Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM Review

Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM Performance

Resistance to flare is excellent, at most leading to a slight loss of contrast in extreme circumstances. The bokeh is highlighted by Sony themselves and I agree with them, it is beautiful. Bokeh is of course of special interest and I can only report that Sony's claims are fully justified. “Outstanding sharpness dissolving into magnificent bokeh” sums it up.

When we look at the resolution results, the lens shows itself to be quite remarkable. Centre and edge, it makes no difference, as they compete for the highest sharpness all the way through the range. An amazing degree of evenness across the image field means that sharpness will never be lacking wherever the main subject is placed.

At f/1.4 sharpness is already excellent, and it just gets better. From f/2 through to f/5.6 it is outstanding. From f/8 to f/16 it remains excellent. The actual figures do drop slightly because of diffraction, but the standard remains firmly within the category of excellent.

MTF
 

How to read our charts

The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. 

The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution as LW/PH and is described in detail above. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. 

For this review, the lens was tested on a Sony Alpha A7R II using Imatest.

CA (chromatic aberration) is almost zero in the centre of the field, and is contained to less than one pixel at the edges. Any residual fringing is unlikely to be much of a problem, but it can in any event be corrected in software.

CA
 

How to read our charts

Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.

Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Sony Alpha A7R II using Imatest.

Distortion is also commendably low, the lens showing +0.512% barrelling.

Whilst it is impossible to make a “perfect lens” this Sony goes as far as it could possibly be expected to and is one of the very finest lenses I have received for review.

Value For Money

The lens arrived for review with the Sony a7R II and clearly this combination is intended to take on the DSLR ranges, rather than being compared to the CSC cameras. (It will of course also be usable on E mount APS-C format CSCs).

With this in mind, it may be fair to compare its £1499 price tag with the lenses available for DSLRs.

This gives us the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM (£619), the Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.4 G (£1199) and the Canon 85mm f/1.2 L II USM (£1499).

In manual focus lenses we also have the Samyang 85mm f/1.4 IF MC (£229) and four Zeiss lenses, the Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 Otus (£3299), Milvus 85mm f/1.4 (£1379), 85mm f/1.4 T* Planar (£1199), and Batis 85mm f/1.8 (£909).

The Samyang and Sigma do offer lower cost alternatives, but the rest are all serious money. Against this backdrop, and considering the quality of the results, the Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM looks to be fair enough value.

For more options have a look at the Top 27 Best Portrait Lenses.

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