call me crazy (135+1.4 tcon vs 70-200)

I've been thinking about selling my 70-200 and buying the 135 and a 1.4 extender.

Rarely am i at anything other then 70 or 200...i feel the 135 is a better lens. Discuss (anyone ever done this? anyone own both?)

CRAZY Sorry,couldnt resist.

Hey! I was going to say that!

OK - you sell the 70-200 which you mainly use at 70 or 200, get a 135 & 1.4x TC, giving you 135 and 189. Maybe 189 is close enough to 200 to work. But what are you going to do about the gap between 70 and 135? That's a fairly noticeable difference . . .

My future list will look like this

50mm f/1.8 (have)
17-40 (will have within a few months)
34 f/1.4 (some day long down the road)
28-135 (will get some day)
70-200/135
100-400 or some other larger tele.
Really i hope to get the sigma 120-300 f/2.8 but we'll see what happens.


The thing is that the 135 is too sexy to not own, thus I WILL OWN IT. But i have a feeling when i do get it i'll rarely use my 70-200.

Zooms have their place but i rarely use it on longer lenses. Nor am i the type of person that needs every mm covered. I'm always slightly amused when people go out of their way to get every single mm from their widest to their longest (someone will have a 12-24, then buy a 20-70, then a 70-200 etc)

There is clearly nothing wrong with it, but i just want to know when the rule was written that you must have every mm in your bag.

I love the 70-200 but at times it is just too long, physically (not focal length). Now that football season is coming to an end and basketball/wrestling season is starting..i think i'd get much more use out of the 135. I've become very addicted to sharp fast lenses...their is no replacement. I'm at the point where i dont consider 2.8 all that fast, anything slower is "slow". It's an illness i tell ya!

can you afford to own both lenses at the same time?
If so, I would keep the 70-200 once you have the 135, and then see if its used in say a couple of months of owning the 135.

If not, then you can ditch it, but I think outdoor it's going to be a much more versatile lens than the 135, especially in the summer when f/4 is not such an issue...

Still after Canon to make that one are you? :{)#

. . . and when baseball or next autumn's football roll back around, aren't you going to want that extra length again? As a sports shooter you may well find your lens needs change with the seasons. I understand your situation, but maybe keep the 70-200, get the 135. (Are we talking the f/2 L or the f/2.8 here? And this is the 70-200 f/4, right?) Then add the 1.4x TC down the road, maybe. Or just the 85 and 1.4x now along with the 70-200 you already have. That'll give you a little more speed in a handier indoor size although not quite the reach of the 135. But indoors for basketball, you're closer to the action so you may find you need the zoom more than you may realize.

Since you asked:

Definitely crazy.

One day your persistency will actually challenge Canon to produce this focal lenght for you!

lol

I have no idea why i keep typing it as that?

"once baesball season hits"

I'll take a 11mm hit in that dept. I dont consider the 70-200 that long of a lens.

Another route i've been exploring is trading down to the f/4 version and then buying a 120-300 used.

To me though, for all practicle purposes, the 135 + a 1.4 extender is a 200mm f/2.8 prime. The loss of 11mm is nothing that cant be cropped in PS.

By the way, sorry jon. I guess i wasnt clear

I currently have the 70-200 f/2.8 and am wanting the 135 f/2

Not Crazy

I have the 70-200f4 and I was going to sell it and get the70-200 f2.8 but I am going to buy the 135mm f2.0 and the 1.4 extender and see how it goes. The way I look at it I will use the extender on the 70-200 also. I f you can, keep them both. Your 70-200 with the 1.4 gives you a nice f4 telephoto.

I dunno, i really dont think it would be all that useful to me at all. Not when i intend on getting a 300/400mm lens some day.

I dunno...

Timmy,

Did you see this thread on FM?

You mean the one where we have to listen to the blow hard that "Gunny" turned into once he decided to spend more $$$ on equipment than anyone else in recent history... and thus is an expert?

FYI.. It was less than a year ago that Gunny first blew into FM without a clue, asking all the same questions in threads and PMs etc...

I know.. I answered a parcel of them.

He is now, after spending 30K in under a year, merely regurgitating 10 months of assimilated crap, and reposting the same Dog picture so often he can't even keep track of the fact in a single thread!


Anyway.. IMHO.. yes the 135mm is "sharper" ... but is it so much that it will blow away your 70-200mm f/2.8?

With a 4Mp sensor will it be noticeable?

Will a slight improvement is overall sharpness outweigh the advantages of a flexible zoom range?

These are the questions that you need to ponder.

I actually went this route and couldnt be happier.
I sold the big white 70-200F4L, and bought the 135F2L and 1.4x Extender.
While the 70-200F4L is awesome, the 135F2L is even sharper, and focuses faster. Plus, it's much more stealthy. With the 1.4x extender, I see no difference in quality. It's still sharper than the 70-200F4L.
I would rate the 70-200F4L image quality as an A and would give the 135F2L an A+

However, you do lose the convenience of a zoom (which isn't for everyone)

135F2L + EF1.4x (shot wide open)

135F2L + EF1.4x(shot wide open)