOBeav]

I can't imagine manually focusing this thing wide open. Then again, I never had to in the pre-AF days.

 

[9VIII]

I can't imagine manually focusing this thing wide open. Then again, I never had to in the pre-AF days.

In pre-AF days people had stuff like rangefinders and focusing screens that allowed accurate manual focus, right now virtually every optical viewfinder is designed for ease of use and not precision.
It would be really nice if Canon would actually let people change focusing screens on more than just one or two models. The ability to manual focus accurately is one of the biggest reasons I want a mirrorless camera.

 

[Mistral75]

"Full resolution samples on flickr"

Seems doubtful. Low resolution in the 1k horizontal range. EXIF data removed so there's no record of the actual camera resolution or lens settings or cropping, if any. And the nearest image of the license plate shows significant sharpening around the plate alphanumerics, which makes me worry about the sharpness of the lens itself.

(...)

The only full resolution pictures in the Flickr album (which was compiled by yours truly, by the way) are two of those featuring the lens itself, which have probably been taken with a camera phone.

 

[vscd]

For me it's equally interesting to get a 270mm f2.8 (when used with 2xExtender)... for a hopefull low price

 

[Haydn1971]

105mm filter ! Wow !

 

[BL]

Without focusing screens that accurately show DOF at those apertures, what's the point really? I've never been one to shoot at those apertures with liveview (unless I'm on a tripod)

 

[4myrrh1]

135 mm was always a great focal length for shooting the stars. Lets hope that the distortions are well controlled.

 

[kten]

hmmm I'll skip this, they don't have good track record of producing more than substandard lenses and there is better in their price bracket such as newer samyangs. Samyang 135mm F2 still the better lens albeit a stop slower but has no issues with ca & sa, coma, unusably poor corners, horrifically flare prone although is poor on vignetting front is not as bad as all the mitakon reviews I've read and every model suffers from at least one of issues I mention.

Speed followed by sharpness alone (an all the mitakons seem average) do not make a great lens imo and without the other elements being right the IQ will still be poor. Seems more marketing thing to me, although admittedly sigma 18-35 worlds first fast crop zoom blah blah on crop impressed me in most IQ aspects across the board so picked one up without hesitation as it wasn't just a marketing gimmick.

 

[sdsr]

This looks really cool. On a Sony A7s II (with IBIS) it might be awesome, but it'll cost ya I'm sure.

Mirrorless w evf will make focusing easier, though holding the thing will likely be rather a chore. With all its metal and glass, their 50mm f/.95 weighs 720g, which is rather more than I like a 50mm to weigh, so the 135 1.4 won't be fun to use. May be good, though - I like the 50mm, while reviews suggest that their recent 85mm 1.2 is better than the current Canon....

 

[Mac Duderson]

Dang Canon your snoozing and loosing! ha ha! A while ago I was pondering the idea of a 100mm 1.2 or 135mm 1.4 and mathematically thought it should be possible with the 135mm 1.5 out for years and always wondered who would be the first to build them. I thought Nikon or Canon would do them even to have the bragging rights of saying they were the first at some things again but it seems like they don't really care about that much anymore. Lots of arguments saying Siggy's 20mm 1.4 is overkill and probably now this 135mm 1.4 but I think it's cool seeing these "smaller" companies pulling off some pretty neat and bold ideas. I think they deserve the bragging rights just for going a little more outside the box.
If the price is right I think I will definitely give this lens a go since I like the Extreme crazy shallow DOF. In the last year I have been outbid on a few 135mm 1.5's around $1k.
My main lens is 85mm 1.2 and rarely use my 135mm f2 (being so long) so I probably won't mind MF if I can get that much more blur in my portraits. It "may" replace my 135mm f2. Who knows
Good job Mitakon!! ;D

 

[Viggo]

I already have a Canon f/2 200L and that's not a bad lens, though hardly perfect.

It doesn't get much better than that lens on every aspect, so not sure why you would say that.

 

[Mistral75]

Announced and available for preorder. 3 grands for 3 kg.

http://www.zyoptics.net/product/pre-order-mitakon-speedmaster-135mm-f1-4/

 

[guweck]

Mitakon come and take my money!!!