p.23 #2 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
Mystik wrote:
It seems when people speak of sharpness they're really talking about the difference in contrast due to the undercorrected SA in the GM when there's a lot of ambient light in the frame. The glow. The undercorrected SA also contributes to the quality of the bokeh
When the light is flat (set 3 above), it's hard to call the GMI soft as the eyes are sharp enough to pop from the frame, and at normal viewing magnification I don't find that GMII is materially sharper. Of course if you pixel peep, the GMII is sharper.
So with your access to both, don’t know if you have bought yet, what did you decide ? I have the GM I right now but also the 50/1.2 GM, 135/1.8 GM, and Canon RF 50/1.2L, RF 85/1.2L and RF 135/1.8 L IS so if I do get it I’m going to have to decide what I want to sell.
So Guy did you happen to try it on your A7CR smaller body? If so how well did it balance with the lighter weight?
Thinking about it versus the GM I that I already own ability to use on my A7CR and not just on my A7RV or A1 might motivate me more to give it a try. Let us know.
p.23 #4 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
swldstn wrote:
So with your access to both, don’t know if you have bought yet, what did you decide ? I have the GM I right now but also the 50/1.2 GM, 135/1.8 GM, and Canon RF 50/1.2L, RF 85/1.2L and RF 135/1.8 L IS so if I do get it I’m going to have to decide what I want to sell.
Undecided for now. I think the GMII has a lot to offer as its a more versatile lens, but for my use cases for the 85GMI, it not only is good enough. From a rendering perspective, I prefer the MKI as my bread and butter gigs have me shooting outdoors.
Where I do want the MKII is for wedding work, but I don't do much that these days.
As a point of reference, this is the type of stuff I shoot with the 85GM now and why I tend to prefer it over the MKII for my use case. Everyone has different priorities of course
p.23 #5 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
swldstn wrote:
So Guy did you happen to try it on your A7CR smaller body? If so how well did it balance with the lighter weight?
Thinking about it versus the GM I that I already own ability to use on my A7CR and not just on my A7RV or A1 might motivate me more to give it a try. Let us know.
Thank you and take care.
Have not tried it yet but im going to rent in January for a gig. I think it would balance nicely though. I personally would sell my Version 1 for 2 myself though. I will rent in January and see if it is a purchase down the road.
p.23 #6 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
Mystik wrote:
Undecided for now. I think the GMII has a lot to offer as its a more versatile lens, but for my use cases for the 85GMI, it not only is good enough. From a rendering perspective, I prefer the MKI as my bread and butter gigs have me shooting outdoors.
Where I do want the MKII is for wedding work, but I don't do much that these days.
The thing though if you have the Version II in post its an easy task to make it look like Version 1 as you can soften the images to match. You can't get sharper but you sure can go softer. I shot tons of portraits with the Sony 135 which is so sharp and I just backed off in post to soften it up.
My theory ALWAYS go for the juggler with a sharper lens and back it down to the needs at hand. Ive down that for years
p.23 #7 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
Mystic IMHO for you maybe the Bokeh is what you should go for. You tend to put vegetation in your backgrounds and that maybe the kicker but I would stop that GM down to F2 as there its a far better lens than 1.4. I remember testing it back when and no question F2 was the answer as 1.4 got too soft IMHO
p.23 #8 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
GMPhotography wrote:
The thing though if you have the Version II in post its an easy task to make it look like Version 1 as you can soften the images to match. You can't get sharper but you sure can go softer. I shot tons of portraits with the Sony 135 which is so sharp and I just backed off in post to soften it up.
My theory ALWAYS go for the juggler with a sharper lens and back it down to the needs at hand. Ive down that for years
It's a give and take in post though, unless you really want to spend your wheels in photoshop masking. Bring the contrast down globally, and you'll lose some of the contrast you do want, and applying glow in post never looks as good as the way natural sunlight would fall.
Alternatively you can add sharpness and contrast in post, particularly with new AI driven software, but its more leg-work.
I think in general with glass, we seek to have the best baseline to work with for our intended purposes (which are all different). If this were not the case, we'd all be using kit lenses and spending hours on a single photo in post lol.
We don't have to be in the same camp on the lens Guy. I can see why people prefer the GMII. I'm only speaking for myself
p.23 #9 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
swldstn wrote:
So Guy did you happen to try it on your A7CR smaller body? If so how well did it balance with the lighter weight?
Thinking about it versus the GM I that I already own ability to use on my A7CR and not just on my A7RV or A1 might motivate me more to give it a try. Let us know.
Thank you and take care.
I've been using this mostly on my a7cr. The MKII definitely handles a lot better on the a7cr than the MKI. MKI is a lot heavier in hand.
p.23 #10 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
Mystik wrote:
It's a give and take in post though, unless you really want to spend your wheels in photoshop masking. Bring the contrast down globally, and you'll lose some of the contrast you do want, and applying glow in post never looks as good as the way natural sunlight would fall.
