Philadelphia Wedding Photographer SingleExposure Photography Blog. Wedding and portrait photography in West Chester, PA, Wilmington, Chester County, Delaware, and New Jersey.

I am no expert equipment reviewer, only a wedding and portrait photographer that practically uses my equipment to deliver my art. I love low light photography and most of my lenses are prime lenses with huge apertures. Honestly I don't use my EF 135 2.0 L lens all that much but after this comparison...I will definitely be using it a lot more after playing with the EF 200 2.0 L IS.

First a disclaimer...I love tight shots, open aperture, yummy boken, and stealthy shooting. My favorite compliment from my wedding clients is, "I never knew you were there getting that shot". My second favorite is loving the "3d" effect of my images, most often with the EF 24 1.4 L lens. Anyway, if you happen to be reading this and don't shoot the way I do...stop reading...I don't have the time or patience for someone else second-guessing my evaluation, cause it is just that...MY evaluation for ME. That said here goes.

So I got the 200 lens from Canon Professional Services...what a great service! So after opening the case and comparing some basic stats, here were a few that were important to me.

Close focus distance:
200 - 6.2 feet, that is a bit far for me personally
135 - 3 feet

DOF of minimum distance:
200 - .02 feet on the 40d and .03 on the 5d
135 - .01 feet on the 40d and .02 on the 5d
All of these are razor thin and requires some really careful focusing and a steady hand

Angle of view:
200 - 12 degrees
135 - 18 degrees
Not that big of a difference in my opinion

Shutter speed for a steady shot:
200 1/200 on 5d or 1/320 on 40d
135 1/135 on 5d or 1/200 on 40d
Of course the HUGE advantage is the IS on the 200...I think I can shoot it at 1/30 with a sharp image...then again I have a really steady hand and can do the same with the 135...remember IS doesn't slow people down!!

The focusing distance alone is one thing that almost made the decision for me before even testing the sharpness and most important to me to compare the boken, angle of view, and compression of the image. So here is how I am comparing the two for my purposes. The 200 on the 5d and the 135 on the 40d...almost equaling the focal length feel (yes I know it isn't the same thing...blah blah). The 135 on the 40d is about 216, or about a half a step back with my zooming feet.

That focal length for me is mainly used for some tight shots in a small church during a ceremony or full-body shots of the ceremony in most churches. For portraits or bridal formals I can definitely use that length for close shots of a senior or couple. With the 135 the focus is fast enough to even track indoor sports or fast kids running around for a family session. I mainly have used the 135 on the 40d as a stealthy reception lens to get all the guests and on the 5d as a great headshot lens for senior portraits.

So here are a couple of images with the lenses mounted...