The old Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM is a good lens. However, it isn’t exceptional. Sony got the message and released the FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II which is supposed to improve across all aspects … except, of course, the price tag. At $1850 USD, the GM II has to deliver, so let’s see.
You may be in for a surprise upon first contact. Historically, 85mm f/1.4 lenses tend to be bricks, but the Sony lens is comparatively compact and lightweight at just 642g. The build quality is still excellent. The used engineering plastics feel very solid. Sony incorporated extensive weather-sealing, but that’s, of course, normal for a professional-grade lens. The focus ring turns smoothly, as you might expect. It also features a de-clickable aperture ring and two customizable focus-stop buttons. A floating system helps to maintain high optical quality at close focus distances. The Sony lens is compatible with in-camera focus breathing compensation. A deep barrel-shaped lens hood is part of the package.
The AF system uses an exceptionally fast dual front and rear XD linear motor.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Optical construction | 14 elements in 11 groups (2x XA, 2x ED) Nano AR Coating II fluorine coating on the front element floating focusing system |
| Number of aperture blades | 11 (rounded) |
| min. focus distance | 0.8m (AF) 0.85m (MF) (max. magnification 0.11x (AF), 0.12x (MF)) |
| Dimensions | φ 84.7×107.3 mm |
| Weight | 642g |
| Filter size | φ 77mm |
| Hood | barrel-shaped (bayonet mount, supplied) |
| Other features | de-clickable aperture ring 2 focus hold buttons dust- and moisture-resistant |
Distortions
The Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II produces a marginal pincushion distortion in RAW files. The remaining traces are removed via auto-correction if activated.
Vignetting
Ultra-large aperture lenses tend to produce very high vignetting at max aperture. You can see this in RAW files where the light falloff reaches 1.7 EV (f-stops) at f/1.4. This is gradually reduced the more you stop down, and it settles at roughly 0.6 EV at f/5.6.
Autocorrection reduces this to a negligible degree even at maximum aperture.
MTF (resolution) at 42 megapixels
The Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II delivers impeccable resolution results straight from f/1.4. It doesn’t really get any better than this.
The field curvature is negligible. The centering quality of the tested sample was very good.
Please note that the MTF results are not directly comparable across the different systems!
Below is a simplified summary of the formal findings. The chart shows line widths per picture height (LW/PH) which can be taken as a measure of sharpness. If you would like to know more about the MTF50 figures, you may check out the corresponding Imatest Explanations.
Chromatic Aberrations (CAs)
Lateral CAs have an average width of around 0.3px at the image borders and max aperture. This is negligible, even without auto-correction.
Bokeh
Sony mentioned that the two XA elements in the design suppress the onion rings that we can often see in out-of-focus highlights and we can confirm this as you can see below. The center highlights remain circular at f/2.8. The edgier aperture starts to show up beyond. You may notice that a tiny bit of outlining is starting to show up from f/2, though.
When looking at the highlight rendering across the whole image field, we can spot a “cat-eye” deterioration from the circular shape from roughly the mid-field into the corners. As usual, stopping down will broaden the zone showing circular discs, and the corner discs are restored at f/4.
The rendering quality in the focus transition zone is very smooth in the image background – shown to the left below. The foreground blur (to the right) is busier with more distinctive halos at harsh contrasts.
Bokeh Fringing / LoCA
LoCAs, or bokeh fringing, is a color fringing effect on the Z-axis. It shows up with a purplish tint in front of the focus point and a greenish tint behind – and it’s nearly impossible to fully correct in post.
If the FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II has a weakness, it’s this one. At f/1.4, you can spot some fringing. This is much reduced at f/2. Traces of LoCAs are visible still at f/2.8.
You may also notice that the focus point remains spot-on when stopping down (= no relevant RSAs). The focus point is also tack-sharp thanks to the floating focusing system.
Competition
The Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II may be a marvel of a lens, but it’s still facing some serious competition. There’s the excellent Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN ART which is barely inferior for 2/3rd of the costs. At merely 1/3rd of the cost, you can get the Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 PRO, and it’s, again, no slouch either. The same goes for the Meike AF 85mm f/1.4 II MIX – although it can’t match the others in terms of build quality, at least. And let’s not forget the Surui Aurora AF 85mm f/1.4. It may not be able to match the others in terms of image quality, but it has a more classic rendering based on what others are saying about it (we haven’t tested this one yet).
Sample Images
There are lenses, then there are good lenses, and very rarely, there are exceptional ones - and the Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II is in this last category. It is extremely sharp straight from f/1.4 and that's across the image field and the relevant aperture range. Lateral CAs are almost non-existent. There are, however, some axial CAs in critical scenes. Image distortions are negligible. The bokeh is buttery smooth.
Sony achieved this while still substantially reducing the size and weight compared to the initial iteration of the 85mm f/1.4. And that's without any compromise on build quality. The lens body made of engineering plastics based on a metal mount feels very solid and there's extensive weather-sealing. On top of this, the AF is blazingly fast.
Yes, this isn't a cheap lens, but relative to its performance the price tag is fine. "Highly Recommended!"
Support us by shopping at:
* Amazon US
* Amazon Europe
* B&H
* Adorama
* KEH (used gear)
The Good
- (Almost) as good as it gets
- Very fast AF
- Excellent build quality
The Bad
- Still some LoCAs
-
Optical Quality9.5
-
Build Quality10
-
Price / Performance8