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Archive 2017 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review

  
 
Fred Miranda
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review
ePhotozine.com posted the full Sony FE 85mm/1.8 lens review.

Some excerpts:

"Sharpness is amazing, and well up to anything we could expect from a classy 85mm lens. At the centre, results are already excellent wide open at f/1.8. Also excellent at f/2.8, the lens pushes into being outstanding from f/4 to f/8. It is still excellent at f/11 and f/16, reducing slightly but very good at f/22."

"The Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens is superb to use, and also superb in many ways in terms of its performance. The lower cost compared to most 85mm lens does not seem to have reduced the performance at all. So full credit to Sony for achieving this. The one weakness is the tendency to flare against the light, which is a shame, but it need not be a deal breaker, depending on the sort of image making we do.
To summarise, an excellent performance from a well-priced lens and one that can easily be Highly Recommended."

Read full review at ephotozine.com


Now available for pre-order

Sony FE 85mm f/1.8: B&H Photo | Adorama



© ePhotozine.com

Wow! ;)









Mar 10, 2017 at 12:23 PM
AGeoJO
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


It looks like they keep on cranking out fairly light and moderately priced but superb FE lenses. Good job, Sony!


Mar 10, 2017 at 12:56 PM
rji2goleez
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


Wait . . . can you hear it? It's the momentary pause of silence before the naysayers start chiming in. Just kidding . . . it will be interesting to see the comparisons to Batis, GM and Otus. Of course, we shouldn't expect this lens to be up to those others but where will it fall below them?


Mar 10, 2017 at 01:37 PM
arduluth
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


If I wanted an AF lens, I'd be all over this. Very nice!


Mar 10, 2017 at 01:40 PM
Fred Miranda
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


arduluth wrote:
If I wanted an AF lens, I'd be all over this. Very nice!


The benefit against the GM not covered in the review is that it opens up the aperture during focus acquisition. (Just like the FE 55/1.8 and FE 35/2.8)
That's tremendous help when shooting a couple steps down in low light or when shooting in studio at f/5.6.



Mar 10, 2017 at 01:44 PM
bluloo
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


Hope they release a similarly good "consumer" 135.


Mar 10, 2017 at 01:50 PM
AGeoJO
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


bluloo wrote:
Hope they release a similarly good "consumer" 135.


Zeiss will take over that "task" with its new Batis 135mm f/2.4, I am afraid. Sony will introduce a fast, f/1.8 or f/2 GM version of that FL in the future according to my crystal ball .

Edited on Mar 10, 2017 at 03:12 PM · View previous versions



Mar 10, 2017 at 01:56 PM
GMPhotography
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


This has been my issue with my GM. Why I'm selling it. For me I'm different than most folks, I'm in the studio with models and it's tough. In good light not a issue. I'm giving up a lot in the GM but failing to capture focus I can't have. I looked bad two weeks ago in front of a client when it was missing focus. Bottom line to any lens you don't make Guy look bad or your toast. Lol

I'm brutal on this stuff so ignore me because it is a fantastic lens. I just need speed
Fred Miranda wrote:
The benefit against the GM not covered in the review is that it opens up the aperture during focus acquisition. (Just like the FE 55/1.8 and FE 35/2.8)
That's tremendous help when shooting a couple steps down in low light or when shooting in studio at f/5.6.




Mar 10, 2017 at 02:10 PM
CBokeh
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


GMPhotography wrote:
This has been my issue with my GM. Why I'm selling it. For me I'm different than most folks, I'm in the studio with models and it's tough. In good light not a issue. I'm giving up a lot in the GM but failing to capture focus I can't have. I looked bad two weeks ago in front of a client when it was missing focus. Bottom line to any lens you don't make Guy look bad or your toast. Lol

I'm brutal on this stuff so ignore me because it is a fantastic lens. I just need speed

Not to derail this Sony 85 thread, but Guy, how would you describe the light level where the GM started hunting?




Mar 10, 2017 at 02:17 PM
GMPhotography
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


It was low. I only had 2 150 watt modeling lamps in soft boxes and a skylight which was more backlit. So I was pretty underpowered with ambient I. I just bumped them up to 250 each. Out of about 1100 images I missed about 50. Which in reality is not bad but having a client sitting in front of a 27 inch more monitor with 5 open focus windows open shooting tethered with moving models was not good in my mind. But like I said I'm brutal on this stuff and honestly I'm charging a crap load of money too so that makes it worse. I'm saying this even though I could be hurting a sale but I have to be honest. 95 percent of the folks here really won't run into this but embarrassing myself is never Professional and I'm the ultimate Pro in terms of just being Professional. Not talking about talent that's different. More about the personal and business side of things.

CBokeh wrote:
Not to derail this Sony 85 thread, but Guy, how would you describe the light level where the GM started hunting?





Mar 10, 2017 at 02:24 PM
GMPhotography
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


Back on topic. I already pre-ordered the 1.8. I know it will keep up but I will put more emphasis on a 135 for portraits and other things. I like longer anyway. I'll buy that Batis 135 or Sigma 135.


Mar 10, 2017 at 02:32 PM
JohnJ
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


Fred Miranda wrote:
...Read full review at ephotozine.com
...


Are they making up their own terminology. What The F... is 'edge CA' and 'central CA'?

