Amazing how the Plena weighs exactly one plena

I wish I had a Nikon mirrorless just to experience the Plena!

The Plena is a dream lens for now. 135mm 1.8 is pure perfection. one day I will own it, along with Nikon 85mm 1.2

I didn’t think a lens could awe me more than my Nikon 50 1.2, but the Plena does. I’ve had for about a month now and it’s stunning.

Nikon killing it with the latest series of lenses. Impressive how good the Sony holds up still!

So glad to see Nikon really making an amazing comeback...they had me worried for a bit...now I've my eye on the Zf 😀

135mm really are a great focal length. My work horse is my 70-200/2.8 but when I take portraits of the animals at the zoo where I work I always end up at around 135mm. Even when I don't look at the zoom ring and just dial everything in as I look through th viewfinder, more often than not I usually end up at 135mm or very close to it. It just *works* for portraits!

I used the plena for dog action shots on my Z8 and totally blown away by the consistency. The quality is outstanding and it so sharp it’s ridiculous really.

For a hobbyist, the Samyang 135 f1.8 is an amazing value and without a doubt a must for Sony E-mount users

I bought the plena last week and although due to weather haven't been able to play with it too much outside, the photos I have taken surely make me happy!!

As a Sony user myself, i can appreciate the Nikon 135mm as it looks to be the best out of all 3.

yea finally the 135 battle... 135 are usually the best lenses any company can make.. very interesting video and comparison here.

I believe the Plena is also better in terms of vignetting compared to the other 2.

Was waiting to hear the Plena weighs exactly 1 Plena. Was not disappointed.

I have the Fujifilm 90mm. It’s amazing. Seeing the specular highlights on the Plena being so perfect, I may need to test it out on the 90. The 90 has a very pleasing bokeh. Great review.

Always wanted to get 200 f/2 but it's super heavy and impractical for some use.. Getting the Plena for my Z9, smaller size, great optics, same if not better bokeh to the 200 f/2, almost there with compressing subjects and backgrounds..

Thanx :) I am waiting for a better weather to play more with my Plena

Love this comparison, thank you guys! As great as always :)

All my best shots are with my Sony 135mm on the A7RIV, but I'm personally not a fan of cat-eye. Props to Nikon!

Man, even going back to like 1960, it's hard to find a bad 135mm prime.

Nikon glass really is top notch, and I can't help but to think that it's because they're primarily an industrial optics company first and foremost. Nikon doesn't make as many products or rely on consumer cameras nearly as much as Sony or Canon. As a result of being an optics company I think that research and development carries over to their consumer glass. I've owned Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, and Sony cameras/glass, and they're all SUPER good these days... But something about Nikon glass just always gave me that extra quality. I like that they tend to be heavier, and I hope they don't cut corners to make them lighter. Use a monopod or tripod if the weight is a problem, but don't make worse glass for the sake of weight.

The Samyang/Rokinon 135 1.8 is also insanely good aaaand mirrorless

Samyang 135 1.8 is such a great lens. Wish that was tested against these.

I suspect the Plena would effortlessly cover the GFX format with that vignetting figure on full frame. Of course, I wish Nikon would make a medium format around the 100mp sensor that would accommodate Z lenses through an adaptor.

Shooting some nice indoor basketball with the Plena!

Masterful evaluation! Thanks!!

One day I will get a Z8 just for the Plena and the Noct.

Canon EF 135mm f2L for me. I use it still even with my Sony camera via MC11 adapter. Love the look of that lens and seeing I paid $600 CAD for it, bargain!

135mm is my favorite focal length. I put my 135GM on my A7RV all the time and it never failed me once. Super love these

more of these manufacturer comparison videos. would love to see 24-70, 70-200, prime lens comparisons!

Hopefully Sigma will release a 135/1.8 DG DN soon, and Viltrox is rumored to have a 135/1.8 almost ready for release. Once those are out it would be great to revisit this comparison but add in the Sigma, Viltrox, and of course the already existing Samyang 135/1.8. See how the 3rd party lenses stack up against the 1st party options.

AF DC-NIKKOR 135mm f/2D walks in, sits down, says "that's cute, you had a little contest for runner up to the bokeh king." ;)

I've paired the Sony 135 and 55 1.8's on my two A9s for the past 4 years now, mostly for kids and Family portraits, and neither the cameras or lenses miss a beat. I'm sure the Canon and Nikon are just as good though. You really can't go wrong with today's mirror-less systems, as long as they're in your budget

I'll wait and see what the canon R5 mk2 has to offer but I think I'll go with nikon as a regular hybrid camera. They really nailed their lens lineup this far. I really want to try sony and nikon just to compare. So far canon RF has blown me away compared to old dslr cameras. The fullframe era is like switching to fiber internet or a fast m.2 SSD from an old HDD.

I’m a Fuji shooter but I love watching these videos. The Nikon is stunning. Maybe someday…..

By far the most important feature of these lenses are how good they are shot wide open, in the center.

