Sony Cameras has just announced a fantastic new lens in their Gold Master Lens or G Master lens lineup, the Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II Full-Frame Large-aperture G Master Lens. This new lens follows the highly acclaimed FE 85mm F1.4 GM and is meant as a standard prime lens to be used on a full frame mirrorless DSLR camera body. Sony’s latest lens technology creates not only a wonderful resolution and bokeh in a lightweight Sony lens with about (20% less mass than its predecessor) made for Sony Alpha series cameras (like the a9 III). In addition, the Sony FE 85mm which is part of the Sony GM Lens series and used on a Sony Alpha series camera, creates smooth operability, and a ruggedness adding to this large aperture standard prime lens. This is a Sony Gold Master Lens or GM Lens, which is their highest tier of lenses. Sony devotes a tremendous amount of time with their R&D and quality control to ensure that their Gold Master lenses deliver uncompromised tremendous image quality.
This lens is mounted on the patented Sony E-Mount system comparable to top tier lenses from Zeiss and Samyang. If you would like to use this lens with a camera from a different manufacturer such as Nikon, Canon, Sigma and Leica cameras with the correct adapter. This will ensure that you have the right filter thread to use this lens with multiple cameras. The Sony FE 85mm F/1.4 GM II accepts 77 mm threaded filters.
This new Sony lens provides a plethora of features and specs which will appeal to all photographers, especially portrait photographers. As a portrait photographer, you will love the 85mm focal length getting stills that you may normally see on a dedicated telephoto lens.
Let’s take some time to perform a lens review on this fantastic new Sony lens.
Overall Features We Love
Design
Shooters will appreciate the design and lightweight build of this new lens. A lightweight, ergonomic and very portable lens weighing in at just 22.6 oz / 642 g, means that traveling around if you happen to want to use this lens in landscape photography much easier. Making the portraiture you can create while on the go (even for Vlogs and Content Creation) will make you appear as cinematic filmmaker. There is also tremendous weather sealing that this lens contains which make traveling with it and using it in harsh conditions less of a concern for you. The front lens element features a fluorine coating that eliminates the worry of fingerprints, dust, water, oil, and other contaminants hitting the lens. Sony does not guarantee that this lens is 100% weather resistant but should be able to handle most of the tough photography situations you may find yourself in.
A great lens for filmmaking, focus breathing is minimal, and body breathing compensation is supported. Click-less aperture ring operation and Linear Response MF allow smooth, intuitive control. Two customizable focus hold buttons and an Autofocus/Manual Focus switch offer flexible operability to switch easily between the two. Located on the focus ring which lets you set the focal length or focus distance and focus speed. The focus ring rotation changes the focus not unlike that of a mechanical focus system.
Just made to use with compact Sony Alpha cameras like the Alpha Mark II and the and the Alpha A9 III, this is the lens to have as part of your photography equipment. The Aperture ring is controlled via a simple click and de-click. Lock switches are all easily found on the Sony 85mm F/1.4 Mark II, all make for an extreme ease of use photography experience.
General Features
Sony’s advanced optical technology provides unrivaled resolution and picture quality in a lightweight lens. Two Extreme Aspherical lens elements correct distortion and so that high resolution is found to the image edges. The optical design which is extra low dispersion is made to reduce chromatic aberrations like fringing. So, there shouldn’t be an issue when you are dealing with contrast transitions from something really bright with a possible dark wall viewable in the bright light scenario.
With a groundbreaking design, and two high-thrust XD linear motors, providing the linear response to stills and images, plus a small circular aperture unit all make this portrait lens take sharper and more vibrant sill images. Sony’s Nano AR Coating II suppresses flare and ghosting in just about any lighting condition you may face in real world photography.
The two XD (extreme dynamic) linear motors providing linear response and high-speed control give the FE 85mm F1.4 GM II Autofocus speed that is up to 3 times faster than previous model lens. There is a well-placed MF switch if you would like to shoot in manual focus. Shooting in manual mode is usually preferred by professional photographers as the in-camera settings are opened up to you fully to set to your preferences. This could include the ISO, focal length, and the aperture settings.
Image Specs and Features
The autofocus feature on this new lens works tremendously in conjunction with your camera. Quiet autofocus, and focus breathing (when adjusting the focus point, on the Sony FE 80mm, provide a leg-up when shooting movies, even at high frame rates like 120fps. This allows you to accurately track subjects and objects effectively. This remains true, even when shooting from a narrow depth of field. In addition, the close focusing of this lens of 80cm means that you will get great portrait photos.
This Sony Lens also is great with helping prevent vignetting, which causes is a loss of brightness or saturation on the periphery of a photo. It is produced by a certain number of things, including defects in the design of the lens, the focal length, or the aperture. The focal length on this lens, and the large aperture ring assist as the reduction of brightness increases, as the distance from the center of the photo gets larger.
When taking sample images with this new lens mounted on a Sony Alpha series camera, still images and videos were reproduced with breathtaking color, sharpness and clarity.
As a Gold Master lens or G Master lens from Sony, which as we previously mentioned is their premier lineup of lenses, the image quality that you will get when mounted to a full frame mirrorless camera will have you and the loved ones, friends or colleagues you share the photos or videos with, mouth agape with the beautifully exposed images.
Availability and Conclusion
Announced by Sony Electronics on August 28, 2024, for release in September, the 76th iteration of the Sony Alpha lens, will reportedly come with a price tag of approximately $1,800.00 giving you a versatile and highly functionable lens, with tremendous specs for your investment. This is a highly contested lens price range, and the competition is fierce. However, as you will see from our Sony FE 85mm GM II review, this lens is a must have as a staple in your photography gear. We cannot overstate the performance you will get from this new lens, as with all other Sony G Master lenses, you can be assured of amazing performance, ease of use and overall wonderful image quality.
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