135L or 90TS?

I'm tossing around the idea of a focusing screen viewfinder mirror replacement majigger, but even without there's always liveview and focusing by eye in the viewfinder (not terribly accurate, but not terrible either). I only really mind manual for fast-paced things, but that's what the 85 is for.

As far as whether 135 is an appropriate focal length for me, my 85 got quite a bit of use on my 7D (especially when shooting shows from the audience) so that doesn't worry me too much.

I think I have a much better idea of what to expect out of the 135 than I do the TS-E, so I'm going to go ahead and rent the latter for a weekend and see what I think of it. Thank you all for your input and keep it coming if you have anything to add! I'd love to hear it!

Now the manual focus problem never came to mind--something to do with when I learned photography. And those new Zeiss lenses just reinforce that training.

FatCat0 wrote in post #12470494
I think I have a much better idea of what to expect out of the 135 than I do the TS-E, so I'm going to go ahead and rent the latter for a weekend and see what I think of it. Thank you all for your input and keep it coming if you have anything to add! I'd love to hear it!

Read up on the use of tilt before you rent. Let me know, I've got some sites that are worth visiting.

I'd love to see them. I tried looking for tilt-shift tutorials online but 90+% are either the fake miniature look or PP to get said look.

Here are two shots, one a stitch using the shift on a 90mm TSE, the other a 35mm image cropped to nearly the same view.

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And here's where the 90 shines in 100 percent crops.

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To me the 85/1.8 and 135L are largely redundant. The 90 TSE offers something very new and unique to your lineup.

Straight shot, no edits, crops or AF (of course). ISO 800, AV at f2.8, mixed FL light and daylight, 1/400s exp. Canon 5D2, 90mm TS-E.

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Let's compare an 85L f1.2 II to the 90mm f2.8 TSE. Different days and years, different light. Obviously the 85 turns the background softer sooner, the TSE is more realistic, but I think it will do nicely as a portrait lens, if one remembers to have the T&S at center points and locked down. Sharpness is not a problem. Anything else can be adjusted such as the warmth or color balance.

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advaitin
I love the picture of the lady with the glasses.
The 90 is such a fun lens.

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windpig wrote in post #12500160
advaitin
I love the picture of the lady with the glasses.
The 90 is such a fun lens.

It is. I have to wonder what it is that people want when they say they hope Canon comes out with a version II.

Here's a 100 percent crop of grandgirl's right eye and a close up of some of the pets. The eye, other than cropping is unedited. The birds were shot under low light and some editing was done. 5DII and 90mm TSE. The lady with glasses is my wife, who hates being the test subject.

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advaitin wrote in post #12501654
It is. I have to wonder what it is that people want when they say they hope Canon comes out with a version II.

Personally, I want rotatable axes, an IQ boost to keep up with the denser sensors, IS, and an AF-motor for use with contrast-detect AF in the newer cameras.

Sp1207 wrote in post #12501666
Personally, I want rotatable axes, an IQ boost to keep up with the denser sensors, IS, and an AF-motor for use with contrast-detect AF in the newer cameras.

And what do you want out of a version II in the real world?

WhyFi wrote in post #12502372
And what do you want out of a version II in the real world?

Basically you could boil down IS, dual axes, and an AF motor into usability, and then an IQ improvement to keep up with sensors.

I love it when some tries pulling my leg.