The Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM is my favorite portrait lens out of the almost 300 lenses I have used so far. Being one of the first GM lenses, it features a comparably slow autofocus and some of the recent competitors offer higher contrast and resolution at f/1.4, so Sony decided to update this lens. Does it still have the bokeh qualities of the first generation 85mm 1.4 while making it smaller and sharper? Let’s find out in this review.
Sample Images
Nikon Zf | Megadap ETZ21Pro | Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM II | f/1.4 | Ai DenoiseNikon Zf | Megadap ETZ21Pro | Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM II | f/1.4 | Ai DenoiseSony A7III | Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM II | f/1.4Nikon Zf | Megadap ETZ21Pro | Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM II | f/1.4Nikon Zf | Megadap ETZ21Pro | Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM II | f/1.4Nikon Zf | Megadap ETZ21Pro | Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM II | f/1.4 | Ai Denoise
We summarize our experience with all the native E-mount and a few manual legacy lenses in the 20-28mm bracket to give you a compact and independent resource for choosing the right wide-angle lens for your Sony A7/A9/A1 camera. In this summary we also included some adapted lenses we think are worth mentioning. We didn’t include any zoom lenses, you can find those in our general guide to FE lenses as well as the guide to 9-18mm ultra wide angle lenses.
Some of these lenses are manual focus only (MF) whereas others feature auto focus (AF). There is also a noticeable amount of lenses listed here that do not feature electronic contacts to communicate with the camera (no Exif).
We have no association with any manufacturer apart from occasionally loaning a lens for a review. Before any short introduction we tell you how long we have used a lens and if we have borrowed it from a manufacturer. But in most cases we have bought the lenses on the market. If you want to support our independent reviews please consider using one of the affiliate links. It doesn’t cost you anything and helps us a lot.
If we have left any question unanswered please leave a comment or contact us on social media and we will do our best to answer it.
Last update: March 2025, Voigtländer 28mm 1.5E Nokton, Viltrox 28mm 4.5 AF added
I wasn’t a big fan of most of Samyang’s earlier lenses, especially not their early autofocus lenses. Their latest lenses have shown significant improvements over the earlier ones though and this Samyang 135mm 1.8 AF FE even features a unique selling point: it is the lightest 135mm 1.8 lens ever made. And not only that, it is currently also the cheapest option. Do cheap and lightweight go together with good here? Let’s find out in this review.
Sample Images
Sony A7III | Samyang 135mm 1.8 AF | f/1.8Sony A7III | Samyang 135mm 1.8 AF | f/1.8Sony A7III | Samyang 135mm 1.8 AF | f/1.8Sony A7III | Samyang 135mm 1.8 AF | f/1.8Sony A7III | Samyang 135mm 1.8 AF FE | f/1.8Sony A7III | Samyang 135mm 1.8 AF FE | f/1.8
In early 2021 Sony released three compact fullframe E-mount lenses and this Sony FE 50mm 2.5 G is the longest of those. While many of the competitors often cut corners with their compact lenses when it comes to build quality, feature set and sometimes also optical quality, Sony decided to go for a different approach here, offering more, but also at a higher price point. Did that pay off? And is there a market for a comparably slow 50mm prime? Let’s find out in this review!
Sample Images
Sony A7III | Sony FE 50mm 2.5 G | f/2.5Sony A7III | Sony FE 50mm 2.5 G | f/8.0Sony A7III | Sony FE 50mm 2.5 G | f/2.5Sony A7III | Sony FE 50mm 2.5 G | f/2.5Sony A7III | Sony FE 50mm 2.5 G | f/2.5
Sony A7s with Leica 90mm 2.0 Summicron M (pre Asph) and VM-E Close Focus Adapter
Classic rangefinder lenses usually spot less staggering minimum focus distances compared to (D)SLR and the latest lenses for mirrorless cameras because of how focusing with rangefinder cameras works. In 2022 several manufacturers are offering close focus adapters. These adapters have their own additional helicoid which allows you to focus your lenses much closer than you could with a conventional adapter. I have used several of these myself, so let’s see which ones are worth the asking price. Last Update: December 2024
Sony α | Leica M | Nikon F/Z New article every week
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