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Nikkor AF 135mm f/2 D DC - Review / Test Report |
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Lens Reviews -
Nikon / Nikkor (APS-C)
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Page 1 of 3
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published February 2007
Lens kindly provided for testing purposes by Julio M. Alperi Gonzalez!
Introduction
The Nikkor AF 135mm f/2D DC is one of two Defocus Control lenses in the
Nikon lens line-up. Its characteristics are nearly identical to the recently tested
AF 105mm f/2D DC which is why large
portions of the review have been re-used. DC lenses allow you to control the degree of
spherical aberrations or in simple words: you can emphasize the degree of foreground or background blur
(bokeh) beyond the sheer potential of a large aperture lens. Typical applications
which could benefit from a controlled bokeh are still-life and portrait photography.
The lens was released back in 1995 so it is one of the oldest Nikkors still in production
and as such a full format lens. On APS-C DSLR such as the D200 its field of view
is equivalent to 203mm on the classic full format.
The build quality of the lens is excellent thanks to combination of metal
and plastic parts with a Nikon "pro style" crinkle finish.
The length of the lens remains constant regardless of the focus setting
and the front element does not rotate due to an RF (Rear Focusing)
design. A nice and almost forgotten approach is the build-in lens hood
(telescope style). I would really wish that this old "fashion" will see a
revival again.
The Nikkor features an independent ring (rather stiff) for switching between
AF and manual focusing - a dated and cumbersome approach compared modern AF-S
lenses. The lens has no internal AF motor and relies on a slotted drive screw
operated by the camera. As a result the AF generates a moderate
degree of noise but the AF speed is comparatively high. A rather annoying
aspect is the rather long min. focus distance of 1.1m.
| Specifications |
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| Equiv. focal length | 202.5 mm (full format equivalent) |
| Equiv. aperture | f/3 (full format equivalent, in terms of depth-of-field) |
| Optical construction | 7 elements in 6 groups |
| Number of aperture blades | 9 (rounded) |
| min. focus distance | 1.1 m (max. magnification ratio 1:7.1) |
| Dimensions | 120 x 79 mm |
| Weight | 815 g |
| Filter size | 72 mm (non-rotating) |
| Hood | barrel shaped, build-in |
| Other features | Lens provides distance (D) information to the camera. Defocus Control. |
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