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Lenses

Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L Review: When Did Light Look This Good?

Chris Gampat
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Last updated on 08/09/2024
09/18/2024
7 Mins read
Canon RF
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While 85mm lenses are my preferred portrait focal length, I truly have to say that 135mm lenses can make some serious magic. The Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L lens is one that I believe to be really unique. While I thought that Nikon’s Plena was beautiful, I think that Canon’s is even more so. The company, I feel, always makes lenses that appeal more to an artist in the same way that Leica does. Because of this, I often want to say that Canon is the Leica of Japan. Make no mistake, the images this lens delivers don’t feel or look like a Leica’s. But they’re the most attractive I’ve seen from a 135mm lens, perhaps since the first Zeiss 135mm f2 came out over a decade ago.

The Big Picture: Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L Review Conclusions

A Canon EOS R3 camera with a large lens resting on an open book on a cluttered desk.

There’s a special thing about the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L. When you photograph with it, it’s very difficult to take a bad image. And you don’t understand — I mean that with all certainty. It’s not a lens that you’d use all the time. However, it’s hard to take bad photos with it when you use it. Everything you shoot will be considered for a keeper of some sort. That goes for the color, the bokeh, the overall light render, etc. I can’t say enough good things about this lens.

The Phoblographer Editors Choice Award logo with a red camera graphic and text.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

We’re giving the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L five out of five stars and our Editor’s choice award. Want one? Check them out on Amazon.

Buy Now

Pros

  • Image stabilization
  • Beautiful image quality, perhaps some of the best that I’ve seen
  • Surprisingly close-focusing abilities
  • The colors are something to be behold
  • The price seems pretty fair for what it is around $2,000.
  • Fast autofocus and also good at keeping up with subjects
  • Weather resistance

Cons

  • Nothing really, honestly.

Who Should Buy It?

We should buy the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L?:

  • Portrait photographers
  • Event photographers
  • Candid photographers
  • Food photographers and product photographers

Gear Used

We tested the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L with the Canon EOS R3, Canon EOS R5, and the Profoto B10. The cameras are long-term loaners from Canon, and the light is ours. Lensrentals loaned the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L to us. We also used Glimmerglass filters with it.

Innovations

The full name of the lens is the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L IS USM, which means that it has image stabilization built into it. Sony’s 135mm f1.8 G Master doesn’t have this, nor does Nikon’s 135mm f1.8 Plena. So, out of the three, this lens lets you stabilize your photos the most. It’s arguably so the most innovative of the bunch.

Hardware

This section is from our original preview.

We’re starting this preview off with showing the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L IS USM. Canon tells us that the final textures on it may change. From here, you can see what the lens looks like. There are two major rings. The one up front is programmable while the focusing right is right behind that. The lens also has programmable buttons too.

Here’s what this behemoth looks like with the lens hood on. It’s huge, and it’s also a bit intimidating.

On the side you’ll see controls for the image stabilization as well as the autofocus and manual focus switch. Here’s another control button too.

And finally, this is a view down the lens itself. It’s got an 85mm filter thread on top.

Make no mistake, this is a big, girthy lens. You know how there are Canon coffee mugs? Well, imagine this being one of those mugs. It’s pretty large, and the lens hood is massive. Honestly, I’d probably never use it with a lens this large.

I know Canon’s L lenses are typically really large. In this case I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. They’re besting the Sony 135mm f1.8 G Master by putting image stabilization in there along with unique bokeh. It’s around the same price as the Sony variant too. Beyond this, the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L IS USM is weather resistant. And we’re positive that it will survive pretty much anything you throw at it.

Protect Your Camera Gear

For years, here at The Phoblographer we’ve done tests on cameras, lenses, bags, computers, lights, and more. And we know that your warranty doesn’t always cover the damage. Plus, accidents can happen on set.

This is why we’ve created a Photography Care Program in partnership with Full-Frame Insurance. Now, photographers across the United States looking for extra security can get various protections to cover their craft. The Photography Care Program provides peace of mind; now you’ll know you can bounce back from a photoshoot gone awry, on-site or inside. We’re making it super easy to get it done, too! Better yet, there is coverage outside of the US and Canada when the photographer is traveling for short periods of time for business.

