Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM Lens Review: The “ultimate portrait lens” for Sony shooters?

posted Monday, June 6, 2016 at 4:29 PM EDT

Sony's been slowly but quite steadily growing their selection of mirrorless system lenses, especially regarding their much-loved full-frame A7-series. With a major focus on professional photographers as well as cameras with higher and higher megapixel counts, such as the 42MP Sony A7R II, the team at Sony saw the need for superior quality lenses with a much higher resolving power that would pair nicely with their high-res full-frame cameras.

Announced earlier this year alongside a 24-70mm f/2.8 sibling and a forthcoming 70-200mm f/2.8, the new Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM lens marks the introduction of Sony's G Master lens family, their category of flagship professional-grade full-frame mirrorless lenses. Described by Sony as the "ultimate portrait lens", the new 85mm f/1.4 GM aims to offer the best image quality performance, smooth bokeh, and top-notch build quality.

Based on our review, the new Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM is an absolutely fantastic lens, and apart from its rather steep pricetag, there aren't many serious downsides other than less-than-stellar AF speeds and a rather big and bulky design. For all the details, check out our in-depth Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM Lens Review, which includes lab sample images for both full-frame and APS-C cameras, test results and handling notes. For a selection of real-world images using the 85mm f/1.4 GM, see our Flickr gallery.