After more than six years, Sony has released a new version of the FE 85mm f/1.4 GM. The lens is improved in every aspect and promises to deliver superior quality and results. I used the lens for several weeks before it was officially announced, leading to this review.
I have used the 85mm prime for many years. It is my all-time favorite focal length for many types of photography. Including portraits of all kinds, weddings, and concert photography.
This focal length offers a great perspective, perfectly reflecting human proportions. Its field of view allows for an uncluttered background, especially when combined with a shallow depth of field. The new lens’s f/1.4 aperture Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II Lens ensure this perfectly.
The large aperture not only provides a shallow depth of field, with the ability to create a 3D feel, but also allows for optimal autofocus performance in dark conditions. The amount of light that can pass through the lens allows for good autofocus performance that other lenses with less wide maximum apertures cannot achieve.
While the original FE 85mm f/1.4 offered all of these benefits, the lens is starting to show its age. Higher resolution sensors require better performance, and older lenses can’t keep up with the speed of the latest autofocus systems.
More detailed lens
At first glance, there is hardly any difference between FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II Lens and the original version. If you look closely, the differences start to appear. First of all, the lens is slightly smaller, at 84.7 x 107.3 mm. The weight is 642 grams, almost 20% lighter than the first version.
The lens features a nice aperture ring that clicks at 1/3 stop intervals. It can be set to the A position for those who prefer to use the on-camera dial instead of the aperture ring. If you are using the lens for video, the clicking sound can be turned off.
The lens has two programmable buttons and an AF/MF switch. There is no stabilization switch, which means the lens does not have image stabilization. You have to rely on the camera’s in-body stabilization for that.
I used the FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II with a relatively new lens Sony a7C R camera. I found this compact Alpha series camera to be a bit light and small compared to the FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II. The balance is a bit off, making the combination too front heavy. There is no doubt that a full-size Alpha series camera like this Sony a7 IV, a7R Vor a9 III gives much better balance.
Image quality
Fourteen lens elements can be found inside the FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II, divided into eleven groups. There are two ED glass elements and two XA super aspherical lenses. The lens has Nano AR Coating II. This coating, combined with the various lens elements, delivers high quality and resolution.
I tested this lens with the in-camera lens corrections turned off. Despite this option, Sony still includes some corrections in the raw file format. However, despite that small detail, the images still show excellent sharpness, from excellent in the center to good in the corners at f/1.4, up to excellent in the center and corners as well as at f/8. After f/8, the images start to show signs of diffraction, making the image softer.
There is no noticeable distortion. While this is a result of good lens design, it is of course also a characteristic of the 85mm focal length. However, the lens does show a lot of vignetting at f/1.4, reaching at least three stops. The aperture must be set to f/8 to eliminate this, although it does not disappear completely.
Vignetting isn’t a bad thing, especially for portraits. If you don’t like the reduced light, the in-camera lens corrections will compensate for it. Or you can correct the vignetting in post-production.
The eleven-blade aperture produces beautiful bokeh. At f/1.4, the characteristic bokeh spheres are round and free of onion ring or bubble effects. The circles turn into cat’s eye shapes at the edges of the frame. The quality of the bokeh is maintained throughout the entire aperture range.
Shallow depth of field has a nice transition from in-focus to out-of-focus, creating a ball shape in the highlights. If there is very bright light in the frame, the lens will show light streaks. However, this can contribute to the feel of the image when using shallow depth of field.
I looked for signs of chromatic aberration, but I couldn’t find any. If there was, it could have been removed by the built-in lens correction. Or maybe I just didn’t look hard enough.
Autofocus
Autofocus system of FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II Lens has received a major update. Two linear XD motors have tripled autofocus speed. Tracking speed has been improved sevenfold, allowing the lens to keep up with the 120fps of Sony a9 III.
I haven’t used this lens in situations where autofocus speed is important. However, I have used it in the dark and it focused without any issues. When using the lens in less demanding situations, I found the autofocus to be fast and silent right out of the box. Even at the minimum depth of field that this lens can achieve, it still focused every time.
Although Sony keeps focus breathing to a minimum, it is still present. The size of elements in the frame changes as they go out of focus. The lens supports in-camera breathing compensation. Just pay attention to a small part of the scene to compensate for this.
Conclusion
I’m biased when it comes to lenses with an 85mm focal length and wide aperture that allows for extremely shallow depth of field, even to the point where I’m willing to accept some of the lens’ shortcomings.
However, there is little to complain about. Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II Lens. It delivers excellent image quality with almost no chromatic aberration and smooth out-of-focus rendering. The bokeh effect is beautiful.
The FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II shows quite a bit of vignetting at f/1.4 and f/2. This isn’t much of a problem, as this type of falloff is generally desirable in portraits. If vignetting is too strong or completely undesirable, the camera’s in-camera lens corrections will remove it.
I find this lens not perfect for small bodies like a7C series. The balance is off. That said, it’s perfectly usable, but the user experience on a full-size body is definitely much better.
Is this lens worth the upgrade? I think so, especially if you expect the best possible image quality and autofocus performance. However, the release of this new FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II doesn’t mean that the old first version has suddenly become a bad lens. The new lens simply offers much better quality, capable of keeping up with the latest cameras.
What I like
- Compact size and weight
- Excellent image quality
- Bokeh and the transition from in-focus to out-of-focus
- Lens button
- Aperture ring click mute switch
- Reliable autofocus, up to 3x faster and 7x better tracking (compared to the original)
What I don’t like
There’s really nothing, except perhaps some strong vignetting at f/1.4 and f/2. Oh yeah, and the lack of image stabilization, although that may negate some of the size and weight advantages.
I would like to thank Sony Netherlands for providing this great product. FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II Lenswhich I can recommend to any Sony user who likes to use the 85mm focal length.
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