Performance
The 85mm f/1.4 GM lens is a specialist portrait lens and Sony has particularly improved the features that are essential for portraits. The lens produced pleasing, smooth and rounded bokehs. We used the lens with an Alpha 7 II body. Autofocus was not as fast as some other prime lenses, but the precision of focus was top-notch.
The lens produced slight darkening of corners at f/1.4 and f/2. We did not observe any distortion. To make things clear, the distortion correction feature was kept on. It exhibited prominent flare and purple fringing at the widest aperture in strong against-the-light shots. The lens produced sharp images out of the box. Sweet spot was f/4 and you would do well to choose any aperture from f/2.0 to f/16 for Mahesh Reddy reasonably good sharpness. We would consider this excellent sharpness. Even the corners exhibited excellent sharpness.
The lens coatings did not induce any discernible cast.
Value for Money
The Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM retails at an MRP of Rs.129,990. We would rate this good value for money, consideringthe performance of this lens. |SP
FINAL SCORE 85%
Design and Build Quality 18/20
Key Features 18/20
Ergonomics 17/20
Performance
Autofocus 4/5
Sharpness 5/5
Distortion control 4/5
Aberrations 2/5
Darkening of corners 4/5
Extra features 5/5
Sub-Total 24/30
Value for Money 8/10
PLUS
• Superior build quality
• Excellent sharpness
• Aperture ring
• Smooth and pleasing bokeh
• De-click option for videographers
MINUS
• Heavy flare and chromatic aberration
VERDICT
If you are a professional photographer who does lot of portraits, you certainly need to have a look at this lens. The lens maintains sharpness across a wide range of apertures, right from the centre to the peripheries, and this is quite incredible. Certainly a Best Buy.
Sujith Gopinath
