Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm
Leica CL + Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm f3.5
Although telephoto lenses are typically associated with portrait photography, I have never really found them suitable for that purpose. I prefer to use a 50mm lens, or even a 35mm. The main reason, is that I like to highlight prominent facial features and to exaggerate expressive gestures. A neutral focal length makes facial features and bodily gestures appear more articulated than a telephoto, but not to the point of caricature-like distortion, as would a wide angle. So anything up to 60mm is good, but after that things get flattened and compressed in a way that I guess some would describe as ‘flattering’ {according to generic standards of beauty}, but does not suit the look and feel I am going for in my photos.
In addition to this, I have to admit that I always found focusing telephoto lenses challenging. And in the context of a product-type photoshoot where the subject is moving and things are happening quickly and there is pressure to produce photos for a deadline with no time for a do-over, I do not need that extra challenge considering that I don’t like the focal length to begin with.
So it was only out of a compulsion to ‘try them all’ {meaning all of our old 42M mount lenses on my new mirrorless setup}, that I decided to take some test shots with the Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm… which is the equivalent of a 200mm on the crop sensor of the Leica CL.
I am still not crazy about the focal length, as far as the way it portrays people {Kerry looks lovely in the photo, but a bit too ‘normal’ for my liking}. But the surprise was, that - unlike on my DSLR previously - I had no trouble focusing the lens at the widest aperture. The electronic viewfinder made it very obvious what was in focus and what wasn’t. Not a single photo showed focusing issues. It is things like this that are making me slowly grasp the full extent of the benefits of a mirrorless EVF system.
So maybe I will add this lens to my repertoire after all, for certain types of photos - namely, where I want the subject to look poised and serene. It will never be a frequently used lens, but it is nice to have the option of telephoto without worrying about focus issues.
