Quote:Most AF lenses focus wide open - so I was referring to Rover's "If only it hadn't been MF..."Sorry, that logic doesn't fly in my opinion. Like BC said below, every supertele has similar (or larger) FL to aperture ratio - so probably similarly small DOF, but most of them have AF and work wonderfully in this regard (I had a chance to do a few frames with a 300/2.8 in the field... magnificient!) Besides, MF is likely an even bigger chore in the same conditions. I can admit that I was never any good at precise MF but I'm sure others would agree.
​Chances are very high that it would miss focus a lot of times, even if it's only a small movement of the photographer or the model or both. On the other side, there are 200/2 lenses which are similar in that aspect and - to make things worse - heavier at the same time. Interestingly, there's only one 135/2 in the current line-up of Nikon. It appears this formerly popular focal length is one of the victims of the more versatile zooms.
UPDATE: Hey folks, there's an answer to the question that must've been bugging you all... The price is $2999. Guess that kills any remaining interest someone might've had. It's a limited production item to boot: only 100 units. So, don't ditch your 135/2 L just yet.
http://photorumors.com/2015/10/19/the-ne.../#comments
The commenters make a reasonable point that the ZA 135/1.8 - widely lamented for the high price - suddenly seems like a bargain. To top it all off, we're likely to see a SSM version soon which will inevitably lead to the old screw driven one to become cheaper on the second hand market... but a screw drive AF is better than none at all.