The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Sony 135mm F1.8 ZA and the Hartblei Macro 120mm F4 TS for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
Size of a lens is an important deciding factor when comparing two lenses.Sony 135mm F1.8 ZA is the longer of the two lenses at 115mm. The Hartblei Macro 120mm F4 TS with a length of 106mm is 9mm shorter. On the other hand, there is no difference between the max diameters of these lenses, both coming at 89mm.
Weight of a lens is as important as its external dimensions, especially if you are planning to hand hold your camera and lens combination for longer periods. Hartblei Macro 120mm F4 TS weighs 965g, 8% (85g) lighter than the Sony 135mm F1.8 ZA's weight of 1050g.
Lens Mounts
Both Sony 135mm F1.8 ZA and Hartblei Macro 120mm F4 TS has the same Sony Alpha lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Sony Alpha lenses are Sony A99 II, Sony A68 and Sony A77 II.
Hartblei Macro 120mm F4 TS is also available in Canon EF , Pentax KAF and Nikon F (FX) mounts.
Focal Range
Sony 135mm F1.8 ZA is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 135mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides an 35mm (FF) equivalent of 202.5mm.
Hartblei Macro 120mm F4 TS is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 121mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides an 35mm (FF) equivalent of 181.5mm.