Sony FE 85mm f1.4 GM review

The Sony FE 85mm f1.4 GM is a portrait photographer’s dream

5 Star Rating
Sony FE 85mm f1.4 GM
(Image: © Sony)

Digital Camera World Verdict

This Sony lens ticks all the right boxes for portraiture on a full-frame camera, with its 85mm focal length and fast f/1.4 aperture. As such, it works really well for isolating the main subject against a blurred background. As well as being super-sharp, the quality of bokeh is wonderfully soft and dreamy, and remains so even when stopping down a little, helped by a very well-rounded 11-blade diaphragm. It’s undeniably a very pricey lens but its performance more than justifies the cost.

Pros

  • +

    Stunning image quality

  • +

    High-end handling

  • +

    Top-quality construction

Cons

  • -

    Fairly weighty

  • -

    Expensive to buy

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The Sony FE 85mm f1.4 GM is one of Sony’s flagship lenses for its Alpha mirrorless cameras. While it works well for shooting just about anything when you need a short telephoto focal length, it comes into its own for top-quality portraiture and still-life photography.

Specifications

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Matthew Richards

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! 

His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia  when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. 

In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.