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We’re able to do this through our partnership with Full-Frame Insurance, a company specializing in Small Business Insurance. Are you a Freelance Photographer? We’ll cover you. What about a freelance multi-media journalist? We’ve got you. The Photography Care Program will protect you.

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Ease of Use

While the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L IS USM has a lot of buttons around it, you can choose to ignore them. I mostly cared about the image stabilization and the focusing type. Both are simple enough for most people to use. In fact, during my review period, other folks shot images with the R3 and 135mm. Everyone who did was already a photographer of at least a year. They all found it easy to use as well as lightweight with the R3. However, they felt it was big. And that’s something I’d agree with them on. In real life use and in tighter spaces, I’d quickly get rid of the lens hood and instead just use a lens filter like Pro Mist or Glimmer Glass.

Focusing

We didn’t do much of a test in low-light at night-time. And I’m not sure that folks would use it in that situation except at weddings or still with lights in use. However, the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L IS USM was able to always find the eyes on a subject easily. For most people using this lens, that’s all that they’d need to know.

Image Quality

There’s a beautiful quality to the way that the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L makes images look. It’s often said that medium format camera sensors make the light render completely different. But that’s true of the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L. The way the light kisses your subjects is something that I don’t see often from full-frame lenses. It’s sharp, contrasty, vivid, and overall stunning. I don’t need 100% sharpness to the corners because, let’s be honest, if you’re shooting portraits you only need the subject to be sharp. And in this case they surely are. But they’re not so sharp and clinically clean that I’m a bit disgusted by the look. If a client looked at the back of my camera at the images, they’d be in love with what they see.

And honestly, so am I most of the time.

Let’s Talk Art

In a major effort to remind people that photography is an art and not just something you do with your phone and stare at 100%, the Phoblographer’s Review Team talks about artistic photos they’ve done for the reviews we’re working on. And in this case, the photos that I’m speaking about are the extras around my first BBQ of the year. I used this lens all the way back in April, and while preparing food, I noticed the window light. I’m blessed with south, west, and east-facing windows in my apartment. So when the soft light came in, it felt almost like a sign that whatever being is above us was approving of the dish I made. The Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L helped me document them as such.

These images are all unedited and straight from the camera using film styles that I uploaded to the Canon EOS R3. I combined this with a warm white balance. I’m captivated by the colors, the textures, the depth of field with it looking like how several classic paintings render their backgrounds, etc. I know that I put a lot of work not only into my reviews, but my love of food and drink. And this lens immortalized that so well.

Extra Image Samples

The Phoblographer has been huge on transparency with our audience since day one. Nothing from this review is sponsored. Further, many folks will post reviews and show lots of editing in the photos. The problem then becomes that anyone and everyone can do the same thing. They’re not showing what the lens can do. So, we have a section in our Extra Image Samples area to show edited and unedited photos. From this, you can decide for yourself.

Unedited

Edited

Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L Tech Specs

The information for this section was taken from our first impressions preview.

  • $2,100
  • Image stabilization
  • Photojournalism, portraits, and sports target
  • Circular bokeh around the edges
  • 3 UD elements
  • Air aspheric coating
  • 5 and a half stops of IBUS and 8 stop in body with the body
  • 2.29 feet
  • 17 elements 12 groupers
  • 82mm filter thread
  • 9 blades
  • 2.06 lbs
  • Function buttons can be set to different things
Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L Review: When Did Light Look This Good?
There's a special thing about the Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L. When you photograph with it, it's very difficult to take a bad image. And you don't understand -- I mean that with all certainty. It's not a lens that you'd use all the time. However, it's hard to take bad photos with it when you use it. Everything you shoot will be considered for a keeper of some sort. That goes for the color, the bokeh, the overall light render, etc. I can't say enough good things about this lens.
5
135mm 135mm f1.8 Bokeh canon canon eos r3 Canon EOS R5 Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L color rendition image stabilization sharpness
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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