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If you don't care about small, do you want the shallow depth of field of the faster lenses? There are a lot of very good lenses in this range. Almost every manufacturer makes at least one very good one. Here are some options:
Priced under $1,000 (not worrying about size)
Canon - nFD 85 f/1.2L (or FD 85 f/1.2 ASPH) - I have never owned it but really like the samples. It isn't that large for an f/1.2 lens (especially the nFD). I like the sharpness wide open and the look of the portraits.
Zeiss - Contax/Yashica mount or ZE/ZF mount 85 f/1.4 - I have never owned these lenses. I love the samples for these stopped down and at mid range distances. Wide open it seems to have a lot of glow and it doesn't seem as strong at close distance. It does have focus shift as well. Another interesting lens that I have seen for sale, but never even seen samples from is the Contarex 85 f/2. The lens looks cool and is a great size for the A7, and I has some clear fans, but as I said I have never even seen samples from it.
Leica - Leica R or Leica M 90 f/2 (non-Asph) - I have owned the Leica R 90 and it was one of my favourite lenses. It is very sharp stopped down and very nice for portraits wide open. I think of it as a classic Mandler design. It is not a small lens. In R mount it is not hard to find for less than $1,000, but you probably won't find it for that price in M mount. So you will have to trade bulk for price. With a lot of patience you may find a Leica M 90 elmarit-M for this price as well. It is an excellent lens all around and it quite small. I had the R version of this lens and liked it very much. I wished it had a wider max aperture, but that would be my only complaint. It was great from wide open both close and far.
Olympus OM 90 f/2 Macro - I have owned this one either, but have always admired it from a far. As a macro lens it should be great close up and it seems great at a distance as well. It does have CA in the bokeh, but all the lenses above do to one extent or another. It may have more, but I am not sure of that.
Pentax - 77 f/1.8 Limited - This seems to be a very nice and small lens. Pentax users seem to revere it. Looks great both stopped down and at a distance. It shouldn't have focus shift as it has a floating element. Like the others it does have bokeh CA.
Nikon - 85 f/1.4 AIS - I don't know a lot about this lens other than the obvious. It is at the lower end of this price range. You might even be able to get one for less than $500.
Minolta - 85mm f/1.4 AF - This is an A mount lens and should work with the LAE4 on the A7. It looks to be an excellent lens and a good deal. For me I prefer manual focus, so I wouldn't choose it, but if AF was something that you wanted this would be a very interesting and cost effective choice.
Voigtlander - M mount and F mount and EF mount 75 f/1.8 - I don't know much about this lens. It seems to be like among some Leica M shooters for it relatively wide aperture and fairly reasonable price. I really haven't even seen any samples from it.
Under $2000
Canon - EF 85 f/1.2L - It would be fully useable with a metabone III adapter, but I can't see the point. It is very large and not a lot if any better than the nFD and costs twice as much. Others point of view may differ, however.
Zeiss - Sony/Zeiss ZA 85 f/1.4 - This lens looks very nice from the samples and may make a lot of sense on an A7 with the LAE4 adapter. I probably wouldn't get it because I prefer manual focus, but it looks to be quite sharp even wide open. You might get the Contax N 85 f/1.4 under $2,000 as well and that looks like a fabulous lens, but I think you would have to search to find one at that price.
Leica - Leica R 80 f/1.4 - I have always liked the samples from this lens and particularly the bokeh. It has a glow wide open and really until about f/2.8, but it is blisteringly sharp stopped down. Another classic Mandler design. If you wanted smaller the Leica M 75 & 90 Summarits come in this price range and actually are very nice lenses or so they seem to me from the samples.
Pentax - A Series 85 f/1.4 A* - This manual focus lens is a gem. It is pretty sharp even from wide open and very sharp stopped down. It is quite small for an f/1.4 lens. It does seem to have some CA both in the focus plane and out of it.
Nikon - 85 f/1.4 G - This is their new AF lens and many people seem to really like it. I don't know much about it.
Under $500 (and typically smaller)
Canon - FD 85 f/1.8 - Frankly a lens I find pretty boring, but it is inexpensive and a pretty wide aperture for the price. Some really like it however.
Zeiss - Contax/Yashica mount 85 f/2.8 or Contax G 90 f/2.8 - both are similar designs with 5 elements and 4 groups and have similar MTF charts. They may not be identical optically but are close. The C/Y should be a lot easier to focus, but the Contax G is smaller. I have never owned either, but I do very much like the samples from this lens. There is also the ZM 85 f/4 in this price range which is a totally different design, but would be nice and small and likely a strong performer for landscape type shots.
Leica - Leica R 90 f/2.8 vII - This is a very strong lens and as I said above it was a great performer from wide open both close and far. It think it is a great deal at this price. it would not be small on an A7, however. In M mount there is also the 90 tele-elmarit in this price range. It is nice and small and a pretty good performer, but not in the league of the elmarit-M or the R elmarit vII.
Olympus OM - 85 f/2 - This is a quite small and decent lens. It has a floating element so should perform pretty well up close and far away. I am not a huge fan of the bokeh from the samples I have seen, but I have never owned the lens so others will likely know better.
Pentax - K mount (or M42 mount) 85 f/1.8 - This is a very nice lens and very well respected in Pentax circles. It looks to be a little soft wide open, but nicely sharp stopped down. It does have some CA, but a very nice lens in this group.
Nikon - 85 f/1.8 or f/2 Ai or AiS - These are very nice Nikkors and do a very competent job from what I have seen. I am sure others know a lot more about them than me.
Minolta - MC Rokkor 85 f/1.7, MD Rokkor 85 f/1.7, and MD 85 f/2. I think the MC Rokkor has beautiful bokeh and would make a wonderful portrait lens. The MD 85 f/2 would perhaps make a better all around lens and is smaller. All have the characteristic Minolta colours. In M mount there is all the 90 f/4 lens built for the CL and CLE, they are reputed to be quite good, but obviously a pretty narrower max aperture.
Konica - in M Mount there is the 90 f/2.8 which has a decent reputation, but I have never seen any samples from it.
Voigtlander - VM 90 f/3.5 APO, SL & SLII 90 f/3.5 APO - These are very nice and quite small lenses that are very strong both close up (the SLII comes with a close up lens that gets you to 1:1.8) and far away. I just got this lens for its strong overall performance and its small size. The M mount and SLR mount versions are very different shapes. The SLR mounts are quite short and have a bigger diameter, whereas the M mount is quite long and very skinny. Obviously does not have a very wide max aperture, but excellent otherwise. There is also the M mount 75 f/2.5 which is a very small and seemingly decent performing lens. I haven't seen many samples with it, however.
Samyang/Rokinon/Bower 85mm f/1.4 - Certainly the fastest lens in this price range. Quite nice bokeh. Build quality might be less than optimal. A very nice portrait lens, but IMO only average if that stopped down at a distance.
Edited on May 17, 2014 at 11:14 AM · View previous versions
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