Do a review on the Viltrox 75mm and 27mm pro lenses

I’ve had a great time using my Samyang 135 1.8, so I have almost none of the desire to buy the Sony GM. I know the GM is built much better but $699 for that Samyang was such a deal!

I love how Jordan has put his entire soul into the G9 II.

I have the 135GM for my Sony and absolutely love it! Such a gorgeous lens! Really cool to see how it compares to the brands

I have the Sony 135mm for a few years now and it's one of my favorite lenses I have. Never fails me even wide open, even on fast moving subjects coming towards me. Tack sharp on Sony A7RV

1:10 For nikon Z shooters it is useful to compare lenses across different mounts, because they can adapt the sony 135 if they don't like the nikon 135

Love the Plena, on my list!

Hi guys, always love your work and appreciate the frigid temperatures right now might be limiting, but in this kind of comparison it would be great to see ‘actual use’ cases. Perhaps a ‘Jordan running face’ might be a great portrait session idea?

Just got the 135GM yesterday, waiting for the 24mm F1.2 to drop for Christmas

Thanks for this!

Another exceptional review and have a great 2024.

Great review.

I recently purchased the Nikon Plena and it is a truly fabulous lens. Its only weakness is that it is rather large (especially with the long hood) and somewhat heavy, although it balances pretty well on the Z9 body. For a lighter setup, I do have the Zeiss Batis 135 f2.8, which is much lighter and smaller, but just about as sharp with virtually no chromatic aberrations even in the most challenging lighting. Balances perfectly with the smaller Sony bodies (like A7Riii). The Batis 135 is also totally silent in operation, while the Plena has a faint whirring sound when racking through the full focus range (no whirring with short focus adjustments).

good video, but you did not compared the autofocus speed of this 3 lenses. i hope part 2 tomorrow

Great work guys. I have the Sony 135 and my copy is simply the sharpest lens I have ever used over a long lifetime of photography. All these lenses seem pretty fantastic though whatever system you use.

Honestly any of these 3 lenses would be a great buy, they are all amazing pieces of glass.

I like the format and concept of this video. I'd be quite interested to see the 50mm 1.8s tested. Not a trio of sexy lenses, but a comparison of these bread and butter lenses could be interesting.

Nikons Bokeh blows the competition out of the water. Amazing. But costly.

I see you showing off your Fractal Design build. 👌

Great review as always ... It looks like Nikon is inching back to the top ( cameras and lenses ... )

Would have liked to see how the samyang compares to them.

Hard to beat a 135mm prime. All of these lenses are great and this test demonstrates how finely tuned each of these lenses really are. Canon’s coatings are both aggravating at times, but can be ethereal when used to the photographer’s advantage. The Canon used in backlit portraits can look truly spectacular and is a benefit or compromise (depending on how you look at it) for not having that sterile, perfection that can come with some lenses.

I would love to see comparison between Z8 + Plena and Fuji XF90mm + XT5/XH2

Please do another video for 50 mm lenses (1.8 and 1.4) 🙏

For me, real world images and portraits with the Canon are Godsmacking good. Astounding…whatever floats your boat…😊

Guess we learn all these brands can make nice lenses that work well almost looks like the release date has more effect. the GM is already in its 5th year and once they finally fix the worst of the GM's (85 now the 2470 is fixed in mk2) we could see a 135GM2 in 1 or 2 years.

I would have liked to know more about the AF speed and accuracy. For a 135mm especially, it is used for action shots, like shots of dogs running towards the camera. Since I have used it, I know that the Sony 135 f1.8 GM is very fast and accurate. The Plenta seemed pretty impressive here

Thanks

God I love the way Nikon renders images.

How much does the respective camera body factor in with categories like sharpness?

Is there any video coming on lumix 100mm 2.8 macro?

One more thing. I've had the Sony GM since it's release. The front filter holder with the filter ring grooves literally unsticks and falls off. Read many instances of this on line. There is no way to buy a part for it so it's a huge cost to fix it. This affects the lens hood and lens cap.

Great video, but I would like to see a Samyang included in these shootouts. Their lenses have really impressed me.

135mm is the lenght I keep going back to Vintage, for artistic looks. There are loads of sharp Sonnar designs. It is an easy optical formula, that ended up really well even during old times. I simply don't justify spending over 1K on a 135mm for that reason.