If they are referring to Longitudinal and Lateral CA then maybe they should use the correct terms, or are they marketing to people who haven't a f...ing clue in the first place so they can call them 'Duck CA' and 'Goose CA' for all anyone cares.



Mar 10, 2017 at 02:54 PM
3catsinky
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


MIGHT be worth selling my Batis 85 and put a few extra dollars in my pocket, or towards a 35ZA


Mar 10, 2017 at 02:56 PM
JohnJ
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


Looking at the few small image examples in the ephotozine link it looks like bokeh might be a weakness with this lens but it's still too hard to tell from these small image samples. The background bokeh does not look bad though, it's quite OK.

It appears that bokeh behind the subject is a little harsh, compared to bokeh in front of the subject. At least there are no aspherical elements so the OOF highlights look quite good and with no onion rings.

This is a very cheap lens yet it appears to perform at a very high level. I'm looking forward to see some more examples. If it has fast AF like the 1.8/55 then this could end up being an excellent little lens, albeit it with some compromises.



Mar 10, 2017 at 03:03 PM
arduluth
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


Fred Miranda wrote:
The benefit against the GM not covered in the review is that it opens up the aperture during focus acquisition. (Just like the FE 55/1.8 and FE 35/2.8)
That's tremendous help when shooting a couple steps down in low light or when shooting in studio at f/5.6.


That's interesting. I've seen mixed behavior from Sony lenses in this regard. I've always assumed that the lenses which don't do this have focus shift, but the lenses that AF at shooting aperture even in low light do have some focus shift.



Mar 10, 2017 at 03:21 PM
ecarlino
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


Fred Miranda wrote:
The benefit against the GM not covered in the review is that it opens up the aperture during focus acquisition. (Just like the FE 55/1.8 and FE 35/2.8)


give them a firmware update or two, i'm sure they'll get rid of that behavior
:-)



Mar 10, 2017 at 03:24 PM
Moroni
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


Fred Miranda wrote:
The benefit against the GM not covered in the review is that it opens up the aperture during focus acquisition. (Just like the FE 55/1.8 and FE 35/2.8)
That's tremendous help when shooting a couple steps down in low light or when shooting in studio at f/5.6.


You do wonder if Sony will ever fix this with the existing GM lenses? Does the Sony 70-200 GM exhibit this issue as well?




Mar 10, 2017 at 03:37 PM
DavidBM
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


3catsinky wrote:
MIGHT be worth selling my Batis 85 and put a few extra dollars in my pocket, or towards a 35ZA


Depends what you care about. I doubt there is any sharpness difference either way; Sony seem to have done a great job there.

But the samples (and the design comparing the amount of non standard dispersion glass) suggest that there is more axial colour (LoCA) with the Sony. Whether that annoys you is something I can't tell. The Batis is really very good in that respect, even if not quite Otus level.

The other nice thing about the Batis is its behaviour against the light. It's great, especially for a lens with so many elements (I haven't compared closely, but it seems better than the ZM, my go to hiking tele, which has fewer than half the no of elements!)

This review suggests the Sony has a bit of a flare achilles heel. Once again only matters if you shoot a short tele in backlight a lot.

If I were choosing which to buy new I'd likely still get the Batis, but it might be hard choice because of the price difference. But selling and buying new doesn't seem like it would generate enough money. If some one said "I'll give you $350 if I can hit your Batis with a hammer which won't harm the sharpness or cosmetics, but will make it flare worse and have more LoCA" I wouldn't take the money....



Mar 10, 2017 at 05:30 PM
chez
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


Also let's not forget the image stabilization in the Batis. At this focal length it becomes very useful if shooting in dim light.


Mar 10, 2017 at 05:42 PM
ecarlino
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review


DavidBM wrote:
Depends what you care about.

If I were choosing which to buy new I'd likely still get the Batis, but it might be hard choice because of the price difference. But selling and buying new doesn't seem like it would generate enough money. If some one said "I'll give you $350 if I can hit your Batis with a hammer which won't harm the sharpness or cosmetics, but will make it flare worse and have more LoCA" I wouldn't take the money....


It's a really big swimming pool and room for everyone. Thankfully, Sony is building out their line of reasonably priced lenses as well. We have to keep in mind that in addition to the pros and enthusiasts who frequent FM.com, for whom having $10k or (a lot) more of equipment is the norm, there are those for whom buying a $500 lens is a luxury. It's nice to see that Sony can deliver this level of IQ at this price point.

Up until my mid-30s, I would not have spent the money I do now on this crap. I'm finding my attitude somewhat reverting, at least in the qty, not necessarily in the price of each item.

I think it's almost silly to be comparing this lens to the Batis or GM - the GM 85 might be a lot of people's total lens budget; central sharpness is almost easy to come by these days and all of the other 'issues' take size, weight and money to overcome.

A better evaluation might to identify what is reasonably possible in this class of lens (wrt aberrations, corners, distortion, vignetting, etc).

How does this lens fit in with the 28mm and 50mm primes that Sony has released previously and might be seen as a "line" that many would select - and does the price point seem reasonable among those 3 wrt to measurable stats. In other words, what should the general level of expectation be for a ~$500 lens at various focal lengths for each of the parameters - and what can you get for $500 from other vendors. But, let's not try to compare the BMW 318 I drove in my 20s to the Audi A8 I drive today.

Edited on Mar 10, 2017 at 06:32 PM · View previous versions



Mar 10, 2017 at 05:51 PM
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