Alternatively you can add sharpness and contrast in post, particularly with new AI driven software, but its more leg-work.
I think in general with glass, we seek to have the best baseline to work with for our intended purposes (which are all different). If this were not the case, we'd all be using kit lenses and spending hours on a single photo in post lol.
We don't have to be in the same camp on the lens Guy. I can see why people prefer the GMII. I'm only speaking for myself ...Show more →
I understand and not trying to give you a hard time either. We all have our own way but I will say that Version 1 seems soft to me and it's bugging me and from a lens tester it doe bug me. But that's okay too
p.23 #11 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
GMPhotography wrote:
I understand and not trying to give you a hard time either. We all have our own way but I will say that Version 1 seems soft to me and it's bugging me and from a lens tester it doe bug me. But that's okay too
p.23 #12 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
j4nu wrote:
I prefer the GM I images because the bokeh is nicer. No one (except us lunatics) care about sharpness at 100%, especially at this minute level. Without a side-by-side comparison, I wouldn't be able to distinguish the sharpness between the two, but I can definitely tell the bokeh.
Touche. I'd just like to say that if I'm shooting sports or events, I really wouldn't care about the bokeh nor would any one viewing it. The new GM can do more than portraits, which I know you or anyone here is NOT trying to argue.
I guess I'm just trying to say that I would not be displeased with slightly worse bokeh OR sharpness for a given shot (since there is more to an image than just those two components), but I would prioritize the usefulness and practicality of a lens because that matters to me, as most of my photography is done during travel or when I have to transport other things (like kids or sporting equipment for kids through airports and foreign countries). I understand if you have both lenses in hand, this decision is more difficult.
I appreciate the different perspectives and preferences people have.
For the record, the GM I is one of my all-time favorites.
p.23 #13 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
Mystik wrote:
I've been using this mostly on my a7cr. The MKII definitely handles a lot better on the a7cr than the MKI. MKI is a lot heavier in hand.
That is what I will consider. Actually have the two Viltrox Pro 27mm f/1.2 and 75mm f/1.2 lenses I bought them to play around with and they kind of bracket the size and weight of the new 85mm f/1.4 GM II so I will try those out and see how they feel.
p.23 #15 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
Mystik wrote:
It seems when people speak of sharpness they're really talking about the difference in contrast due to the undercorrected SA in the GM when there's a lot of ambient light in the frame. The glow. The undercorrected SA also contributes to the quality of the bokeh
When the light is flat (set 3 above), it's hard to call the GMI soft as the eyes are sharp enough to pop from the frame, and at normal viewing magnification I don't find that GMII is materially sharper. Of course if you pixel peep, the GMII is sharper.
I don't have my GMI anymore but I do have plenty of shots taken with it. Particularly on my A7RIV the GMI was very soft wide open even at a normal viewing distance without pixel peeping so I got rid of it.
Based on 1 or 2 tests shots I have taken and watching reviews the GM2 beats the GM1 in every single way except in smoothness of bokeh. The GM2 however is more than smooth enough but has so much pop that subjects are better separated from the background than the GMI and the Sigma Art. Whether that is worth the extra cost is for everyone to decide for themselves, for me it absolutely is.
p.23 #16 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
Under test the GM 1 at 1.4 was fairly soft just going to 1.8 was a big improvement and at F2 really good. My test is posted somewhere here on site but I forget the year
I say either lens is test it off a tripod and a great target.
p.23 #17 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
At the risk of being ejected from this forum for improper use of a slider, I was curious if minor “AI” blur adjustments in Lightroom, or Photoshop might allow for the extras sharpness of version II, but with a more acceptable version I like bokeh. I’m thinking that this would rarely be engaged in that the bokeh of Version II isn’t horrible, but might be useful when you need to provide sharp and beautiful bokeh.
p.23 #19 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
Mystik wrote:
Undecided for now. I think the GMII has a lot to offer as its a more versatile lens, but for my use cases for the 85GMI, it not only is good enough. From a rendering perspective, I prefer the MKI as my bread and butter gigs have me shooting outdoors.
Where I do want the MKII is for wedding work, but I don't do much that these days.
As a point of reference, this is the type of stuff I shoot with the 85GM now and why I tend to prefer it over the MKII for my use case. Everyone has different priorities of course
p.23 #20 · Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Announced—Pre-Orders Now Open!
bwcolor wrote:
At the risk of being ejected from this forum for improper use of a slider, I was curious if minor “AI” blur adjustments in Lightroom, or Photoshop might allow for the extras sharpness of version II, but with a more acceptable version I like bokeh. I’m thinking that this would rarely be engaged in that the bokeh of Version II isn’t horrible, but might be useful when you need to provide sharp and beautiful bokeh.
Not at all and you certainly can do that for sure. But I tend to try and move subject to a better background out of the gate. I try to avoid that busy background stuff. Try masking techniques as that may help a great deal