My experience in Sony G master’s filter thread come out twice. That’s negative

I'll stick with the Olympus 75mm f1.8 and Sigma fp L + 90mm f2.8 in APS-C/crop mode (pretty much how I use the fp L a majority of the time, still get 25-26mp of great image quality and lesser impact on the slower readout that doesn't bother me anyway). I'm a travelling photographer that focuses a lot on lifestyle portraits, mostly in rural areas/villages, and then a lot of time in East/Southeast Asia. I've had the chance to use both the Nikon 135mm f1.8 and the Sony 135mm f1.8. I stopped using both less than an hour in because they failed at giving me what I needed for the job. That is to say, I need a lens that has the reach to let me capture an intimate shot without standing out too much and destroying the moment with someone staring at a massive lens. I immediately noticed a difference when I went back to my E-M5.iii+75mm f1.8 and fp L+90mm f2.8. I blended back into the background as much as a foreigner can and was able to get natural shots again. That's 150mm reach at f1.8 of light or 135mm of reach with f2.8 worth of light, both of which have a good enough depth of field (a 75mm at f1.8 is shallow, same with a 90mm at f2.8, crop factor doesn't change that, it just pushes in changing the reach, changing the distance you stand from the subject, and changes compression due to that distance change). That isn't to say they're bad lenses, they're amazing. It's just for me, they're not the right tools for the job. The advantages of being able to stand out less and just the weight/size difference when I'm walking/hiking mile after mile daily in rural areas, makes any loss in image quality that no one has ever noticed fine. I'll try the Panasonic 100mm f2.8 with my fp L APS-C mode setup, but the difference in size and losing an aperture ring will have to be beaten by 15mm of reach.

what about samyang 135mm f1.8?

Since AF is usable on the entire field of view, I think you should focus on the corners when testing them. Field curvature matters if you shoot flat objects. For most situations, you want the lens to focus where the subject is and it's interesting to evaluate sharpness on all the field.

if you don't use AF, the zeiss Milvus is impressive !

These results makes one wonder how big the image circle is the Plena is (circular spec hl wide open).

I’m a big fan of the Batis 135mm. Love the colors, contrast, rendering, size and weight of that lens. I’ve also used the Sony 135mm and I definitely thought it created magic but was just a bit heavy and big for my needs. I get plenty of satisfying background blur from the Batis at f/2.8.

canon lens might be struggling from low corner sharpness because of the additional image stabilizing lens element in work

I love the portrait of Jordan with the string of lights. I think you should submit that to this weeks Portrait Live series with Tony and Chelsea

Can you do other lens? 16-35?

Hard to design a bad 135 I think. But what these comparisons should look at is everything they didn’t look at here. Which is the overall rendering and the in focus to out of focus transitions, and the related brightness in such areas.

I know its apsc, but god damn the 90 f2 is legit one of the best lenses i have ever used, and ive used medium format fuji lenses. Its honestly amazing and definitely worth a test, i think you should review it again on a modern body like a xh2 and compare to the fullframes

It would have been nice to see the Rokinon/Samyang 135 f1.8 in the mix. Especially since it is available on multiple platforms.

Could you do the exact same test with the 85mm lenses? But to be honest I am just interested in a comparison between the Nikkor 85 1.2 and the Plena

Will shooting direct to the sun damage the camera sensor?

It does make me wonder how these 3 lenses, would do against the Fujifilm 90mm f/2, which is of course going to lose but is a great lens. And the big daddy of DSLR 135mm lenses the 135mm f/2 APO Plannar, which is superb optically (even on my GFX100), but of course is a real plain to focus.

Can you test the 40mm f2 lens from Nikon compared with the sony/cannon equivalents ? Cheap but are they any good!!?

Thank you for the comparison!..I wish there is more of a 105mm option and or updates from these brands..like most people say its a good "sweet spot" between the 85mm and 135mm..haha

I think another video comparing these to the DSLR versions (sigma, zeiss, Samyang) would be awesome since a lot of us are asking: is the increase in price going native really worth it? As an amateur, I am more cost sensitive than a pro since I will not be making money on this. I can get a 135 and a 85 DSLR lense for about the same as one of these mirrorless 135mm lenses.

I love my Canon RF 135 rainbow flare 😊

What’s up with the grey green box on the right side of frame. Makes the main composition off.

Excellent focal length. 135mm is pretty much excellent regardless of the brand.

My favorit is the SIGMA ART 135 !

What I always love about Nikon is that they never sacrifice image quality. Even budget kit lenses are the best considering price category. Cameras might have some drawbacks (for example, I don't like Nikon menu system which is cumbersome and very non-intuitive), but again, images from cameras are of excellent quality (crisp, contrasty but still true to life). In my opinion, Nikon is the most honest among camera manufacturers. They are not that good in making hype around their products, but instead provide consumers with equipment capable of great image quality. But again, I'm not saying I absolutely love everything they do (for example, I don't understand why they don't offer Canon R8 competitor, losing a lot of potential buyers), but you can't go wrong purchasing Nikon if you are concerned regarding price to image quality ratio.

When you start a media company how do you find the person at the technology company whose responsible for sending out products to test or review?

I shot my Panasonic 70-200mm at 135mm ones and I was in love. When I also got a Sony it was a easy choice.

Hey guys, just wondering are you going to review the new Panasonic 100mm 2.8 L Mount?

I didnt see the blurry corners on the canon 😞

I love my GM 135mm 1.8🎉

Waiting for your full review on the zf. Confused between the zf and xt5, zf is retailing here for roughly 2100$ including 40f2 kit lens along with an extra battery..two sd cards..a battery charger and smallrig grip😅..and the xt5 with 18-55 kit lens for ~2300$. it’s a no brainier for me to go with the zf..but still that old sensor and it’s relatively new camera.. so waiting for some authentic reviews and opinions.